The best ecological management of your fall leaves is to leave them lying around your trees and other plants, and to rake the leaves on paths and lawns into planted areas.

This practice leaves undisturbed the insects overwintering in the leaf litter, provides ground level habitat for other animals (including birds who eat the insects), protects the soil from drying out, protects plant roots by moderating soil temperatures, and feeds carbon and nitrogen back into the soil in the great circle of life.

Leaving leaves on a lawn will likely smother the grass, a great way to create more space for planting native trees and other native plants come spring.