This text is part of the special Pleasures notebook
Despite their recognized benefits in combating climate change, trees have a major drawback for many people: their leaves end up falling to the ground and then become “waste”. What if we looked at the bright side of things instead? What can these dead leaves bring to the ground? Instead of picking them up and throwing them away or, worse, burning them, let’s learn to take advantage of their many benefits!
Three classic uses of leaves
1. If you want to avoid the hassle of picking them up, mow them over to shred them and reduce them to small pieces; they will fall between the blades of grass and decompose very quickly. In a few weeks, before the arrival of winter, a good portion will already be decomposed. The rest of the decomposition will continue the following spring and will gradually feed your lawn.
2. When they are dry, if you harvest them whole and store them temporarily in bags, they can be used later for winter protection of your perennials or shrubs that are fragile to frost. At the end of autumn, place them at the base of the plants. Whole leaves do not compact and create insulating air pockets, thus protecting your more fragile plants. To prevent them from flying away, you can hold them back with a discreet black net (the kind you install on cherry trees) or with a few conifer branches. Conifers will not spoil your landscaping too much, because their evergreen leaves remain green until the following spring. They will thus camouflage the piles of dead leaves.
3. And of course, for those who like to compost, it’s a fabulous source of carbon, as mentioned above! Can’t compost? Then hand out your bags of leaves to friends or neighbors who would like to use them.
Natural mulches
We know that mulches help to protect our flowerbeds from weeds and save water for watering. In landscaping, we will favor decorative mulches. But in the vegetable garden or in certain less visible areas, leaf mulch provides the same benefits as decorative mulches and more. Indeed, it increases the biodiversity of the soil, because it decomposes naturally, unlike certain decorative mulches. A very interesting asset for the health of the soil. Leaf mulch is also very effective in reducing leaching that could occur on bare soil. In addition, by covering your root vegetables with a layer of about 30 to 40 cm of dead leaves, you can leave them in the garden all winter and make your second harvest very early in the spring, ensuring you have very high-quality fresh vegetables.
Protection of exposed soils
They say that nature abhors a vacuum, because without plants, the earth dries out, it releases the carbon sequestered for years and ends up eroding under the rains and runoff, carrying sediments towards the waterways. So, between two projects or at the end of the season, rather than leaving the ground bare, learn to temporarily cover it with dead leaves. The latter will offer shelter and comfort to the useful organisms in your environment and will protect the soil. Don’t hesitate to take out your bags of dead leaves stored in the shed to temporarily cover your construction sites, both in summer and in late fall.
And there you have it! Now you know more about the richness and value of your dead leaves.
This content was produced by the Special Publications Team of Dutyrelevant to marketing. The writing of the Duty did not take part in it.