Please. Just #LeaveTheLeaves
nativeplantecosystems.com/ecosystems/s...

Queen of the Night Tulips in a bed with grass and leaf litter

You will notice we haven’t cleaned the dead grass out of this bed, yet. We #leavetheleaves until May so that our pollinators get the best chance to do their thing. You wouldn’t believe the firefly show we get in the summer! #pollinators #bloomscrolling #gardensky

Sometimes it’s easy to go a little too hard at the first pollen buffet of the season and you need to #twerk it off. Clean yourself up, little one!

#gardening #pollinators #bees #Invertebrates #MakeAMess #LeaveTheLeaves #NoSpray 🌱

The rocks in front are maybe 3” high. When I dug them in for edging maybe 3 or 4 years ago, the soil was at least a couple inches down from their tops, & was nothing special. Since then we’ve done nothing with it but let the leaves lie where they fall.

(2/3)

#leavetheleaves

How do y’all feel about the term “leaf litter”? During the Plant Symposium yesterday avoidance of that term came up tangentially a couple of times, due to the negative connotations of “litter.”

I’m not sure what I think.

(1/2)

#leavetheleaves

Another camera picked up the Varied Thrush for longer today foraging through leaf liter today. #LeaveTheLeaves all year #Birds

Winter looks quiet.
But it isn’t empty.

Under leaf piles, hollow stems, beneath bark—
insects wait for spring.
Birds depend on them.
Native plants protect them.

When we rake leaves or cut back,
we don’t just “clean up.”

We remove shelter.
Food.
Future life.

#RebuildingNature #LeaveTheLeaves

If they would just #LeaveTheLeaves they’d have more beneficial insects AND better nutrients.

#LeafBlowersSuck
#LeaveTheLeaves
#ClimateCollapse

Oh, now we’re back at it. Currently we’re leaf blowing the parked cars in a row behind the building. Two blowers going at once.

Apparently you can rev a leaf blower. Who knew?

#leavetheleaves

“Lazy gardening” should appeal to everyone!

#gardeningforwildlife #nativeplants #leavetheleaves

Fall leaf litter close-up with a blurred background. Image by doncoombez

🌿If you have a native garden, the best way to help your plants "celebrate" the New Year is to leave the leaves

🍂This natural mulch protects the roots from the freeze-thaw cycle and provides the exact habitat that local butterflies and bees need to survive the coldest months❄️
#LeaveTheLeaves

Oh, bother. Yesterday I noticed some extra leaves that had gathered by the curb & said I should rake them up. This morning the city came through (sooner than expected) & sucked them up. They were thin enough I doubt anything was sheltering in them but I still feel bad I missed them!

#LeaveTheLeaves

Myth-busting time! 🚫✨ Swipe to see what your lawn really needs (hint: it’s less than you think).

#GoodNeighborIowa #PollinatorFriendly #EcoFriendlyLiving #SustainableYards #HealthyCommunities #Biodiversity #LeaveTheLeaves #EcoMyths #HealthyLawns #IowaEnvironment

Mounds of fresh snow cover the stems and seed heads of monarda punctata stems

Lil snow caps on the monarda punctata stems this morning. We’ve seen dark eyed juncos regularly bending the stems and eating the seeds inside 🖤 #nativeplants #savethestems #leavetheleaves

Wet decaying leaves on the forest floor in varying states of decomposition. Remaining bits of lighter pigment reflect available light.

organic gold

#photography #naturephotography #decay #nature #pnw #duff #soil #microhabitat #leavetheleaves

“Another solution: Customers could loosen their expectations and accept a scattering of leaves, instead of demanding a perfectly manicured lawn. ‘Now, if that aesthetic was more relaxed, that could help change things,’ Banks said.”

#LeaveTheLeaves #lawncare

“Plus, it can be difficult to meet the standards customers expect with electric leaf blowers, which are less powerful than gas ones.”

Customers’ expectations need to change. Their lawns will be healthier for it. No suburban lawn needs to look like a golf course.

#LeaveTheLeaves #lawncare

(Or, in the case of the person who used one to clean the sidewalk every night at 10 PM below the window of my old NYC apartment, “Get a broom.”)

#LeaveTheLeaves

I do wish the emphasis wasn’t on mulching - it’s just as good for the soil, true, but so harmful to the many #pollinators, #fireflies, other #invertebrates, #salamanders, #toads, #snakes, and countless other critters that shelter in the leaves. But again, bit by bit… #LeaveTheLeaves

Waynesboro Public Works 🍂 Leaf Collection Update – Thank You, Zone 1! A huge thank-you to everyone in Zone 1 for getting your leaves out and ready. Your preparation helped crews move smoothly through the area, and they’ve...

