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| As the plants go dormant in our gardens, many people feel the itch to “tidy up” by removing dead stems and other debris that are deemed unattractive. Before you do that, however, consider the wildlife that your garden supports. Many species rely on the fallen leaves and hollow stems left over from summer flowers to complete their life cycle! Instead of cutting everything to the ground to start from scratch next year, consider the following tips and insights when preparing your garden for winter: ● Leave the leaves! We covered this in our last newsletter, but here are some quick points to keep in mind: Leaf “litter” supports a diverse array of wildlife, including fireflies and their prey species, over-wintering chrysalises of moths and butterflies, and much more. Raking up and bagging the leaves also removes these crucial organisms from your yards. Mulching the leaves may provide nutrients for lawns and garden beds alike, but it also compromises all of the wildlife sheltering within. Relocate leaves from your grass lawns to the garden, if you must move them. The leaves will continue to provide habitat and will slowly break down over time to provide nutrients to your plants. That said, some perennials appreciate having leaves cleared from around their root crowns or basal foliage. Woodland species appreciate the extra material, but prairie species are adapted to having extra foliage browsed, burned, or blown away by the wind and may not tolerate being covered by too many leaves. Wetland species such as Great Blue Lobelia, as an example, also appreciates a clear root crown over winter. Take care with which garden beds receive your extra leaves to keep all of your plants happy. Use low fences (like wattles) to keep leaves where you want them in your landscape. ● As your perennials go dormant, you may be tempted to cut them back. Here are some things to consider when making those decisions: Keeping the seeds up all winter will provide important food for seed-eating birds and mammals, especially in our grass lawn dominated neighborhoods. They’ll also provide visual interest when little else is happening in your gardens. Aggressive seed-spreaders like Asters or Penstemons, however, may dominate your flower beds if left to their own devices. Selectively deadheading can reduce the amount of “thinning out” you’ll need to do in the future. For plants that must be trimmed or deadheaded, cut stems down to between 8 and 24 inches tall, as this will create nesting sites for many native solitary bees. Bees appreciate varying stem heights to choose from as well. Last year’s stems may already contain bee larvae, so removing them from your garden may remove the bees as well. Relocate any stem cuttings from high-visibility areas to a scrap pile in a hidden corner of your yard, if you can, so that they can continue to provide shelter and nesting sites for birds and insects. Hopefully. any bee larvae already in the stems have a chance to overwinter and mature next spring. Choosing to deadhead and cut some, but not all, of the stems in any given plant group, is a good compromise for maximizing bee nest sites, providing seeds for birds, and reducing seed loads in your garden. ● Selectively prune down fast-growing shrubs like American Elderberry or Pussy Willow, if desired. Those open cuts in the remaining branches will make great bee nest sites and the reduction in volume will keep your plant looking fresh. Even for shrubs that don’t need pruning, choosing to deadhead certain branches on shrubs with pithy stems will provide bees with nesting opportunities. A general rule is to prune ⅓ of the old stems each year. The cut branches can be used around the home or garden as decoration, used for a wattle fence, or as wildlife shelter in scrap piles. This will encourage fresh growth the following spring. For plants like those dogwoods that have great winter stem color, the younger stems will have the best color. Be warned though that branches driven into the ground as stakes may start growing into new shrubs of their own! |
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November 2024 Newsletter
