NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — It's that time of year when lawns are covered in a bed of colorful leaves, and with the leaves comes the clean-up. But the U.S. Department of Agriculture is encouraging you to leave the leaves, and they may actually be a good thing.
As they decay, leaves fertilize the soil with organic matter — that's one reason conservationists say ditch the bag and leave the leaves.
"So the nutrients in the soil feed all of those insects, they feed all of the bugs — the things that then feed the other animals," said Brooke Basaran, a volunteer with Nashville Wildlife Conservation Center.
For animals, they also serve as a natural habitat when the cold weather approaches.
"Our amphibians, our reptiles have to be able to brumate throughout the winter and they can only do that when they're shielded from the elements with the coverage of leaves that fall from your trees," said Basaran.
But if leaving the leaves isn't for you, find sustainable ways to put them to work in your garden instead.
"Using those leaves and just adding them to your compost and constantly stirring that compost up is going to add those nutrients that are really beneficial for you to then use that mulch later in life for you gardens to grow the pretty plants that you want to see in your front yard," said Basaran.
