Leaf mulch. Does it really make a difference?
Hello gardeners!
YES! Leaf mulch makes a huge difference to the ecosystem of the garden. Geographical areas prone to heavier than normal rainfall should keep a heavy leaf mulch in the garden. Once the leaves fall, they should be raked into the garden beds and left there. Here is where the real magic happens.
Damage from heavy winter rains in the garden.
The leaf mulch covers the soil and protects it from the effects of heavy rainfall. Too much water compacts the soil resulting in less oxygen for plant roots. The heavy rains increase surface erosion and leaching out nutrients. Healthy plant roots need oxygen and photosynthesis requires nitrogen.
The protection offered by leaf mulch also provides shelter for wildlife and insects living in the garden over the winter. The layer of leaves over the entire garden bed really adds an important layer of protection.
A significant change in soil health will be evident after one year of using leaf mulch.
From personal experience, the summer following the first winter I left a heavy layer of leaf mulch on the garden, I noticed more insects in the garden which led to an increased variety of birds in the garden. Now after four years. The growth in my garden is shocking. The plants that are flourishing are doing very well. Now to be realistic there has been some plant damage due to climate change.
This organic growth exceeds anything I previously achieved. Most gardens in my neighborhood have the leaves completely removed by mid-October. By comparison my garden looks like a jungle of growth. Leaf mulch is a huge part of that change. Previously I added garden compost annually. Trucked in, not created onsite, just to be transparent. The results are not close to what I achieved by using leaf mulch.
I simply left all the leaves that fell in the garden on the beds. Not just for the winter. Forever. In the summer I did pull back the leaf mulch from the edges of the beds to give the beds a tidy look.
Moving forward, I would love a means to chop up the leaves. I am going to try running an electric mower over some to see what the result is like. Unfortunately, in the area I live in, the November rains come just after the leaves drop so chopping soggy leaves is not an easy task. But I would like to find a method to chop leaf matter up, so it looked more intentional rather than simply leaving all the leaves in the beds. My thinking was smaller chopped up leaf matter would not blow away as easily in the heavy autumn windstorms.
I love plants and for me gardening has always been about the plants, however the last five years I have really started to enjoy the birds that visit my garden. When I first started seeing goldfinches visit my garden, I was so overjoyed. Their arrival is really a highlight of my summer gardening experience. Leaf mulch supports the ecosystem of my garden by keeping the birds happy, the soil healthy and the plants flourishing.
Rake the leaves, enjoy your garden and let's get our hands dirty,