Leave the Leaves!

I had a VERY interesting conversation today with a potential landscaping client. When I looked at her property she had properly left all the leaf litter on the ground (leaving a clear area around the home) and pruned up all of her trees. She is a German woman and she told me that in the 1500s the Germans raked up all their leaves and the forests died. In a previous post I described a fire safe property as well. She is also German.  I realize now that the land stewardship in Europe is taken very seriously, in fact, it is a part of their heritage.  I am aware that some people remove all the leaves because of fire concerns. However, one can redistribute leaves on their property to make it fire safe. Just keep it 3 inches or less.

Here are the 8 reasons we should leave the leaves! 

1) Are the trees future food 

 2) Cut down on weed growth 

3) Lock in soil moisture (critical in summer) 

4) Allow water infiltration (critical in winter) 

5) Moderate soil temperature 

6) Are the basis of the soil ecosystem 

7) Stabilize the ground (stops erosion) 

8) Are wildlife habitat (think amphibians)