10/23/2026
Do you leave fallen leaves on your landscape or do you bag them up?
It turns out there are many benefits in keeping the leaf litter in your landscape:
🦋 It provides winter habitat. Many butterflies and moths overwinter as eggs, caterpillars, chrysalises, or adults in leaf litter. Removing the leaves can remove those insects before they ever emerge in spring.
🍂 The larval form of many firefly species live in leaf litter. Our Big Dipper firefly is a great example.
🐝 Native bees use leaf litter, too. Some species nest in or under the soil and benefit from the protection that leaves provide.
🐛 It feeds the food web. As leaves decompose, they support insects and other tiny organisms that become food for birds, amphibians, and other wildlife.
🌱 It improves your soil. Leaves break down into organic matter, returning nutrients and helping soil retain moisture.
🌳 It's natural mulch. A layer of leaves protects plant roots from temperature extremes and helps suppress weeds.
💰 Less work and less waste! Instead of bagging leaves and sending them away, you're recycling nutrients right where they belong.
