Fall
Fall is a time when many of us feel compelled to tidy up our gardens when the blooming season is finished... and it's also a time a massive leaf removal throughout our community. Read on to find out how these practices are hurting our pollinators, fireflies, and birds.
Together, Let's Leave the Leaves and Create Soft Landings!
Oak trees are one of the most important trees in promoting the base of the food chain, in that they support a whopping 558 different species of caterpillars (moth and butterfly). So, with the city having an abundant tree canopy, and having committed to supporting pollinators, we are off to a good start with the "tree infrastructure!"
You may not know that it takes 6,000-9,000 caterpillars to grow one songbird nest to fledglings! That's a lot of caterpillars! Without caterpillars there would be no songbirds!
Maintaining spring/summer host plants for caterpillar larvae only supports half their life cycles. Once the caterpillars eat their fill of leaves from the oak trees 94% of these caterpillars fall to the ground, and either spin their cocoons in leaf litter or burrow into the soil to pupate underground.
By covering the ground under the tree canopy with mulch or grass it makes the soil too compact for the caterpillars to penetrate; and by removing leaf litter we are further disrupting the lifecycle of these very important creatures; ending their lives. In addition to moths and butterflies, leaf litter also provides crucial habitat for bumble bees, fireflies, lacewings, and beetles.
The city encourages you to consider taking steps to improve your landscape practices in ways that enable the caterpillars and other insects to complete their life cycles under the tree canopies. We can start by leaving the leaves under the trees, and then perhaps consider the intentional installation of life-supporting plantings (soft landings) beneath the tree canopies, such as native groundcovers, ephemerals, perennials, sedges and ferns, instead of grass or mulch.
Also, leaving your garden "messy" provides important stem-nesting sites for bees and other beneficial insects, and leaving the seed heads on plants provides important food for our feathered friends!
Leave the Leaves article from MBee Blog, The Buzz
