Fallen Leaves

Most years, we don't get snow before January, so we have lots of time to get the leaves raked, should we choose to do so. Today I started raking up some of the big leaf maple (Acer macrophyllum) leaves that currently carpet sections of the yard.

 

I do actually rake the leaves.  I am morally opposed to gas-powered leaf blowers. Why would I spend money on a machine and gas to do a job that I can do as easily by myself? Why would I forgo exercise and fresh air in exchange for exhaust fumes and contributing to climate change?

 

There is actually an argument for NOT removing leaves from your lawn. The recommendation is actually to spread out the leaves in an even layer over the lawn and then mow the leaves and allow the minute pieces of leaf to remain on the lawn to decompose and add their nutrients to the soil. For me this isn't practical. All my big leaf maples are in the wooded parts of the property and the only leaves I bother to rake are those that fall from the edges onto the lawn. It's easier to rake them up and put them in my long-term compost than try to spread them so they carpet a wider area.

[I’ll mention here that I employ 3 methods of composting. Firstly, kitchen scraps, eggshells, lint from the dryer and shredded paper go into a worm bin (see adventuresinvermicomposting.blogspot.com). Secondly, large volumes of kitchen waste, pet litter and compostable paper products all go into a large covered compost bin which I turn with a pitchfork whenever I remember, or otherwise just leave. Thirdly, I choose a spot in the woods each year to put yard waste and long-term compost. I leave it for 3 or 4 years and it breaks down on its own over time.]

The other reason to not rake leaves is that it provides habitat for insects and small amphibians.  A search on Google for “leaf litter life” reveals a plethora of videos and articles showing and describing the various insects, arachnids, gastropods, amphibians, and mammals that live and die among fallen leaves.  When I address the leaves on my lawn, I don’t do all of the raking in one day – not only would that completely wreck my back, but I feel it gives time for the animals to migrate if they need to rather than disrupting everyone all at once.  I love to see the birds rifling through the leaves and even tossing them in the air in pursuit of the creepy crawlies underneath.

One thing I have noticed about the fallen maple leaves in our yard is that they have clusters of little raised black dots around the edges and the leaf veins. 

 

With a little research, I have determined that these are a fungus called Rhytisma punctatum. This doesn’t appear to be harmful to the tree nor does it cause a problem with aesthetics while the tree is in leaf – the fungus makes its appearance as the tree is preparing to drop the leaves anyway.  If I wanted to get rid of the fungus, I would have quite a job of it since I would need to gather up ALL the leaves and burn or otherwise remove them from the vicinity of the trees before spring when the new leaves emerge.  Since that won’t be possible, we are embracing the fungus as part of the biodiversity of the yard.  (See Tom Volk of the University of Wisconsin’s Fungus of the Month blog for a discussion of Rhytisma.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

See also an interesting project involving a women’s corrections facility and Evergreen State college helping to study the the fungus in the Pacific Northwest:



http://blogs.evergreen.edu/sustainableprisons/blog/2012/12/12/butterfly-techs-at-mission-creek-helping-with-the-evergreen-environmental-observation-network/

 

Varied Thrush

This morning when I rose, I was surprised that the cat wasn't at my feet to greet me and politely request her breakfast.  I was afraid she'd gotten cooped up in a cupboard or closet somewhere.  I found her by the sliding glass door gazing intently at something in the back yard.  It took me a moment, but then I saw 3 Varied Thrush (Ixoreus naevius) getting their breakfast under the cedar tree near the children's play structure.  They were so well camouflaged that I only saw them once I stood very still and noticed them moving as they scratched for worms and bugs.

These are very shy birds who live in our area in the wintertime.  They live further north in the summertime.  I didn't get the camera out quickly enough to capture them today, but here are some slightly blurry photos of one that visited in March of 2012:

Lavender

I love lavender.  I love the smell, I love the color, I love the structure of the plant and I love seeing the bees go busily from flower to flower.  I love that it's a perennial and that the deer and rabbits won't eat it.  One of my goals as I plant things in my garden is to plant things that can take care of themselves with little further input from me.  I also want variety.

So far I have 4 different types of lavender in my yard.  I just planted the 4th this week.

My first lavender was, of course, an English Lavender.  It is small, but seems happy in a corner near the walkway to our front door.

It is Lavandula angustifolia "Thumbelina Leigh" which I purchased in 2009 at Squak Mountain Nursery in Issaquah.

My next lavender was purchased from our local Home Depot in April of 2011.



It is a Lavandula stoechas or Spanish (or French) lavender var. 'Madrid Pink'. It likes its location on a sunny, south-facing hillside.




My third lavender was purchased from a plant sale at Remlinger farm in May of 2011.

This one is a cross called a Grappenhall Lavender (Lavandula x intermedia cv.).  It has been choked a bit by weeds so it hasn't done as well as the Spanish one even though they share the same sunny hillside.

I found this informative page: Grappenhall Lavender at www.mountainvalleygrowers.com

My most recent purchase and planting was another Lavandula stoechas 'Anouk'.  I don't know if it has a specific variety.

I bought it from a wholesale nursery in Woodinville, T&L Nursery, that holds a public sale once a year.  This year the sale was Oct 6th, which was a glorious sunny day.  I finally got the lavender in the ground 2 days ago on the sunny hillside where the other one is doing so well.

And finally - nearby we also have a whole FARM dedicated to the growing and sale of lavender:  Woodinville Lavendar.  It makes me smile each time I drive by.

Pacific Northwest November

November is arguably the wettest month in the Pacific Northwest.  It is Thanksgiving weekend and we haven't seen the sun for several weeks.  Today, however, we were blessed with a clearish, slightly sunny day, so I jumped at the chance to get outside without becoming a drowned rat within 5 minutes of exiting the house.

Our property is on a hill, so at this time of year we always get a river running down our gravel driveway.  From a geologic perspective it is fascinating to watch the water carve a path through the earth.  I imagine the same thing happening on a much larger scale over eons to form the Grand Canyon and similar geologic features.

My project today was to re-establish the drainage ditch along the side of the driveway which I dug when we first moved into this house 6 years ago .  Unfortunately we don't have heavy machinery, or even a pick ax, so I used my trusty shovel and rake to clear away the vegetation that had grown and dig out the silt that had been deposited over the previous year.

It took several hours, but we now have a merry stream along the side of the driveway rather than a raging river down the center.