Megan Hall: Welcome to Possibly, where we take on huge problems like the future of our planet and break them down into small questions with unexpected answers. I’m Megan Hall.
This episode, we’re taking a look at raking. I have two huge trees in my yard and they dump a lot of leaves. Sometimes I wonder, what would happen if I just let those piles of leaves stay on the ground? We had Charlie Adams and Ashley Junger from our Possibly Team look into this. Welcome, Charlie and Ashley!
Charlie Adams: Hi, Megan!
Ashley Junger: Hey, Megan!
Megan Hall: So, in most people’s minds, Fall = leaf raking time. But is that true? Can we all spare ourselves the trouble?
Charlie Adams: Well, most people rake their leaves thinking it will help the grass grow and prevent plant diseases in leaf litter. But really, science paints a different picture.
Megan: Really? Raking is BAD for my lawn?
Charlie Adams: Well, leaving the leaves where they are might make it better. Experts have been praising leaves for their fertilizing abilities for hundreds of years.
Megan: What makes leaves a good fertilizer?
Ashley Junger: As leaves decompose, they release things like nitrogen, phosphorus, and other nutrients that help plants grow.
Charlie Adams: Around 90% of the nutrients taken up by a forest each year are recycled from fallen leaves.
Megan: Are there other benefits to giving my rake a rest?
Charlie Adams: Quite a few! To learn more about them I spoke with Dr. Desiree Narango, a Biodiversity Ecologist at UMass Amherst. She says…
Desiree Narango: “Leaf litter is incredibly important for supporting habitat for insects like pollinators and for birds”
Ashley Junger: Desiree says lots of bumble bees, butterflies, predatory beetles, and even tropical birds rely on leaves for their habitats.
Desiree Narango: “When you rake your lawn, you’re taking away all of these important habitats and nutrients and you’re completely removing it from the system….which might not be a big deal for a single yard. But we think about an entire suburban neighborhood or an entire city. That’s a lot of habitat that’s missing in an area.” nb
Charlie Adams: In fact, lawns are basically biological deserts. Letting your leaves stay in fall and winter makes them a little more friendly to all sorts of critters.
Megan: If all of this is true, why would anyone rake their leaves? There has to be some reason all of this got started?
Ashley Junger: Well, a lot of people value having a “perfect” green lawn over a healthy green space. Raking makes our lawns look neater, but that means they miss out on all of the amazing benefits of leaf litter.
Megan: You’re convincing me to retire my rake, but my trees drop a lot of leaves. I’m worried that those thick piles will create issues for my lawn.
Charlie Adams: It is true that if you have a lot of large trees, those leaves can build up and potentially lead to mold and larger insect populations. But in most cases, those piles will decompose on their own and the insects help this process along!
Ashley Junger: The bottom line? The best way for us to maintain our lawns in the fall could be to put down our rakes, turn off our noisy leaf blowers, and leave the leaves where they are.
Charlie Adams: As Desiree likes to say- you can do a lot of really great things for the environment by just being lazy.
Megan: Great! Thanks, Charlie and Ashley!
That’s it for today. For more information, or to ask a question about the way your choices affect our planet, go to the public’s radio dot org slash possibly. Or subscribe to us wherever you get your podcasts.
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Possibly is a co-production of the Institute at Brown for Environment and Society, Brown’s Climate Solutions Initiative, and the Public’s Radio.
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