Leave the leaves: Why you should skip the bagging and let nature do its job
Leaving leaves to decompose on your lawn or in your garden provides organic matter and important nutrients to your yard and the environment
Why experts are urging homeowners to skip bagging up all those leaves this fall
Professor and extension specialist Susan Barton joined FOX Weather on Sunday morning to explain why it's better to chop up leaves and leave them in your yard rather than bagging them up and throwing them in the trash.
A lot of the rain and snow has stripped leaves off trees across the country, and if your yard is a sea of red, yellow and orange leaves that still need to be raked, you may want to think twice about bagging them up and throwing them in the trash.
"Leaves are really a resource rather than a problem," said professor and extension specialist at the University of Delaware Susan Barton. "So, it's really important to think of your leaves as the resource that they are."
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![NEWARK, VERMONT - OCTOBER 12: A view of colorful fall foliage is seen in Newark of Vermont, United States on October 12, 2021. (Photo by Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)]()
Image 1 of 12NEWARK, VERMONT - OCTOBER 12: A view of colorful fall foliage is seen in Newark of Vermont, United States on October 12, 2021. (Photo by Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images) ( )
![NEW HAMPSHIRE, USA - OCTOBER 12: Scenic Railroad is seen during colorful fall foliage in New Hampshire, United States on October 12, 2021. (Photo by Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)]()
Image 2 of 12NEW HAMPSHIRE, USA - OCTOBER 12: Scenic Railroad is seen during colorful fall foliage in New Hampshire, United States on October 12, 2021. (Photo by Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images) ( )
![NEW HAMPSHIRE, USA - OCTOBER 12: Scenic Railroad is seen with a historic train during colorful fall foliage in New Hampshire, United States on October 12, 2021. (Photo by Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)]()
Image 3 of 12NEW HAMPSHIRE, USA - OCTOBER 12: Scenic Railroad is seen with a historic train during colorful fall foliage in New Hampshire, United States on October 12, 2021. (Photo by Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images) ( )
![Hanover, NH - October 4: Leaves have started to change colors on Lake Sunapee. (Photo by Craig F. Walker/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)]()
Image 4 of 12Hanover, NH - October 4: Leaves have started to change colors on Lake Sunapee. (Photo by Craig F. Walker/The Boston Globe via Getty Images) ( )
![NEW HAMPSHIRE, USA - OCTOBER 12: Scenic Railroad is seen during colorful fall foliage in New Hampshire, United States on October 12, 202. (Photo by Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)]()
Image 5 of 12NEW HAMPSHIRE, USA - OCTOBER 12: Scenic Railroad is seen during colorful fall foliage in New Hampshire, United States on October 12, 202. (Photo by Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images) ( )
![NEW YORK, NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 19: People stand near fall folliage in Central Park during the final days of the fall foliage on November 19, 2021 in New York City. Temperatures have dropped into the 40s and the U.S. National Weather Service has issued a frost advisory issued for parts of New jersey and New York City in the early hours of Saturday morning. (Photo by Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images)]()
Image 6 of 12NEW YORK, NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 19: People stand near fall folliage in Central Park during the final days of the fall foliage on November 19, 2021 in New York City. Temperatures have dropped into the 40s and the U.S. National Weather Service has issued a frost advisory issued for parts of New jersey and New York City in the early hours of Saturday morning. (Photo by Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images) ( )
![Killy Vincent stands next to the Pond in Central Park in New York, New York on November 17, 2021. (Photo by TIMOTHY A. CLARY / AFP) (Photo by TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty Images)]()
Image 7 of 12Killy Vincent stands next to the Pond in Central Park in New York, New York on November 17, 2021. (Photo by TIMOTHY A. CLARY / AFP) (Photo by TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty Images) ( )
![Fall foliage over the Bow Bridge in Central Park in New York, New York, on November 16, 2021. - Built in 1862, this Victorian-era bridge spans 60 feet across the Central Park Lake and connects Cherry Hill and the Ramble. (Photo by TIMOTHY A. CLARY / AFP) (Photo by TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty Images)]()
Image 8 of 12Fall foliage over the Bow Bridge in Central Park in New York, New York, on November 16, 2021. - Built in 1862, this Victorian-era bridge spans 60 feet across the Central Park Lake and connects Cherry Hill and the Ramble. (Photo by TIMOTHY A. CLARY / AFP) (Photo by TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty Images) ( )
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Image 9 of 12Fall colors burst underneath blue sky and white clouds in Tofte, Minnesota. (Alex Kormann / Star Tribune)
![Alaska Fall Leaves Change]()
Image 10 of 12Some leaves have already peaked in color in northern Alaska (Seth Beaudreault)
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Image 11 of 12Some leaves have already peaked in color in northern Alaska (Seth Beaudreault)
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Image 12 of 12Some leaves have already peaked in color in northern Alaska (Seth Beaudreault)
Barton said leaves provide organic matter and essential nutrients to your yard and environment.
"So, if you bag them and send them to the landfill, you're missing out on all that good stuff," she said. "If you think about a forest ecosystem, it is probably the healthiest soil. One of the healthiest ecosystems around."
Barton said that partially because all the leaves fall and decompose on the forest floor.
So, what's the best way to break down all the leaves in your yard to help your lawn flourish?
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Drone footage captures fall foliage in Salt Lake County, Utah
Drone footage captures spectacular fall foliage in Butterfield Canyon, located in Salt Lake County, Utah. (Credit: Scott T Taylor/Twitter)
"If you don't have a lot of land, the thing to do is just mow the leaves, and if you mow with a mulching mower, that will sift the leaves down into the ground, and they won't block the sunlight so they won't injure your lawn in any way."
Barton said you could also rake the leaves into your landscape beds and let the leaves decompose in that location.
"A third option is to collect your leaves into a pile, chop them up with a lawn mower, let them sit over the course of the winter, and then use them as mulch on your landscape beds the following spring," she said.
That way, Barton said, you will save money by not having to buy additional mulch.
Leaving your leaves also benefits insects.
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"Native insects are critical for feeding birds," Barton said. "We've lost a pretty large percentage of our native bird population, so we want to do everything we can to preserve them."
Those birds also feed insects to their young, particularly caterpillars.
"So, you'll want to encourage caterpillars and other native insects in your landscape, and many of those insects overwinter in the duff of fallen leaves," Barton said. "Or they overwinter in loose, open soil, and allowing the leaves to fall on the ground will both provide that duff and also provide it will also provide a more loose, open soil for those insects that burrow down into the soil to overwinter."