Households begin to bustle with plans and preparations for the approaching holidays. But along with the anticipation and enjoyment come some seasonal challenges.
To Rake Or Not To Rake: That Is The Question
One of the biggest challenges this time of year is yard work. Leaves begin to fall, and there are usually plenty of them. Getting some outdoor exercise during colder weather is good. But it's also very easy to injure yourself while cleaning up your yard.
The colder weather already puts people at risk for muscle strains. Muscles contract and shrink in cold weather and are more prone to cramping and strain. In addition, there's all the bending, reaching, twisting, pushing, and pulling we do while raking.
Seasonal activities may use muscles that are not as limber as you thought they were. All these factors can contribute to an injury. Upper and lower back strain, shoulder pain, and neck soreness are some of the injuries that frequently occur while raking.
This ergonomic rake picks up leaves without you having to bend over.
Why You Shouldn't Rake Your Leaves
Seasoned gardeners know that fallen leaves on their property have numerous benefits for wildlife and the environment.
Usually, leaf removal means raking or blowing leaves into piles, putting the piles into bags, and hauling those bags to a landfill. However, conservationists tell us these actions actually harm the environment and rob your garden of a primary source of free nutrients while at the same time destroying wildlife habitat.
So what can you do instead? Let your fallen leaves remain on the ground.
Green Waste In Landfills: A Big Problem
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, leaves and other yard debris account for more than 13% of the nation’s solid waste. That totals about 33 million tons a year. Yes, that's tons.
Without enough oxygen to decompose, this organic matter releases the greenhouse gas methane. Landfills are the largest source of man-made methane in the United States. Additional pollution caused by yard work comes from carbon dioxide generated by gas-powered mowers, blowers and the trucks used to transport "yard waste" to the dump.
Beneficial For The Ecosystem
(Photo: Stephen Friedt, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons)
For gardeners, fallen leaves provide a double benefit. They form a natural mulch that helps suppress weeds and at the same time fertilize the soil as they decay. You don't need to spend a lot of money on mulch and fertilizer when you can easily generate your own.
Removing leaves also eliminates habitats vital to wildlife. Critters such as turtles, frogs, birds, mammals, and invertebrates rely on leaf litter for food, shelter, and nesting material. Many moths and butterfly caterpillars overwinter in fallen leaves before emerging in spring.
(photo mine)
What To Do Instead
What can you do with all those fallen leaves you're not sending to the landfill? Let them remain where they fall. They won't harm your lawn if you chop them with a mulching mower. Use them to mulch garden beds as well. Let leaf piles decompose naturally. The resulting leaf mold can be used as a soil amendment.
Make compost by combining fallen leaves with grass clippings and other "green" materials such as coffee grounds, tea bags, vegetable and fruit scraps, plant prunings, annual weeds that haven't set seed, eggshells, and manure (no dog or cat). Keep moist and well-mixed. The result will be rich compost for next year's garden.
Still have too many leaves? Share with friends and community gardens. Some municipalities will pick up leaves and make compost to sell or give away.
Keep in mind when making compost, temperatures of 150°-180° F (hot composting) are necessary to kill most plant diseases. The internal temperature of the average home compost pile usually doesn't reach that, thus disease organisms are not destroyed. It's important to turn a hot compost pile regularly. For many home gardeners, it’s better to bury or haul away diseased plant material.
Along with branches, sticks, and stems, leaves can be used to make brush piles to shelter native wildlife. Animals that use brush piles regularly include rabbits, chipmunks, skunks, raccoons, foxes, birds such as towhees, thrashers, cardinals, sparrows and quail, reptiles, and amphibians such as fence lizards, snakes, box turtles, tree frogs, and a large number of insects.
And what child doesn't like to play in a big pile of leaves? Just make sure it's safe for them to do so. Piles that have been sitting for a few days could have ticks and other insects, frogs, and even snakes hiding in them.
Read more at Gardening Know How: Using Diseased Leaves In Compost: Can I Compost Diseased Plant Leaves https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/composting/ingredients/compost-diseased-plant-leaves.htm
Read more at Gardening Know How: Using Diseased Leaves In Compost: Can I Compost Diseased Plant Leaves https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/composting/ingredients/compost-diseased-plant-leaves.htm
Need More Convincing?
If you need another reason to leave your leaves where they fall, consider that the less time you spend raking them, the more time you have to enjoy the beautiful fall weather and the wildlife in your garden.
If You Rake
Stretch before and while doing yard work.
Practice good posture by standing as straight as possible.
Always bend at the knees when lifting, never at the waist.
If possible, buy ergonomic tools. An ergonomic tool has been engineered in such a way as to protect you from injury.
Avoid repetitive twisting and turning.
Take breaks, allowing your muscles to rest.
(my brush pile)
Safety Tips
Stand with one foot forward and one in back, then alternate.
Hold the rake handle close to your body.
Switch arms frequently to avoiding overusing one side of your body; avoid twisting movements when you change.
Pull leaves straight back toward you.
(photo mine)
Yes, I have leaves ... lots and lots of leaves.