Rethink your fall clean-up. Trade tidiness for resilience, and support our local birds, insects, and healthy landscapes. Photo by Carol Markham

Fall is a season of transformation. The air turns crisp, leaves shift from green to vibrant shades of gold, orange, and red, and our landscapes begin their slow transition into winter dormancy. As we watch these changes, it’s a natural time to reflect not just on the beauty around us, but on how we manage our yards. Fall clean-up is often seen as a chore: raking leaves, cutting back plants, and tidying every corner. But what if this season of change encouraged us to rethink our approach…both for our yards and for the natural systems they support?

Those fallen leaves covering your lawn are far more than debris. They act as a natural mulch, insulating soil, conserving moisture, and slowly breaking down into nutrient-rich compost that will nourish your garden in the spring. By leaving leaves where they fall, we’re supporting the tiny creatures that call our yards home. Pollinators like bees, butterflies, and fireflies, as well as countless insects, spiders, and worms, rely on leaf litter as shelter to survive winter’s chill. Even the smallest actions, like leaving a patch of leaves untouched, can make a meaningful difference in maintaining a healthy ecosystem.

Similarly, the dried stalks and seed heads of plants such as coneflowers, black-eyed susans, and native grasses provide critical food sources for birds during the colder months. Goldfinches, sparrows, chickadees, and cardinals feed on these seeds when insects become scarce. Instead of cutting every stalk to the ground, leaving some standing allows these plants to continue supporting wildlife well after they’ve finished blooming. What looks like “messiness” to us is nourishment and protection for countless creatures, an essential part of the yard’s ecosystem.

Fall is also an opportunity to step back and consider how our human habits affect the landscape. The instinct to rake every leaf and clear every garden bed comes from a desire for order, but nature thrives in cycles of decay and renewal. By embracing some untidiness, we allow the yard to follow its own rhythm. Leaves decompose, returning nutrients to the soil. Plant stems provide seeds for birds. Fallen branches and organic debris create shelter for overwintering insects. Each of these actions helps the yard sustain itself with minimal intervention while building resilience for the coming seasons.

Rethinking fall clean-up is also about efficiency and mindfulness. Bagging every leaf and hauling it away consumes time, energy, and resources. Leaving leaves in place allows nature to do much of the work for us. Soil is enriched naturally, wildlife finds habitat, and the garden retains a structural and visual interest that would otherwise disappear in a perfectly pruned landscape. Observing and responding to the needs of our yards, rather than imposing strict tidiness, encourages a deeper connection to the environment and an awareness of the cycles of life unfolding all around us.

Ultimately, fall invites reflection–not just of the trees and plants shedding their leaves, but of our own relationship with the land. The season asks us to consider what changes we can make in our habits to align with the natural rhythms of growth, dormancy, and renewal. By adjusting how we handle yard clean-up…leaving leaves, standing stems, and natural debris…we contribute to a healthier, more resilient yard and support the many species that rely on it.

This season of change is a chance to embrace a new approach: one that balances care with respect for nature’s processes. As the garden slows and colors fade, pause to appreciate the quiet transformations taking place beneath your feet. The leaves, the stalks, the seed heads…they are all part of a larger cycle that sustains life year-round. By rethinking our fall clean-up habits, we not only make life easier for ourselves but also create a stronger, healthier, and more vibrant yard ready to thrive in the seasons ahead.

Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy is a not-for-profit organization with a mission to preserve and enhance the quality, scenic beauty, and ecological health of the Chautauqua region’s lands and waters for our community. For more information, visit chautauquawatershed.org and follow us on Facebook and Instagram.