Fallen leaves provide foundational year-round habitat for countless animals (in ways that might surprise you!)
There’s not much sadder to me than walking into a home that’s festooned with garlands of plastic leaves inside but surrounded on the outside by over-mown, overblown lawn. Faux-nature decorations—including stacked straw bales, pumpkins that no one will ever eat, and polyester leaves stamped out in a factory—are on full display at the entrance to my mom’s apartment building this week, even while outdoor crews wield anti-nature weaponry to vacuum all the real leaves away.
In an age of nearly ubiquitous destruction, this particular sign of a culture of misplaced priorities punches me in the gut more than most other harmful landscaping practices. I don’t begrudge people for taking joy in the colors and shapes of leaves and the memories they invoke: childhood hay rides, steaming cups of hot chocolate, walks home from school in the chilled autumn air, and, if your parents were accommodating, a chance to jump into the newly raked piles.
But if the sight of those fake leaves invokes nostalgia in others for what once was (or a longing for what they wish had been), then the sight of a leafless outdoors makes my heart ache for the present—for the animals who can no longer find the fallen leaves they need for food, nesting, cover, camouflage, and winter hibernation.
The last time I dedicated a whole article to life in the decay, “These Animals Are Made Possible by Fallen Leaves,” someone created a meme based on the concept and shared it widely on social media. But unfortunately the creators of the graphic added something I don’t support—a validation of the concept of mowing over leaves, or “mulch-mowing.” If your goal is to grow lawn, then shredding leaves while you mow can help return nutrients to the soil and keep your grass blades healthy. Otherwise, mulch-mowing is just one more way to destroy a critical habitat element that’s already all too scarce. It won’t come close to providing the warmth, food, and protection that intact fallen leaves offer year-round—in all these ways and more:
Fallen leaves are underwater blankets
Our culture’s obsession with vacuuming up leaves from the landscape unfortunately extends to waterscapes too. But removing leaves, twigs and branches from a pond greatly depletes the life it can support. Decaying leaves provide habitat for invertebrates in the water, who in turn feed adult frogs, salamanders, birds and other animals. Many organisms, including some aquatic insects, shred and graze the organic matter and help to break it down. When temperatures drop, bull frogs and green frogs burrow into the decomposing vegetation at the bottom of the pond to ride out the winter.
Fallen leaves are nesting material
In the canopy, squirrels and birds insulate their nests with leaves, and bumblebees sometimes reuse those well-constructed homes to raise their own young. On the ground, nature’s best rodent patrols, black rat snakes, often lay eggs and take cover among fallen leaves too. In winter, chipmunks and opossums stay warm in burrows lined with leaves, and come spring, fallen leaves make the perfect spot for mama rabbits to raise their babies.
Fallen leaves are camouflage
Have you ever noticed how difficult it can be to locate animals in the fallen leaves? Squirrels, deer, wood thrushes, toads, turtles and innumerable other creatures blend in to the environments where they thrive. None of them evolved to live in giant swaths of turfgrass. Many are darker above and lighter underneath, a type of coloration known as “countershading,” which can distort shadows and make it harder to discern shapes. When I want to do some serious wildlife-watching, I look no further than down on the ground, toward the abundant leafy layer.
Fallen leaves are song and motion
Wildlife gardeners already know how important the understory is for winter forage. Seed and insect treats are abundant in the ground layers, where some birds send leaves flying throughout the year to find the treasures underneath. Mammals forage there too; in the depths of winter, deer sometimes even make drying leaves a part of their diet.
While indulging their appetites, the animals bring music and bursts of motion to landscapes filled with leaves. White-throated sparrows herald the coming of shorter days here in the mid-Atlantic with their ethereal song. Mixed flocks of cardinals, tufted titmice, chickadees, and nuthatches chitter-chatter away together during the cold season. All of their movements are easier to observe in winter and early spring when dormant plants no longer obscure the view—and there’s nothing quite like watching northern flickers flick and white-throated sparrows kick their way to sustenance.
Fallen leaves are climate control
Insulation and cover are essential to overwintering insects, including butterfly and moth pupae, caterpillars, queen bumblebees and many others. But the rich habitat in the ground layer is also critical year-round. The climate control provided by fallen leaves regulates moisture for fireflies, who are prone to desiccation, and harbors the snails and slugs their larvae eat. Without the help of fallen leaves, our summer nights would lose their sparkle.
Fallen leaves are home sweet home
If fallen leaves mean so much to animals every day throughout the year, they are just as important to plants. They return nutrients to the soil, keep the ground warmer during the cold seasons, and preserve moisture when temperatures rise. Removing this precious blanket from the already weary earth in order to help a single plant species grow—fescue or bluegrass or zoysia—disrupts the lives of countless beings and often eliminates their ability to survive.
