More reasons to ban the blower

As California heads into our fourth and most critical year of drought, landscaping practices are undergoing more scrutiny in terms of how the care of lawns, gardens and parks use water, and how they contribute to the ever-increasing toxicity loads in the environment. If the health and respiratory threats to people and pets, or ear-shattering industrial noise levels aren’t enough to return to the humble rake and broom, maybe the threat to pollinators and important predatory insects will finally convince people to leave the leaves in a valley with such deep agricultural roots.

Leaf litter not only saves water by keeping the moisture in the ground, it provides critical habitat for organisms during various stages of their life cycles. Tree frogs, toads and salamanders need cover and moisture to survive and are not typically found living under conditions where they are exposed to extremely localized high-speed, petrochemical laden hot winds. Having toads in the garden is very beneficial as they prey on pests, slugs and snails, up to 10,000 in a single summer. Toads and other amphibians keep the pest population down and reduce the need for pesticides (that are later blown into the air for all to breath) or labor-intensive natural controls.

Soldier beetles are another reason to leave the leaves. Every spring a flying army of soldier beetles descend on my flowers and vegetables to rid them entirely of aphids while also providing invaluable pollination “services.” Blowing away the leaf litter destroys the protective covering for larvae, important food for other predatory insects such as spiders and ground beetles.

Native pollinators like bumble bees hibernate under the leaf litter in winter when all but the queens die off until she builds nest in the spring, again, under the leaf litter. Many native pollinators and predators that live in holes either in old wood or in the ground are adversely affected by the hot, desiccating gale force winds of blowers.

The entire country is now waking up to what life might be like without the tireless labor of the European honeybees, but native pollinators also play a vital role in our gardens and farms. As we become more committed to sustainable landscapes – and commit we must – reducing the detrimental effects of leaf blowers improves life under the leaves, which benefits us all.

Lisa Summers, Sonoma