Leaf Litter is home to lots of wildlife
One of the best things about having a wildlife garden is that you have a natural classroom right outside your door where you can teach children to discover the wonders of nature and get to know the wildlife that lives there.
And, truth be told, they will teach you, too. By seeing the natural world through the eyes of a child you’ll remember what it feels like to be filled with wonder. You will take delight in the simplest of things. And you’ll discover that you’re never too old to play.
Centipedes, butterflies, and spiders are just a few of the critters that make their home in the leaf litter
C’mon, admit it, you’d really love to jump right into that pile of leaves right now and squeal with delight. Me too. Let’s do it on the count of three. One……Two……Three!
That was fun, right?
Children and leaves are a perfect playground. But there’s a lot of wildlife to discover hiding in those leaves, too.
Your wildlife garden is the perfect outdoor nature classroom
A while back I gave my 4 year old, favorite nature girl, Libby a handheld magnifying glass and a pair of binoculars and we went exploring. She really loves to look at bugs, especially with the magnifying glass. And then when I showed her that she could look through the “wrong” end of the binoculars and see the bugs really close she was ecstatic!
We walked around my wildlife garden looking for bugs. We turned over rocks. We looked under the leaves on the plants. And we dug through the piles of fallen leaves.
Salamanders live in the leaf litter
We found salamanders, spiders, centipedes, millipedes, worms, and many other types of insects. With every new discovery, Libby exclaimed with delight. And my heart was full of happiness.
I explained to Libby why the leaves are so important for wildlife:
- There is a cycle of life contained in the leaf litter and we destroy many forms of wildlife every time we remove these leaves.
- Many butterflies find shelter in the leaf litter, either in egg, pupal, or adult form, to safely wait out the winter and emerge in the spring.
- Leaf litter provides food and shelter to an amazing variety of invertebrates who break down the leaves, which feeds the soil and other wildlife.
- The deeper the leaf litter, the more spiders are supported. Spiders are an essential element in keeping pest insects in balance.
- Leaf litter is also home to ladybugs, salamanders, toads, and other predators of pest insects. It is no wonder that pests like aphids thrive when we continue to destroy the habitat of the predators that would keep them under control.
- Every spring these leaves are covered with birds who pick through the leaves in search of a tasty meal.
And now every time Libby sees those paper bags lined up along the sidewalk to be hauled away, she cries. She’s so upset that people are throwing away the butterflies and salamanders.
But, I’ve found a way to help her not be so upset. She is so thrilled to know that I drive around and pick up those bags and spread them around my garden. She and I love to sit on the deck with our binoculars and watch the birds picking through the leaves in search of a tasty snack.
And here’s another great play outdoors fun activity with your favorite little ones by Kelly Senser at NWF: Make leaf animals. This looks like so much fun, I may have to go out with Libby tomorrow and try this out.
So grab your favorite child and go see what you can find hiding in the leaf litter. You’ll be amazed. I promise!
Carole Sevilla Brown lives in Philadelphia, PA, and she travels the country speaking about Ecosystem Gardening for Wildlife. Check out her new free online course Ecosystem Gardening Essentials, 15 free lessons delivered to your inbox every week.
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About Carole Sevilla Brown
Your photos are beautiful, Carole. I wish we had more leaf litter here. We’ll have to make a trip up to the mountains and take a walk this fall. We’ll definitely be taking a closer look.
Michele recently posted..Castille Park- Where Imagination Runs Wild
Michele, you have plenty of things in California that we East Coaster are jealous of
I can’t wait to read about your trip to the mountains and see what you discovered!
Carole recently posted..Migrant Warblers in the Wildlife Garden
I’m with you, Carol. I haven’t raked for over five years, now, and love the way the insects and birds hang out in my gardens. Leaves also keep the soil moist during dry periods, plus weed seeds do not tend to germinate in this more natural environment. My native and non-native plants manage to poke through in the spring, and by early summer, most of the leaf litter has turned into a duff layer full of nutrients for my woodland garden.
Julia, every now and then I walk through the garden with a hand held rake and give the leaves a good stir to loosen them up. It’s always amazing to me that by the time fall arrives each year Mother Nature has disposed of the previous year’s leaves.
Carole recently posted..Migrant Warblers in the Wildlife Garden
What a wonderful post Carole. Even my teenagers will run through a pile of leaves………..kind of irresistible!
Our garden is carpeted with pine needles right now so we’ll be raking for the next month or so. We make large pines of needles more for jumping over than into-can be quite spiky!
We leave small leaf piles around the edges of the garden for wildlife. I love how informative this post is for little readers Carole.
Thanks for sharing.
Marghanita Hughes recently posted..YOUR NEVER TOO OLD TO PLAY
Marghanita, I was very inspired when I was writing this after reading your post “You’re never too old to play” Thank you for that!
Carole recently posted..Migrant Warblers in the Wildlife Garden
Like, Michele, you’ve made me jealous of leaf litter — we just don’t get much here in So Cal. But we’ll be making a fall journey to Yosemite & I will definitely make sure we all go exploring the leaf piles!
Debi recently posted..Favorite Places to Explore Nature in a Suburb of Denver
Debi, Yosemite is on my list of places I most want to see. I look forward to hearing all about your trip!
Carole recently posted..Migrant Warblers in the Wildlife Garden
ah Carole, so it’s YOU I’ve seen driving around stealing bags of leaves
It always cracks me up when I see that, but I love my leaves too and would probably do the same if I didn’t have plenty of my own…
Leaf raking season is so much less stressful when you don’t have to obsess over removing every single leaf that dares to fall….
I start the season out with about 2 feet of leaves in all of my beds. The reason I do this is because of the birds. I’ve had all of the Thrushes, 21 of the 30 commonly seen warblers, Wrens, Sparrows, Robins, and more picking through my leaves all winter long and into the spring. I don’t hang any feeders any more because I’ve given the birds a great supply of plants to feed from, and the leaves are a big part of that, too. The more birds I have on my yard list each year, the happier I am. And the more leaves I add to the garden each year, the more birds I have. It’s amazing!
Carole recently posted..Migrant Warblers in the Wildlife Garden
wow..21 types of warbler, that is amazing because I know they are shy birds…
They are very shy, but I pile the leaves up in front of the brush pile, and spread them under my shrubs. As long as they have enough cover nearby, they will venture into the leaves to find their next meal.
Carole recently posted..Migrant Warblers in the Wildlife Garden
I am going to try this (putting down a thick layer of leaves) in some beds in front of my house where I have seen warblers briefly in the past…it’s very shrubby and they can dive in and out of the shrubs, it’s the only place I’ve seen warblers and only for a second or two, they seem to know when you are looking and take off..
A wonderful post Carol! Leaves are the best free mulch I can add to my garden~I feel like Libby when I see the leave removal companies vacuuming the leaves from yards in my community. We need a national campaign to counteract “Big Lawn Business’s” message that we need pristine lawns for resale value! Gail
Gail Eichelberger recently posted..C&Ls Fall Happy Flower Trinity For Thursday
Thanks, Gail! Libby is an amazing nature girl, but all of us would benefit from taking a close look at the wildlife who are dependent on those leaves for their survival.
Carole recently posted..Migrant Warblers in the Wildlife Garden
I love this! I write a lot about nature being the perfect classroom and couldn’t agree with your post more!