“Leave” Well Enough Alone or Rake?

Johnny-on-the-Spot … by John Foster…

When my wife and I purchased the home we currently live in, there were just two trees on the property and they were at the far western edge of our property.

One of those two was cut down several years ago but there are now about 16 trees and bushes dotting the landscape of the palatial Foster estate.

The vast majority of these trees are Nature’s “orphans”; the ones that take root when a seed finds a cozy spot in a garden or along a fence row.

Several are now pushing 40 feet in height.

They produce wonderful shade in summer’s heat.

But they also produce prodigious amounts of leaves that float into the swimming pool when it’s open and of course, pile up on the lawn in the fall.

I understand a mature tree (60-70 years old) can have anywhere from 175,000 to 225,000 thousand leaves.

Since my trees are well short of maturity, I’m still guessing that means I easily have millions of leaves to contend with.

But that’s fine with me because I compost and mulch them with the mower.

However, it can be a job that results in sore muscles from raking.

It takes 360 leaves to make a pound.

By the time I get to dealing with them, they’re mostly brown and crispy.

This year, the warm, sunny days and cool nights produced a brief, yet colorful hue of red, orange and yellow leaves.

But they faded and dropped pretty quickly probably due to the extended dry weather.

While I don’t mind snow shoveling, I really enjoy leaf raking.

Those sunny, pleasant days make the job enjoyable and I enjoy the aroma of crunchy leaves.

I do miss the smell of burning leaves though.

As a kid in northern Ohio, we used to rake them into the ditch along the road and burn them.

But we didn’t have as many leaves to rake as I now deal with.

What determines leaf color?

That’s caused by pigments.

Anthocyanins are responsible for the reds and purples due to sugar and sap trapped in the leaves while carotenoids bring the yellows, oranges and browns out.

“Abscission” is the process leading to colorful leaves.

Cells at the base of the stems block the flow of nutrients and initiate the process of changing color.

By the way, red colored leaves need light so if you place something on a red leaf that blocks the light from it, before it turns red, the shaded part will turn yellow.

I also found out that the yellows, oranges and rusty-brown colors are present year-round but they’re just outnumbered by the green pigments.

Most of the leaves we’re familiar with only last a few months.

However, I have a pin oak tree in the backyard that refuses to drop it’s leaves until very late in autumn and they are slow to dry and break down, almost like this cardboard.

Leaf shapes are pretty interesting.

They can be rounded, oval, spear-shaped, heart-shaped or triangular.

Remember collecting those brightly-colored leaves and putting them between two pieces of wax paper and taking the steam iron to them?

All leaves have veins, petioles, blades, arils and mid-ribs.

The veins carry water, nutrients and sugar while providing support for the leaf’s shape

While some of us don’t like leaf-raking, I’m glad we have them.

They take the carbon dioxide we exhale and turn it into oxygen when they’re green.

They provide shade, protect tree creatures while converting sunlight into food for trees, through photosynthesis and they release nutrients back into the soil when they decompose.

Did someone say “Circle pf Life”?

Plus, some leaves lead to tea, while bay leaves add flavor to soups, stews and marinades.

We also use grape leaves as edible dish wrappers (dolmas) or stuffed grape leaves.

When’s the last time you ran through a huge pile of leaves or went airborne into a mountain of them?

Never mind all the bugs and critters you came in contact with.

Years ago, we had a huge a huge maple tree in the backyard of one of our northern Ohio homes and our daughters would rake the leaves into a “floor plan” and would bring the dolls and toys out to play “house” in the autumn.

I mix my leaves with grass clippings and such and that mess eventually breaks down into a dark, rich soil that jump-starts the garden and flower beds.

There’s that “Circle of Life” again.

Now, if we lived in the tropic or sub-tropics, we could be looking for “walking leaves”.

I’ve seen “walking sticks” but these walking leaves are insects that mimic the movement and appearance of leaves to avoid predators.

The largest can get up to 12 inches long.

I think the majority of this season’s leaf raking is behind me.

But in the fall, when the sun is out and the leaves are falling, I’ll be in the yard, moving those leaves to a new location while I work on taking Vitamin D the natural way.