Every gardener has certainly heard the rallying cry each recent autumn to “leave the leaves”, invoking us to go gentler with our cleanup to support a diversity of beneficial invertebrates who call the fallen leaves their home. 

Now a recently published research study calculates just what the impacts of leaf removal are to which organisms, and also offers insights into how and where in our landscapes we can leave the leaves to create habitat with the most positive impact.  

Max Ferlauto, the Maryland state entomologist, is one of the scientists who conducted the new research, and in March this year, Max and Karin Burghardt, an ecologist and associate professor at the University of Maryland-College Park, published research on the impacts of leaf removal resulting from their two-year study in 20 residential suburban Maryland yards. On the podcast we talked about their takeaways, and how the data they gathered can help inform gardeners seeking to develop their own more ecological fall cleanup plans.  

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