What can you do instead? First, reevaluate whether you need a lawn at all. Many people rarely venture onto their turf except to mow it every week. If you do happen to use your lawn, you might be surprised by how easy it is to cultivate low-growing native alternatives; letting leaves fall on our old turf encouraged native sedges and ferns to grow and helped us convert our former front lawn into a shady and welcoming woodland.
If you’re wedded to keeping turfgrass, consider reducing its extent. Wherever you can let go of lawn, smother the area with a deep layer of leaves held down by branches and twigs. In spots where you want to preserve turf, gently rake leaves and place them under trees and shrubs and into native planting areas.
And if you’re just starting on this journey, remember that your community is far more diverse than leaf-blowing neighbors would have you believe. Some might look askance at your decision to respect the ground that so many other beings walk, slither and crawl on, but humans are generally not the ones who have to survive out there year-round. Our wild neighbors might not speak our language, but it doesn’t take long for them to show up and let us know—through songs and calls and flurries of activity—just how much they appreciate our efforts.
[Photos and videos by Nancy Lawson]
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Thank you for taking the time and sharing this amazing article with the world.
Thank you so much for reading it, Rhonda! <3 I'm so happy you enjoyed it.
Beautifully said and so true. Thanks, Nancy. Sometimes people lose sight of the overall picture of beauty. Your reminder is valuable.
Thank you so much, Melinda. <3
Lovely photos and thoughts, as always.
Hi Catherine! Thank you. <3 Hope you are doing well.
Oh, Nancy, this is such a beautiful post and so very important for all manner of creatures! I am “the one” in my neighborhood who lets the leaves take over in the fall, and I’m sure it makes my neighbors crazy (especially one who mows his tiny postage-stamp sized lawn every week from March through November on a riding mower!). But I have seen a slow, steady increase in the number of fireflies each summer I’ve been here, and I know the little rollie-pollie pill bugs, who filter heavy metals from the earth, are as happy as a bug can be under their soggy leaf piles and flourish in my yard. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for all you do to increase awareness of and respect for Nature and all the creatures who benefit more and more from our hands-off approach.
Hi Laurie! Thank you so much! I hope one day your neighbors take notice of which yard really sparkles and why. <3
Oh preach it and help me learn better how to preach it myself! I wish that I were more influential and the way I try to become that is by example, but I honestly often doubt that I am making much headway. Help me to be patient, kind, and open to questioning glances toward my habitat and our ways. Thanks for writing to encourage me as to why I do what I do and I so appreciate your letting me know that I am not alone in this! : )
You are probably influencing more people than you think! Complainers often have the loudest voices, so I wonder if there are more people than we know who are quietly walking by, taking it in, appreciating it, and considering doing it themselves at some point! We can hope. 🙂
Thanks for the encouragement! I know that I have at least started a relative and co-worker on the path to planting more native plants, so that is progress! : )
Nancy,
thank you so much for all this wonderful information. I had no idea that leaving the leaves in the pond is a good thing–I do because I never get around to scooping them out. I’m surrounded on 4 sides by houses with nothing but lawn and a few large trees along the fence line. I’m trying to convince a neighbor to at least leave the leaves under his oaks to absorb some of the runoff which ends up inundating my yard. We’ve gotten rid of 90% of our lawn and love the resulting biodiversity. I always look forward to your postings.
Hi Alba, thank you, and thanks so much for reading again! I hope your neighbor listens to you and gives the leaves a chance so he can see how rewarding it is for both him and the wildlife. 🙂
Another great post! The films back up your position very well.
Hi William! Thank you so much!
Just beautiful!!! I’m converting more lawn to native soft landings every year, and hope the message spreads far enough before it’s too late. Thanks for your inspiration.
Thanks, Priscilla! 🙂 Yes, may the message spread in the winds along with the leaves.
This friend speaks my mind. I am so enamored of my new area of fallen golden leaves. It reminds me of what Fall used to be.
It sounds very beautiful!
I have left every leaf be from our 200 year old Sugar Maple. I’ve even gathered its leaves from my neighbors’ driveway. I plan on leaving them be and I’m hoping I’ll be able to plug some Pennsylvania Sedges in. I may need to wait a year or two. My .13 acre lot has a lot to offer wildlife. The native plants, standing stems, fallen leaves draw much in. I even saved leaves from the street to lay under planting beds where leaves were few. It pains be to see the insanity every day for hours on end. Noise, pollution, destroyed cocoons. Nancy, I read, “The Humane Gardener,” and it changed my life. Thank you.
