Love those leaves!

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CATHY DUECK

CLIMATE CHAT

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Most of us are fond of trees. We find them beautiful, love the shade they give in summer, and learned in our childhoods that they help us breathe by providing oxygen. Recent research is also showing that they’re good for our mental health too, by helping us de-stress.

From a climate change perspective, trees are wonderful “carbon sinks,” pulling carbon out of the air and storing it in their wood for many years.

I could go on at great length about the many benefits of trees, but here’s the thing. It always seems strange to me that people get so annoyed about fallen tree leaves in autumn. They rush to rake up every vestige of leaves from their yard to get rid of them as quickly as possible.

Leaves aren’t garbage! In nature, leaves decompose under their trees to recharge the soil with nutrients and gradually break down into humus. Humus is a rich, dark material that is wonderful for holding moisture and nutrients in the soil. It helps keep the trees healthy. It also supports beneficial microbes in the soil—the very foundation of biodiversity.

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Tree leaves are tangible evidence of the carbon that trees remove from the air. In fact, tree leaves are roughly 50% carbon. You can benefit your yard AND help mitigate climate change by finding ways to use tree leaves at home.

One of the easiest ways to deal with leaves is to run your lawnmower over them on a dry day. If they’re chopped up into small bits, they’ll sift down towards the soil and decompose there, adding precious humus to the soil. That benefits both the lawn and the trees. A mulching blade on your mower is really effective at chopping the leaves into small pieces. And, you get bonus points if your mower is electric, and not powered by carbon emitting gasoline!

Leaves can be great insulation for flower beds, shrub borders and vegetable gardens over the winter. They help prevent the freeze/thaw of erratic winter temperatures on perennial plants. In spring, leaves can be dug right into the soil, or tucked back from emerging perennial shoots to continue keeping soil moist and cool.

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If you compost at home (and personally, I love my home composter), save some fallen leaves for layering between batches of kitchen scraps. The carbon in the leaves balances the nitrogen in kitchen and yard trimmings, helping air to circulate in the bin. This makes the material become humus more quickly, without the odours resulting from too much moisture. Leaves can be neatly stored inside a simple enclosure of chicken wire or hardware cloth.

And finally, if you still must remove some leaves from your yard, please don’t burn them or use gas-powered leaf blowers to gather them up. Burning directly releases carbon back into the air (the major driver of climate change), and gas leaf blowers also emit carbon by burning fossil fuels. Electric equipment is more climate-friendly, and the good-old hand rake gives you a workout without paying gym fees!

Our trees are treasures—from the tip of their branches to the ends of their roots. Let them help us even more by using their precious leaves.

Do you have questions or ideas to share about climate change? We’d love to hear from you. Contact us at: climatechatcp@gmail.com

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