Tired of raking?  You don’t have to.  Raking is so 1990s! Leaving the leaves provides shelter and food for moths, bees, snails, spiders, butterflies and beetles.  Most of these do not migrate.  Your home is their home and like us they need cover against wintry elements…as well as predators.

Swallowtail butterflies are camouflaged in chrysalises that resemble dry leaves or a stick.  The red banded hairstreak butterfly deposits eggs on fallen oak leaves which in turn are the food for the emerging caterpillars.  Leaves keep the soil soft enough for a queen bee to crawl into and hibernate.

Don’t want to leave leaves all over the place?  Okay, then gather them around trees, spread them over flower gardens, let them pile up in corners and let a thin layer remain on turf.  All of this helps wildlife and diminishes weeds.

For more information on leaves go to: https://www.leaveleavesalone.org