Look at our little city encouraging residents to #LeaveTheLeaves!! So glad & proud to see this. Bit by bit…

#Waynesboro #WaynesboroVA #gardeningforwildlife

Healthy Yard organization poster titled "Leave Leaves Alone" listing benefits/benefiters of leaves and leaf litter. List includes fireflies, butterflies, moths, bees, moisture, food, protection, soil nutrients, shelter, spiders, birds, insects, frogs, puppae, microbes, larvae, arthropods, turtles, toads, woodlice, salamanders, small mammals. The bottom of the poster adds, to learn more visit: www.healthyyards.org & www.leaveleavesalone.org

Post inspired by the weekly flock of leafblowers screaming through my apartment parking lot. #leavetheleaves

More info on sustainability and biodiversity
www.healthyyards.org & www.leaveleavesalone.org

A view looking downhill of a sidewalk and a low wire fence supported by green metal stakes being used to hold dry fallen leaves back from the sidewalk in a sloped yard. In the background are houses, bare trees, and an overcast late autumn sky.

A view looking uphill along a low wire fence supported by green metal stakes, that is being used to hold back dry fallen leaves on the right from the sidewalk that runs beside the fence to the left. To the left of the sidewalk various vehicles are parked along the street, and in the background are part of a brick house, bare trees, and an overcast late autumn sky.

It’s Leaf Collection time, so we secured our leaves with wire fencing. We #LeaveTheLeaves so the soil & the wildlife our yard shelters benefit from them, but it’s important too to keep leaves out of the stormwater system & the river.

I don’t think we did a bad job! (4/4)

#Waynesboro #WaynesboroVA

A slope is shown covered in dry fallen leaves, with a small dark-colored salamander resting on a single leaf in the foreground. In the background a sign on a short stake reads “Leave Leaves Alone,” and a brick house with white trim rises behind it.

Fortunately, because I was raking gently - the recommended method to #LeaveTheLeaves if impractical to leave them exactly where they fell - the little fellow was unharmed & I was able to move it to a safer leaf pile, into which it burrowed shortly after. (3/4ish)

#gardeningforwildlife

A rectangular sign with the heading “Leave Leaves Alone” shows a variety of animals such as small mammals, birds, insects, reptiles and amphibians, including images of the animals as well as their names, interspersed with drawings of autumn leaves. The sign is on a short wooden stake, with dried leaves and grasses surrounding it.

Very helpful of the little thing to provide a demonstration of the information on our sign! (2/4ish)

#LeaveTheLeaves #gardeningforwildlife

A dark-colored salamander with red patches on its back (possibly Plethodon cinereus, the Eastern Red-Backed Salamander), about 3 inches long and lightly covered in dirt or tiny leaf litter, nestles in a curled dry leaf among many other leaves.

I accidentally uncovered this little fellow while raking up some leaves along our front sidewalk today. I think it’s an Eastern Red-Backed #Salamander (Plethodon cinereus) - please tell me if I’m wrong. (1/4ish)

#LeaveTheLeaves #gardeningforwildlife

Autumn leaves are dropping later every year due to climate change. Is Toronto’s yard waste collection falling behind? Leaves may be sticking around longer than usual this fall due to a “very strange year for trees,” experts say. Here’s why, and what it means for you.

Climate change is shifting when Toronto’s leaves fall, leaving yard-waste pickup out of sync. If you miss collection:
“Leave a layer of leaves throughout the winter so they can provide habitat for species.” – Melina Damián, Ontario Nature
🔗: tinyurl.com/2nvjpnrs
#toronto #leavetheleaves

a man in a suit and tie is standing at a podium giving a speech and saying `` not one '' . ALT: a man in a suit and tie is standing at a podium giving a speech and saying `` not one '' .

Without even getting into the numerous benefits for my local ecosystem of leaving the fallen leaves where they are, I gotta tell you how incredibly satisfying it has been to have spent not one damn minute raking my yard. #leavetheleaves 🌱

a man in a black shirt is throwing leaves into the air Alt: a man in a black shirt is throwing leaves into the air

Leaf blowers are the WORST and the plastic bags full of leaves just staaaap

#leavetheleaves

Leave the leaves quote

Can you find 8 critters?

It’s that time of year… when lots of people rake up leaves and stuff them into plastic garage bags. This year leave your leaves— they create critical habitat for butterflies, moths, fireflies, frogs, turtles, salamanders & more!!!

And bonus- it’s easier!!

#leavetheleaves #kidlit #illustration