Gentlemen, Do Not Start Your Engines!
To the Editor:
It’s that wonderful time of year again. Crisp mornings, apple cider and donuts, fall foliage and lots and lots of leaves.
I would urge all fellow Newtonians to reconsider the amount of effort that’s put into removing leaves from one’s yard.
Yes, one has to remove leaves from the lawn hopefully using a mulching mower, and from patios and paths hopefully using a broom or electric leaf blower, but that’s the extent of it.
The leaf layer is its own mini ecosystem providing habitat for overwintering pollinators and other wildlife. Leaves provide your shrubs and flower beds protection from freezing and loss of moisture, protect the soil from erosion, help to suppress weeds, and finally maintain soil chemistry and fertility as these beneficial leaves decompose.
It’s ironic that we spend so much time and money removing nature’s mulch only to spend more money on fertilizer and shredded bark, which does not provide the same nutritional benefit as leaves, the following spring!
Check out Newtown’s Protect Our Pollinators propollinators.org for more information on all topics related to our pollinators.
Sian Nimkoff
Newtown
I am confused, what’s the alternative? Let the leaf layer stay on the lawn. I have 3 acres of grass and 2 acres of wildflower. The grass needs leaves removed or else it will die. You mention mulching power, which still involves an engine, or in my case two. I have a 30hp mower with a 12hp vacuum wagon. You mention electric, I do have one electric blower which I use as a bellow in an outdoor burn pit. I am curious though, your proposal for an electric blower would mean the consumption of natural gas and nuclear power across the street. Are you really interested in the environment or just want your neighborhood not to have any noise?