A Day in My Woods - Leaf "Litter"

My developing woods December 14, 2019

A closer look. A basswood and silverbell in the foreground and a flatwoods plum behind them.  Wild coffee and Florida flame azaleas beneath.
My small deciduous woodland is heading into its first winter. As I took my morning walk around the landscape today, I was greeted by songbirds making use of it. A male Carolina wren and a winter-resident palm warbler picked tiny insects out of the leaf litter and I was once-again reminded of the power that decaying leaves give to a landscape. Each year, I look forward to leaf fall. I gather up the leaves that fall into my yard and I take the ones that my neighbors rake up and discard. There are few things more important to the understory of a woodland. They not only ameliorate the soil temperatures and feed my plants; they also feed the birds.
I find it perplexing that we label fallen leaves as litter.  Too few of us respect these fallen memories of summer for what they truly are - sustenance to the great web of life. My woodland is a long way from being the wildlife habitat I have planned for, but it is developing.  The leaves are a good start. This woodland is composed entirely of deciduous trees and shrubs for a reason.  I want the "litter."  As they fall to the understory, they will eventually decay and while they do that they will feed the millions of microscopic life that forms the foundation of a healthy soil. These, in turn, will feed the larger invertebrates that my birds will feed on and they will enrich the soil that will feed my plants.
As these woody plants shed their foliage, I will also get sun into the understory. I have planted 9 native Florida flame azaleas (Rhododendron austrinum) here and they need the sun to produce their brilliant orange blooms. I also have been adding wildflowers - several species of ironweed (Vernonia spp.), lyre-leaved sage (Salvia lyrata), partrigeberry (Mitchellia repens), and I have plans to eventually add several new species of asters (Symphyotrichum spp.) once they get large enough to move. I also recently discovered that I have a native wild ginger (Asarun arifolium) in a pot on my planting table. I had thought it was dead, but it fooled me. I will be adding it in the next few days. A woodland without winter and early spring sunshine in the understory cannot support these flowers.
It is said that the best time to plant a tree is 10 years ago. The next best time is now. For me, it was within a few weeks of my move here, October of last year. As a renter, I have no idea how long I will reside here in this landscape. My plants ground me here. They are as dear to me as any pet might be. I exult in their successes and it pains me when they struggle and die. To date, only one of them has perished and I am growing some seedlings to replace it. It may take several years for one of them to be large enough to add to the woodland, but I feel that I have the time to wait. As the existing plants mature, they will form a canopy over this leaf litter, but I will always have sunshine in the winter and early spring. I also hope to welcome a few more birds.

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