Autumn Leaves: Rake 'em or Forget 'em?
“Autumn leaves: rake ’em or forget ’em?” That’s the question of the hour. When the trees are bare, but the ground is covered (and that includes the ground where your garden grows), what do you do with that brown and rustling terrestrial blanket? The answer depends on a few different things.
A few readers here responded to my article of last year, “How to Prepare Your Garden for Winter,” with some specific concerns about raking autumn leaves from their gardens. In that article, I included leaf removal as a critical step in my garden’s winter prep plan. Those of you readers who raised questions about this particular step brought up some excellent points, and listed some very valid reasons that leaf removal should be avoided. Today, I’m going to talk about when you should and when you shouldn’t remove fallen autumn leaves from a garden. And I’ll explain why, in my zone 5B/6A garden, leaf removal is a necessity.
Relax, gang. This one’s a quickie.
Benefits to Leaving the Leaves
Below are four really obvious, and really important benefits to leaving a carpeting of autumn leaves in place, over the course of winter, in your garden. Are there more benefits than these four? Yep. But these are four biggies, and they represent often perfectly relevant and appropriate considerations in coming up with a garden winterizing game-plan.
- Composting Benefits. A covering of leaves, or leaf litter, is often a source of soil enrichment in your garden. During the spring and summer, trees pull all sorts of nutrients up from the soil, including nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium (the famous N-P-K), plus loads of carbon-based compounds, and direct them to their leaves. By the time those leaves fall from the trees, they’re packed with nutrients. A carpet of fallen leaves, therefore, is essentially a layer of compost. When the leaves decompose, they release nutrients into the soil.
- Moisture Retention and Insulating Benefits. A blanket of leaves can serve the same purpose as a covering of wood chip mulch in a planting bed. That layer can help the soil retain moisture it receives through precipitation, which is vital for hibernating plants. That leaf litter can also have an insulating impact, and protect the ground – and the roots of the plants growing in it – from extreme cold.
- Protection for Beneficial Organisms and Microorganisms. You might be surprised at the number of living things – living things which contribute mightily to the gardening cause – which are harbored over the winter in a blanket of fallen leaves. Earthworms, ultra-beneficial microbes, and the cocooning larvae of various pollinators take cover within and beneath (and, in some cases, feed upon) the fallen leaf layer. Earthworms aerate and enrich the soil with their tunneling and waste elimination, many microbes aid plants by boosting their resistance to pathogens, and pollinators are… well, they’re pollinators. It’s all good. These are the good guys, and the leaf litter helps them out.
- ESPN. If you don’t rake the leaves in your garden, you’ll have a lot more La-Z-Boy time, plus total control of the remote. This is a critical consideration. I’m serious about this. Leaf raking, particularly if you’ve got a lot of it to do, is strenuous work. If there’s even the slightest chance that you might do yourself harm by over-exerting yourself, then you’ve just gotta chill. Put a ball game on.
Autumn Leaves: Rake ’em or Forget ’em? I Say “Rake ’em!” Here are the Benefits to Raking the Leaves from Your Garden
There is a set of conditions to which my own garden is subject, and which dictates the necessity for raking. Many of you readers and subscribers have told me that some or all of these same conditions exist in your own gardens. In these cases, it’s smart to rake up most or all of the leaf litter covering the ground.
- Rake if You Live in the Woods. My ornamental perennial garden is situated right in the middle of a deciduous forest. Deciduous trees surround the house and fenced garden, and their branches extend, in many cases, over the actual garden area itself. When the autumn leaves fall, they fall. It’s not uncommon for areas of my garden to be buried under a foot or more of autumn leaves. This is a serious problem. And one huge reason is that this unnaturally thick blanket of overlapping leaves creates a waterproof “tarp” which prevents critical moisture from reaching the soil’s surface, and the roots of the plants themselves, over the course of the fall and winter. The leaves remain waterproof throughout much of this time due to the presence, on the surface of each downed leaf, of a waxy substance known as the cuticle. This substance is secreted by green and healthy leaves, and allows each one to carry on its vital functions (respiration, transpiration, photosynthesis, etc) by preventing it from becoming waterlogged and soggy. After these leaves drop from the trees in the fall, the cuticle remains for a long period of time. The end result is a waterproof blanket, covering the ground and preventing moisture from reaching the soil. Not good.
