Thursday, September 25, 2014

Step Away From The Leaf Blower


by Heather Holm

As fall approaches, the leaf blowers have already started up in our neighborhood. I could … tell you how important leaves are in the garden as a natural mulch and how they contribute to the organic matter in the soil. It’s what leaf blowers are designed to do that troubles me.

Remember the Three Little Pigs story? The big bad wolf (insert leaf blower) says “I’ll huff and I’ll puff till I blow your house down”.

Leaves provide habitat for so many organisms during the different stages of their lifecycles. Without a good layer of leaf litter left on the ground, we are severing so many of the connections in the food and plant web in our ecosystems. Leaves provide much-needed protection from cold temperatures during the winter months, as well as the fluctuating freeze-thaw cycles.

You'll be surprised at how many organisms rely upon leaf litter:  Read Heather's article.



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