Coming soon to a backyard near you: leaf drop. What’s your aftercare plan?
This fall, gardeners can turn to new research to inform their decisions on how to manage the cleanup — whether or not to “leave the leaves,” as the ecologically focused rallying cry has been in recent years.
That campaign has spread awareness that fallen leaves provide overwintering habitat for many ecologically critical organisms. But that’s not all they do. Now, we can look at the consequences of leaf removal by the numbers, data that makes a more nuanced case for a gentler approach that supports plants and soil, and also offers insights into the most effective how-to practices to employ.
The effects of leaf removal were the subject of a two-year study published in March by Max Ferlauto, state entomologist for the Maryland Natural Heritage Program, and Karin T. Burghardt, an ecologist and associate professor at the University of Maryland.
To examine how autumn leaf removal affected the spring emergence of overwintering insects and other key arthropods, they established square-meter-sized study plots in 20 residential yards in suburban Maryland, whose owners followed organic management practices.
From mid-March to late June each year of the study, the researchers set up traps of fine mesh netting on frames above test areas where leaves had been left in place and others where they had been removed. They then identified and counted what organisms emerged from each, comparing results.
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The post Why Leaving the Leaves Is Better for Your Yard appeared first on New York Times.
