00:00 Alright folks are fallen leaves
00:01 piling up on your lawn.
00:03 Oh they are on mine.
00:04 But what's the best way for your
00:06 yard in the environment to deal
00:08 with the end of fall foliage?
00:10 Here with some options is David
00:12 Mizodewski naturalist with the
00:13 National Wildlife Federation.
00:14 Thank you so much for joining us this morning.
00:17 You're welcome.
00:18 Happy leave the leaves month.
00:19 Oh, I love that.
00:21 Leave the leaves month.
00:22 Let's talk about this here.
00:23 I feel like the typical solution
00:25 is to rake the leaves, bag them up,
00:27 put him out in the curb,
00:29 but that's not necessarily the best
00:31 way to deal with our fall leaves, right?
00:34 That's right, it's actually the
00:35 worst way to deal with our fall leaves.
00:37 That's why the National Wildlife
00:39 Federation has designated the month
00:40 of October as lead the leaves month.
00:43 Here's why leaves are really
00:44 important wildlife habitat,
00:45 and I'm not talking about
00:47 bears and mountain lions.
00:48 I'm talking about butterflies and
00:50 moths and our native bumblebees
00:52 and many songbirds as well as
00:54 amphibians like salamanders and
00:55 turtles like box turtles like
00:57 so many wildlife species live in
00:59 that leaf layer and when we bag
01:01 it up and throw it away,
01:03 we're literally wiping out entire
01:04 generations of pollinators that
01:06 are important for pollination.
01:07 But they're also important food
01:09 for the birds next spring.
01:10 96% of our birds feed their babies.
01:13 The caterpillars of moths
01:14 and butterflies in the spring.
01:15 So if you get rid of your leaves,
01:18 those birds are going to have
01:19 nothing to eat in the spring.
01:21 Awful to hear.
01:22 I mean, I feel like this is a typical
01:25 case of every action has a reaction,
01:27 and obviously that's no good.
01:29 So what is the benefit?
01:30 Obviously we know of keeping the
01:32 leaves around now for those species,
01:34 but what about mulching leaves?
01:35 Is that a good idea?
01:37 Yeah, so that's actually what we recommend.
01:39 I mean, of course you could just let
01:41 the leaves lie right where they fall.
01:44 That's the most natural thing to do.
01:46 But yes, if you have a bunch of
01:48 leaves built up on your lawn,
01:50 it is going to smother it,
01:51 which is not really a bad thing.
01:54 When it comes to wildlife habitat,
01:55 but what we recommend is move them
01:57 into your garden beds and use
01:59 them as a natural mulch.
02:00 Look, the leaves fall at
02:02 the base of the roots.
02:03 They they they suppress weeds.
02:05 They keep soil moisture and then
02:07 they slowly compost down and return
02:08 those nutrients right to the root.
02:10 So that sounds an awful lot
02:12 like mulch and fertilizer.
02:13 It's free folks use it.
02:15 And if you don't have enough garden beds,
02:17 falls a great time to create new ones
02:18 and plant new plants like wildflowers
02:20 and trees and shrubs that are going
02:22 to support the wildlife too.
02:23 Now we only have about 30 more seconds,
02:26 so I have to be a little quick here.
02:27 But one last question for our viewers.
02:29 I know a lot of people like
02:30 to rake and compost.
02:32 Is that a good idea?
02:33 Absolutely yeah, I mean you can
02:35 compost them right in your own
02:37 compost pile or just make a pile
02:39 in your yard of the leaves.
02:40 Now that reduces some of the
02:41 wildlife habitat value,
02:42 but it's much better than
02:44 sending them to the landfill
02:45 where they break down and produce
02:46 methane, which is a potent greenhouse
02:48 gas causing global climate change.
02:51 Every action has a reaction folks.
02:53 David Misaduoski.
02:54 Thank you so much for joining us this
02:55 morning from the National Wildlife Federation.
02:57 We appreciate the tips and I'm
02:59 sure the Earth does as well.
03:01 Thank you.
Comments