All About Magazine - Issue 14

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The monotonous drone of leaf blowers is the
background noise to November, flurries of fallen
leaves chased away from pavements and parks; a
whiff of petrol lingering in the air. Leaves blow into
shop doorways, unexpected encounters with nature
among the bright lights and advertisements, soon to
be swept away. A few weeks ago they graced our
trees; now they are litter to be vacuumed, a problem
to be tidied.
Away from towns, hard surfacing and worries about
slip hazards, autumn leaves slowly settle and decay,
feasted on by fungi, nourishing the ground beneath
the tree. Beetles, caterpillars, spiders and a whole
host of tiny creatures live under them; hedgehogs
make leaf nests to hibernate in.
Sunny days in October helped give us a glorious
autumn, with glowing field maple and silver birch;
the pale yellow of ash. In response to shorter days,
trees draw the nutrients from their leaves back inside
themselves, storing up energy for the following
spring. The chlorophyll which makes leaves green
breaks down and exposes the leaves’ other pigments
– red, orange and yellow.
Watching the leaves fall is one of the pleasures of
autumn. Sometimes a gale seems to blow them all
off in a night and you wake to the stark treescape of
winter. Other times a frost might finish them slowly;
the odd, golden leaf spiralling lightly to the ground.
Fallen, their glorious abundance provides nature’s
perfect playground.
Instinctively children scuff them back in the air, throw
armfuls of wet leaves at each other and roll in them.
Make the most of leaves: scoop
them out of ponds and
sweep them off paths, but
keep them in a heap or
under hedges. Blackbirds,
thrushes, wrens and
robins will feast on the
insects among them and
slowly, as they break down,
they will nourish the earth.
Autumn leaves
by Sarah Gibson -
Kids just want to have fun - fallen leaves provide nature’s perfect playground
Shropshire
Wildlife Trust
Newport branch of Shropshire Wildlife meet second Tuesday of the month at Church Aston Church Hall, Newport
ALL ABOUT MAGAZINE | FEATURE 53