- Rake if You’ve Got Oak Leaves Covering the Ground in Your Garden. Or beech or chestnut leaves. The leaves of all three of these trees are rich in organic compounds known as tannins (polyphenolic biomolecules) and lignins (organic polymers). These essentially function as, among other things, highly effective preservatives. The presence of tannins and lignins in oak leaves, for example, ensures that they will not quickly decompose. Trust me on this one. Oak leaves laying on the ground in my garden do not decompose. They do not bestow enrichment upon the soil. They do not pass Go. They do not collect two-hundred bucks. They cover the land in a permanent, impermeable brown carpet. My garden is surrounded by oak trees. I rake them up every year. No exceptions.
- Rake if Tunneling Critters Live on Your Land. My garden is surrounded by, and occasionally permeated with, burrowing pests. Voles and chipmunks are plentiful here, and they love to eat the roots and stems of plants. They also like to operate in undetected fashion. Nothing provides cover for these adorable little bastards quite like a thick blanket of downed autumn leaves. If you’ve got these guys around, get those leaves raked up. Otherwise, these destructive rodents will wreck your garden while enjoying relative warmth and comfort, and in virtually total obscurity. After I rake, I look for evidence of tunnels in my planting beds and treat any affected areas with powerful, organic repellents.
- Rake to Prevent Mold and Fungal Plant Infections. Fungi, like those that cause plant maladies like crown rot, for example, can benefit from the insulating protection of a super-thick blanket of dead leaves. At the very least, the presence of those leaves serves as an impediment to treatment.
Of special note: When I rake my garden free of leaves, I’m always careful to preserve and protect any beneficial creatures/microorganisms which may be living in the leaf litter (and I always humanely capture and relocate any voles or chipmunks I might encounter when raking). I never mulch the leaves. I simply rake them into piles, bundle them in drop cloths, and deposit them outside my garden’s fenced perimeter among the trees of the surrounding forest.
Autumn leaves: rake ’em or forget ’em? Good points both ways. But opting to protect your garden from burrowing marauders is a complete no-brainer. All natural I Must Garden Professional Strength Mole & Vole Repellent is one of my very favorite burrowing pest repellents, and one of my top picks in my burrowing animal repellent Top 10 List. Order this highly effective product here, directly from Amazon, by clicking the Amazon #advertisement link.
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Autumn leaves: rake ’em or forget ’em? The choice is really up to you, gang. Assess your field conditions, and make the call. I hope this little guide has been helpful. You’ve got an overview now of the pros and cons. You know, in general, why it’s beneficial to leave them, and when it’s a better idea to get rid of them. As far as my own autumn leave situation is concerned, the oak forest which surrounds my house and garden makes the decision for me every year. It’s rake ’em all the way.
As always, I thank you kindly for your readership.
Cheers, and Happy Gardening!
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Our trees and shrubs are spread out over the property. Leaf fall stays mostly in place so it’s not such a chore. Also helps the garden. Plus some areas I don’t rake until late winter or early spring using the leaves as mulch.
My old house has a magnificent Sycamore. The size and shape of the leaves, the achenes and the camo bark make for quite a specimen. The thing is the leaves don’t all fall off at once. They seem to fall as they feel like all winter long, all spring, until the new leaves appear. (Always a few old leaves hanging on) I didn’t mind. An old grouchy neighbor did mind. Oh, boy. He minded! He would go out in his yard with a leaf blower and blow leaves into a pile complaining (yes, I could hear him) “Why don’t you rake those leaves up?” I finally said to him “Hey, you can come over any time and rake them up if they bother you so much. You’ll be raking all winter!” He never complained aloud again. Although, I could feel his death ray look even over the obnoxious sound of his leaf blower.
