Riverview asks residents to forego raking leaves this fall for a good cause

Pardon the leaves, we’re helping the bees Riverview, N.B., encourages residents to give pollinators a warm welcome this winter by leaving the leaves on the ground.

Rudy Walters' front yard is currently covered with leaves and there are still plenty to fall from the big tree in his lawn, but even so, he’s put away his rake for the year.

Walters is joining others from Riverview, N.B., and across North America in the “Leave the Leaves” campaign.

“A lot of these initiatives are just simply leaving things alone,” he said.

Similar to No Mow May, which is an initiative that asks people to wait until June to cut their grass, Leave the Leaves is a fall pollinator protection plan.

“Riverview has been trying to lead the charge in the tri-city area in terms of sustainability and this is a really good way that somebody can get involved without a whole lot of effort. You actually help by not doing anything,” said Alicia Clarkson, a community engagement worker with a focus on sustainability for the Town of Riverview.

With creatures like the woolly bear caterpillar, luna moths and bumble bees top of mind, the town is asking residents to forego fall clean up for the first time this year.

“An average sized yard can have between hundreds and thousands of different organisms, there’s lots of biodiversity happening in your own backyard, whether it’s the creature themselves or the things that those creatures eat, that really depend on that leaf litter to survive,” said Clarkson.

As of October 1, the town has made yard signs available that state a simple message: “Pardon the Leaves, We’re Helping the Bees.”

The hope is that not only will individuals skip raking this year, but that the natural lawns and signs will help educate more people as well. Each one is equipped with a QR code that takes people to a pollinator information blog.

“I learned that the queen bee will actually burrow up to two inches under ground and stay there over winter, so having leaves on top of the ground actually adds an extra layer of protection for the queen bee so you could be looking at saving entire colonies just by not raking up your lawn,” said Walters.

He is currently running to be a town councillor, and says sustainability is the base of his campaign.

For him, putting a sign on the edge of his lawn for everyone to see and providing a warm space for pollinators just made sense.

The initiative is also timely, with researchers sounding the alarm over a warming planet and the effect it’s having on bees, birds and butterflies.

“Most of them are endangered to begin with,” said Clarkson.

“We’ve had massive loss of biodiversity in the past several decades and the more we can do to help the pollinators in our own backyard, the more we’re supporting our own local food system because the more pollinators we have, the more critters we have pollinating our gardens.”

Adding, “We can’t grow 80 per cent of our food without pollinators.”

Those involved also point out that it doesn’t have to be an all-or-nothing initiative. The town suggests that people could pile leaves in one corner of the yard, only rake areas that you need to access or gather all the fallen leaves and put them into your garden or landscape plantings.

Come spring, Clarkson says when the weather consistently climbs above 10 degrees Celsius for a week straight, the pollinators end hibernation, which is the safest time to clean up the leaves left behind from fall.

“It’s something that anyone can do to get involved,” she said.

“It doesn’t have to be an all or nothing and if you do want to do it, or if you feel pressured maybe to not do it because you live in a neighbourhood that doesn’t like that sort of thing, come grab a sign and explain to your neighbours why you’re doing it.”

Limited signs are available at Riverview’s Parks and Rec building at 55 Biggs Drive.

For more New Brunswick news visit our dedicated provincial page.