Experts from the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) reported that it's definitely better to leave your leaves, where they lay. Gardeners and landscapers know that plants grow better in mulched beds. Decomposing leaves contribute nutrients back to the soil, screen sunlight from hitting plants roots in summer, and protect from moisture loss due to evapotranspiration. But wildlifers are interested in the ground habitat that leaves provide. NWF says that worms, mammals, amphibians, reptiles, and many insects depend upon leaf litter in which to lay eggs or hide. Randall Hitchin, University of Washington Arboretum, says he rarely rakes leaves because "it changes the habitat, and makes it unfriendly for (insects)"(Dan Cassuto, KING 5 news, Nov. 3, 2015). Areas that are currently in lawn grasses can be easily converted to planting beds by simply raking the leaves to areas underneath trees or around shrubs. Thick layers of leaves will choke out the existing turf and become soil habitat in no time. And the surrounding trees and shrubs (and critters) will immediately benefit.
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