Hi Karen, your place sounds just beautiful. Wow, a 200-year-old sugar maple! That tree alone must full of so much life. Thank you so much for doing all you do for the plants and animals in your midst. And I really appreciate how much the book meant to you – thank you. And I know exactly what you mean — it is both joyous and painful to learn about all the countless animals we can so easily support on our little lands — joyous when we start down the journey in our own spaces and see all the creatures who respond, and painful when we look next door or across the street and think of what could be if it weren’t for all that awful machinery and noise.
Thank you! I have a question….I have now a large part of the backyard in about an 8 inch layer of leaves. Come spring, how do go about getting plants in the ground? Is it just planting into the old, hopefully dying, lawn or should I get some mulch, top soil or compost to cover area? It’s half the backyard and cheapest is best.
Hi Karen! It’ll depend on what types of leaves they are and how quickly they break down. If they are oak leaves, they’ll last a long time and might fully smother the grass. If they are like my silver maple leaves, they’ll disintegrate much more quickly. So you’ll probably need to see what’s under there in the spring. If it’s still grass, I would either dig it out (as long as you’re not too close to tree roots – if so then you have to do that really carefully) or smother it with newspaper topped by compost or mulch. I often plant plants directly into the grass and then surround them with the newspaper, but that is because I am impatient. 🙂 Turfgrass is a beast in terms of it’s ability to regrow and spread if you don’t smother it or dig it out. Here’s hoping that your leaves will help do the trick! And if they do, you can certainly plant directly into them if the plants are large enough. If they are little seedlings, you would want to just pull away the leaves to make sure they get some light.
A friend sent me this and I was pleased to see validated in detail what my experience and inclination knew at an uninformed level. Keep informing! I’m already an outlier in suburban Montreal because I have a ‘multicultural lawn’. I just laugh and say “Nature abhors a vacuum! It’s still green!” Anyway, may I sign up? Good for you, I say. Even when we humans get the reparations wrong, it’s better than stripping nature of its healing capacities altogether.
Hi Beverly, thanks for bucking the monoculture system! I like to harbor a fantasy that other countries are not as backward in this regard as the U.S., but it sounds like your area is obsessed with turf lawns too. Yes, you can sign up in the top left corner where there’s a little green button. Thank you! 🙂
Unfortunately removed my weedy lawn, and replaced it with drought resistant plants in key spots and decorative rocks, to save water.
Didn’t think about the trees overhead and all the leaves. Uncollected, the leaves compost and weeds grow in the rocks.
When is the least harmful time of year to remove the fallen leaves?
Do you have an area without rocks, such as under trees or shrubs? If you gather the leaves now and move them to those areas, you would at least possibly be protecting whatever little organisms are already living in the mix. Unfortunately removing the leaves altogether harms habitat year-round. Do you live in a desert area? One of the good effects of leaves is that they help keep things moist and cool, so I’m wondering if the rocks are heating up the ground? Can you remove some of the rocks and make an area for the leaves?
Love your posts. I grew up on an inactive family farm in southern Maryland, but now live in a newer subdivision in Middle Tennessee. It’s challenging to translate the open beauty of farm fields and woodlands to my new “yard”, but I’m enjoying the adventure and slowly converting my husband, neighbors, and friends.
Now that I have your book in hand I realize it will make a great Christmas gift for several on my list. Time for me to order more copies! Hopefully you will respond positively to my “Contact” request and help me reach out to more folks here in Tennessee.
Hi Karen, that’s great that your neighbors, friend and husband are with you on you adventure! It would be great to have some connected habitat in the neighborhood across different yards. Thank you so much for spreading the word and gifting the book! 🙂
Your article makes me feel better about leaving leaves out in the country in sections. I worry that leaves left for many years on a steep hill will keep rainwater from irrigating the land. Won’t they also kill any grass/moss/ground cover on a flat surface during the winter? In the city exurbia, won’t they attract rats, mice and in winter keep water from the land?
On the contrary, I believe that leaves keep the ground covered and more moist…that is those that stay even though I don’t rake. The winds come and very often my yard, at least the grassy part, looks so much like my neighbors’! My husband asks, “Where did they all go?” Yes, they do go elsewhere and the ones that stay on the beds protect and save the little lives beneath. Rats, I have never seen. Mice? Well, if you keep the holes in the foundation, etc. plugged, none get in. Even if i did get rats and mice, I love seeing and hearing the hawks! : ) This web of ours is connected, and we can all help it to thrive! Once you have actually seen a silkworm cocoon in your leaf litter, your ideas are changed forever! Try it! : )
Hi Barbara, thanks for the question. As Susie mentioned, leaves hold moisture in the ground, so they are critical for animals like toads, turtles and fireflies. Fireflies not only will dry out without that moisture, but they’ll also have no prey, as a big component of their larval diet is slugs and snails, who need moisture. And many butterflies, moths and bees need the protective cover of leaves for nesting/egg laying or overwintering. Leaves are also very important to plants; they are nature’s best fertilizer as they break down in the soil with the help of many microorganisms.
