Leave the Leaves

It’s fall once again and the leaves are falling quickly. Here are some quick  suggestions for using leaves instead of bagging them or raking them to the curb for pick-up.

1. Throw leaves into your compost pile. Chop them up first to speed up decomposition. Leaf mold (composted leaves) makes wonderful mulch, vegetable garden amendment, and  has several uses in organic lawn care.
2. Rake leaves  around a grouping of potted native perennial plants you are overwintering to add  an insulation layer.
3. Use leaves to smother areas of lawn  by piling them 2-3′ deep and  enclosing with chicken wire fencing to prevent leaves from blowing away.  I used this method to create my vegetable garden.
4. Rake some of your fallen leaves (and fallen twigs)  around plants in a savanna or woodland garden.  Shred the leaves by passing  a mower over a pile several times. This will reducing matting and speed decomposition for larger, thicker leaves.  This is the way nature mulches.  
   • Leaves provide nesting material for many types of birds, especially in early spring.
   • Leaves provide shelter, hiding  and egg-laying places for small animals and insects over the  winter,  including the Viceroy Butterfly.
   • Leaves help you save money on wood mulch.
5.  Finely chop up a light layer of fall leaves  with a lawn mower several times and leave  in place to enrich your lawn.
6. Toss  the leaves around,  enjoy the sound of walking through the leaves,  and jump in a pile!
   

   My Heidi dog loves to jump in a pile of leaves

GOD AND ST. FRANCIS HAVE A CONVERSATION 

Here’s a humorous story I received many years ago from a friend  that shows us how  out of touch with nature some of our landscaping practices are. I apologize that I don’t know the author . Enjoy!

GOD: “Frank, you know all about gardens and nature. What in the world is happening down there on the planet? What happened to the dandelions, violets, milkweeds and stuff I started eons ago? I had a perfect no-maintenance garden plan. Those plants grow in any type of soil, withstand drought, and multiply with abandon. The nectar from the long-lasting blossoms attracts butterflies, honey-bees and flocks of songbirds. I expected to see a vast garden of colors and all I see are these green rectangles.
ST. FRANCIS: It’s the tribes that settled there Lord. The Suburbanites. They started calling your flowers ‘weeds’ and went to great lengths to kill them and replace them with grass.

GOD: Grass? But it’s boring. It’s not colorful. It doesn’t attract butterflies and bees; only grubs and sodworms. It’s sensitive to temperatures. Do these Suburbanites really want all that grass growing down there?

ST. FRANCIS: Apparently so,Lord. They go to great pains to grow it and keep it green. They begin each spring by fertilizing grass and poisoning any other plant that crops up in the lawn.

GOD: The spring rains and warm weather probably makes the grass grow fast. That must maker the Suburbanites happy.

ST. FRANCIS: Apparently not, Lord. As soon as it grows a little they cut it, sometimes twice a week.

GOD: They cut it? Do they bale it like hay?

ST. FRANCIS: Not exactly Lord. Most of them rake it up and put it in bags.

GOD: They bag it? Why? Is it a cash crop? Do they sell it?

ST. FRANCIS: No, Sir, just the opposite. They pay to throw it away.

GOD: Now let me get this straight. They fertilize the grass so it will grow. And then they cut if off and pay to throw it away?

ST. FRANCIS: Yes Sir.

GOD: These Suburbanites must be relieved in the summer when we cut back on the rain and turn up the heat. That surely slows down the growth and saves them a lot of work.

ST. FRANCIS: You aren’t going to believe this, Lord…when the grass stops growing so fast, they drag out hoses and pay more money to water it so they can continue to mow it and pay to get rid of it.

GOD: What nonsense! At least they kept some of the trees. That was a sheer stroke of genius if I do say so myself. The trees grow leaves in spring to provide beauty and shade in the summer. In the autumn, they fall to the ground to and provide a natural blanket to keep moisture in the soil and protect the trees and bushes. It’s a natural cycle of life.

ST FRANCIS: You better sit down, Lord. The Suburbanites have drawn a new circle .
As soon as the leaves have fallen, they rake them into great piles and pay to have them hauled away.

GOD: No! What do they do to protect the the shrub and tree roots in the winter to deep the soil moist and loose?

ST. FRANCIS: After throwing away all the leaves, the go out and buy something called mulch. They haul it home and spread it around in place of the leaves.

GOD: And where do they get this mulch?

ST FRANCIS: They cut down trees and grind them up to make mulch.

GOD: Enough! I don’t want to think about this anymore. St. Catherine, you’re in charge of the arts. What movie have you scheduled for tonight?

SDT. CATHERINE: ‘Dumb And Dumber’ Lord, it’s a story about………

GOD: Never mind. I think I just heard the whole story from St. Francis.”

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