I say- decide what areas need raking (your outline above is very helpful) and leaf the rest. 💚
Wonderful thoughts, Lane – thank you! I appreciate your reading the article, and I really enjoyed reading your comments. I’m very familiar with the protracted leaf-dropping (and bark shedding) habits of those magnificent sycamores. I believe your response to your neighbor was entirely appropriate and spot-on. In my garden, the massive concentration of intimately close oak trees results in an often 18″ layer of waterproof leaves covering my ornamental garden. Raking for me is, unfortunately, a necessity. It sounds like you’ve got a perfect plan for your own situation, and you’ve definitely handled your grouchy neighbor in the best possible fashion. Thanks once again for reading the article, and for your excelllent thoughts. Cheers!
Please add Hickory leaves to your short list of things that should not be left on the ground! They decompose so slow, and will smother my grass, (even when mulched). After they fall, I pick them up with my mower, then burn them and mix the ashes into our sandy soil to help keep moisture in.
Thanks for the excellent info, Mary. It’s good to know this about hickory leaves. They’re such beautiful trees, I had no idea that their fallen leaves were so tenacious. I don’t have them growing on my land, but I’m sure that all of the RGG readers and subscribers who do have them growing on or near their properties will appreciate this information. I promise to incorporate this excellent piece of info in my next discussion of fallen autumn leaves mitigation. Thank you once again.
We lived lakeside in a forested area on 100 acres. In the fall, we put down a huge plastic sheet and raked what we could for a week and left the rest. After all, many stay on the trees a long time snickering that “hah, you can’t get me right now”. Since the area is so large in the spring there were still so many leaves on the ground that to a stranger it looked like nothing was raked at all. Yet, in the spring it was much easier as they had crumbled and shriveled. It was less effort to whisk them up and drag the sheet to a low area, cover it with dirt and move on.
Thank you for reading the piece and for your excellent comments, Natalie. Your methodology sounds absolutely perfect. I personally cannot imagine the work involved with tending to such an enormous expanse of forest. Our land is substantial, but not even remotely close to what you’ve got. My fenced ornamental garden area is the only portion of our land that is addressed (in terms of leaves and raking). Leaving the thick, dense, waterproof leaf litter in the garden is, unfortunately, not an option. Even then, I remove the leaves carefully and transport them to the forest floor on our land beyond the fence. In this way, any beneficial creatures hibernating within are saved. I completely love your gameplan, and I laughed out loud when you mentioned the leaves on the trees laughing down at you – I can totally relate! Thanks again for reading the article, and for taking the time to comment. I truly appreciate it!
We need the name of “powerful organic repellents” as we are overrun with chipmunks. Northern Virginia.
Chipmunks and voles are a huge problem where I live. There’s actually a link to my top 10 repellent picks in this article. For your convenience, here’s the link. And here’s a link to an article about using an excellent systemic repellent to keep chipmunks and voles from eating your ornamental plants. I hope this is helpful. Best of luck!
I have been wondering about this “to rake, or not to rake” issue. I think I will go with the first option!
Wise choice, Leafhopper! Thanks for giving it a read!
I always rake in the fall. Now I am praying for a strong wind to blow the rest away. Please do not tell my neighbors!
Your secret’s safe with me! Thanks for having a read of the article, Kevin – I truly appreciate it.
Autumn Leaves…. Reminds me that summer is over and winter is approaching ….. so sad to see summer and all those beautiful flowers go.
Well it’s an amazing written article, very informative …. Just learned a few things again from you 🙏Thanks for all this knowledge, God bless
You🙏You are an amazing writer and a brilliant teacher 🙏❤️🙏❤️
Truly, Roxxy, words are failing me. I’m so grateful for your incredible kindness, and for your interest in my writing. I simply cannot thank you enough. I agree with you about the end of summer – it’s always a bittersweet time for me, as well. Autumn is glorious, and winter definitely has its own beauty, but the colors of summer will truly be missed. Thank you once again, Roxxy – for everything.
Great answer to the question of raking leaves. All the pros and cons in a easy to understand and enjoyable manner.
Thank you so much, Rick. I’m glad you found it helpful.
Brilliant John,very interesting about the Oak leaves,and especially informative about the cute little Chipmunks and Voles 😂throughly enjoyed this piece,hope you are well,best wishes to you and family
Thank you so much, Tina. I’m glad you enjoyed it, and I’m glad it was helpful. Those little critters would have garden parties every night if I didn’t rake the leaves! Thanks again for your kind words, and for having a read of the article. All the best to you and yours, Tina.