Yes, if they re thick enough, they will smother turfgtrass — but I consider that an asset. Those who would like to keep patches of turgrass for dogs, kids, or paths can always rake leaves into garden beds or under trees or around shrubs.
Leaves are critical for all kinds of wildlife, including birds, chipmunks, squirrels, and yes, mice, many of whom are native (and even those who aren’t native may have similar benefits and also are prey for raptors, foxes, and other animals). Mice can disperse seeds and mycorrhizal fungi, which help plants grow.
Rats are more attracted to cheeseburgers than to native habitat. They do like cover, but what really attracts them to an area is often easy-to-access human food sources.
Hope that helps!
We have a variety of native rats that are very much a part of our native habitats. I’m hosting at least two cotton rats, whom I would rather have in my native gardens than my neighbor’s cat, who eats the birds. It takes effort to get past the images of city rats that came here by boat and have carried the plague and other ills.
Yes, that’s a good point. I was thinking of Norway rats being more attracted to areas of human food and detritus than to native habitat, but there also native rats in some places who would love native habitat – as they should! 🙂
This is such a beautiful article…which I have forwarded to all the people I know about leaving the leaves, which -besides being home to many little creatures is a beautiful bed of colored leaves . I add that if they can’t turn their entire lawn for native plants at least 1/3 of the lawn for undisturbed fallen leaves and native plants.
Thank you!
Thank you so much, Linda! Yes, even if people can’t convert all of it, every little bit will help! Thanks for spreading the word. <3
Here in NJ we’ve had very low temps for a couple of weeks and recently a bit of a warm up. I saw a bee or wasp come out of the leaves and look at me as I sat there just staring at the leaves. Crazy I know. But reducing my back yard grass by half and piling those leaves on top brings me much peace. I’ve planted a Bladdernut where English Ivy once grew and I’m winter sowing ZigZag Goldenrod, Violets, and Jacobs Ladder. I’ve order 3 Leatherwoods, Solomon Seal and Black Cohosh. But knowing that bee or wasp was seeking shelter in those leaves was the best Christmas present I could get. Plus, it looks prettier having leaves under a tree than grass.
Hi Karen! What a sweet moment. Those leaves might have saved her from freezing when the colder temps came back. I love that you have the bladdernut where ivy once was — and so much more to come!
Beautiful article! Thank you.
Hi, Nancy! Thank you so much for this wonderful website. I am a novice native plant enthusiast and gardener who lives in Washington, DC. I’m trying to convert my urban front and back yard to at least 70% native plants/trees/shrubs with the remaining 30-ish percent non-invasive things that’ll work with everything else and, over time, really develop into a community of plants that will hopefully benefit the birds, creatures & bugs.
Question re: leaving the leaves: it is now spring, of course. When I am planting, should I just gently move and spread the fallen leaves around the yard so that new plants get enough air? Is there any benefit to leaf composting systems, or could I simply dump an excess of leaves in a corner of my yard & turn it over now and again? In short, what would a humane gardener do with an excess of leaves in springtime? Thank you so very much for any thoughts.
Hi Rachel, I’m so sorry for my late reply. Native woodland plants are used to growing through the leaf layer, so a lot of times it isn’t a problem to leave leaves — which is usually what I do everywhere. But in manmade spaces, of course there can be unnatural buildup, such as on or next to hardscaping. In those cases I take leaves and put them in new planting areas — they can be great to add around newly planted trees and shrubs, for example, or over a new bed where I’ve just used paper and mulch to smother turf. You can hold the leaves down with twigs and branches in that case. Or I add them to the bottom of new brush piles that I create for wildlife.
Some leaves, like our silver maple leaves, break down much more quickly than others, like those of oaks. Over the years I’ve just kind of tried to figure out when something seems too buried, and usually it just isn’t really a problem, at least in my space. So I think it might vary even across different spots in your own yard, and you can experiment!
Agreed – beautifully said and so important.
One thought re:fallen leaves; I so depend upon them for garden compost and feel torn about removing them to compost them. Maybe I need to plant more trees. I don’t actually know the answer to solving this.
Thank you.