Why You Don’t Need to Rake Leaves

 

Burning leaves is especially dumb.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/19/us/raking-leaves.html

 

By Remy Tumin
Published Oct. 19, 2023Updated Oct. 20, 2023

You might want to kick it or step on it to hear the satisfying crunch underfoot. You might even be tempted to jump into it.

But that pile of leaves is home to an entire ecosystem filled with critical organic matter. In fact, those leaves probably shouldn’t be piled at all.

In recent years, some naturalists have called for an approach known as “leaving leaves” when they fall to the ground, which would return organic materials back to the soil.

“A forest has the richest soil there is, and that happens because leaves are falling off the trees and decomposing right there and organic materials are going back into the soil,” said Susan Barton, a professor and extension specialist in landscape horticulture at the University of Delaware. “We should be doing that in all of our landscapes, but we’re not.”

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