Sustainable Neighborhood Network

Sustainable Neighborhoods Program

Your neighborhood. Your ideas. Your home.

  • Homepage
  • Information
    • Program Background
    • Overview
    • Goals and Target Areas
    • Certification Requirements
    • About Us
  • Lakewood
    • Applewood
      • Applewood Archived Forms
    • Belmar
      • Belmar Archived Forms
    • Eiber
      • Eiber Archived Forms
    • Green Mountain
      • Green Mountain Archived Forms
    • Lake Lochwood Village
      • Lake Lochwood Village Archived Forms
    • Morse Park
      • Morse Park Archived Forms
      • Morse Park Energy Project
    • O'Kane Park
    • South of 6th
      • South of 6th Archived Forms
    • Southern Gables
      • Southern Gables Archived Forms
    • Weir Gulch Gardens
    • Bee Safe Neighborhoods
    • Leave the Leaves
  • Denver
    • Baker
    • Barnum
    • Central Park
    • Chaffee Park-Regis
    • Congress Park
    • East Colfax
    • Greater Park Hill
    • Green Valley Ranch
    • Harvey Park
    • Highland
    • La Alma-Lincoln Park
    • North City Park
    • Villa Park
    • West Colfax
  • Fort Collins
  • Wheat Ridge
    • Applewood Villages
    • Fruitdale
    • Panorama Park
    • Paramount Heights
  • Sedona
    • Les Springs
  • Proposal and Credit Entry
    • Start a Project or Activity
    • Submit for Credit
    • Create or Update Outreach Plan
  • Donate

Leave the Leaves

Why Leave the Leaves?

Provide winter habitat for insects, invertebrates, micro organisms, bees, and other pollinators.

Enhance your yard and garden soil health.

Create natural mulch to help supress weeds and to retain water in your soil.

Keeping the leaves in your yard also reduces landfill waste and the resulting methane produced by decomposing organic materials in landfills. 

What are the best ways to Leave the Leaves?
If you're most interested in providing for insects and invertebrates, keep your leaves whole and rake leaves into flower beds, around the base of trees, or under shrubs.

If you're most interested in enhancing the health of your garden soil, dig leaves into your garden beds.

If you're interested in feeding your lawn and you don't have garden beds or open soil in which to rake leaves, use a mulching lawn mower to chop the leaves into small pieces in your lawn.

Resources and information from other institutions and organizations:

National Wildlife Federation
 
Xerces Society

Wild Seed Project

CSU Extension

SNN Links 

  • Program Background
  • Overview
  • Goal and Target Areas
  • Certification Requirements
  • City and County of Denver
  • City of Fort Collins
  • City of Lakewood 
  • City of Portland
  • City of Sedona
  • City of Wheat Ridge
 

Interested in Joining the Network?

The Sustainable Neighborhood Network is looking for additional cities, counties and other agencies interested in adopting the Sustainable Neighborhoods Program. For information on how your community can join the Sustainable Neighborhood Network contact us at the address below.

Contact Us

  • Info@SustainableNeighborhoodNetwork.org 
Sustainable Neighborhood Network - 2021