Garden Q&A: How do I ‘leave the leaves’?

Q: I’d like to try “leaving the leaves” this year. How do I start?

It can be as simple as leaving any fallen tree leaves where they’ve landed, except for sidewalks and driveways. If too many leaves smother areas of lawn, rake or blow them off the grass and onto garden beds or fallow vegetable beds – any areas with exposed soil or which need to be mulched to prevent erosion or discourage weeds.

Mowing leaves on a lawn chops them into small pieces that will fall between the grass blades and disappear. However, keeping the leaves whole provides more ecosystem benefits.

Studies by Dr. Max Ferlauto, a former UMD researcher and current state entomologist with the DNR, found that, over the long term, the soil retains more carbon when leaves are left on the ground to decompose. Releases of stor