Allow your faded fall garden to provide shelter and food for insects and birds this winter
Most of us were taught to get a jump on spring by commit the garden “ to bed ” in the evenfall . We ’re compelled to cut every perennial down to the ground , yank annuals out by their roots , and rake impart off beds and lawns . It turns out that for many of us neatness is overrated , and most of the preseason homework can — and should — wait until spring .
Traditional method are modify because our priorities have changed : aesthetics are tied to a higher purpose . Gardens , as cautiously design , maintained , and floriferous as they may be , are also living ecosystems , providing habitat and sustenance to all personal manner of wildlife . Many gardeners have become naturalists and steward , more likely to measure succeeder by the number of coinage of pollinator buzzing around their combination than by how enceinte those plants look together .
To fully hold nature ’s workforce , we ask to take animal life cycle per second into account . Many insects , bee , butterfly , moths , and spiders overwinter as adult , eggs , or cocoon pupae . Some need the isolate tax shelter of folio bedding material ; others attach to stems and twig . Birds too will use the plants in our garden as feeding Stations of the Cross , roosting site , and as cover from predator . So we should redirect the desire for tidiness into pattern that integrate the utility , as well as the beauty , of bow and source oral sex left remain firm to catch the hoarfrost and stupefy out of the C. P. Snow .
leave sculptural seed heads to form on purple coneflower ( Echinacea purpureacvs . , Zones 3–8 ) , brown - eyed Susans ( Rudbeckia triloba , Zones 4–8 ) , Japanese anemone ( Anemone tomentosacvs . , Zones 4–7 ) , and ocean Buddy Holly ( Eryngium planum , Zones 5–9 ) . Some will feed the hiss , some will self - sow , and all will provide winter interest group .
Given the insulating protective covering of their own stems , along with a thick layer of mulch , some tender “ annuals ” such as hummingbird sage ( Salvia guaranitica , Zones 7–10 ) and pineapple plant salvia ( S. elegans , Zones 7–11 ) may survive wintertime in the ground . If they do n’t come back , their origin will have started get around down , adding organic issue to the grunge .
Leave the leaves . Add shredded leaves to garden beds to play as shelter for hibernating insects and as insulate mulch around the Crown of perennials . Leaves may also be mow onto the lawn to break down and improve the soil .
Of course , not all wildlife is welcome , and not all industrial plant are wintertime - suitable . vole , which feast on woody plant , perennials , and grasses at ground level , are somewhat discourage by the photo of honest-to-goodness - school tidiness . If you ’ve acknowledge munching , clear leaves and mulch away from favourite plants . Also , you should dilute down perennial and annual that have been damage by fungous infections . And always clean rubble out from under diseased roses to prevent the spreading of blackspot .
experimentation . countenance some of the garden stay up this winter instead of place it to layer , and see for yourself how much beauty there is in the tribute and sustenance it provides .
— Kristin Green is the author ofPlantiful : part Small , Grow Big With 150 Plants That Spread , ego - sow , and Overwinter . She garden in Bristol , Rhode Island .
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Brown-eyed Susan seed heads in a garden full of winter interest.Photo: Kristin Green
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Japanese anemone seed heads catch the light in a fall garden.Photo: Kristin Green
Praying mantis egg case attached to a hairy aster (Symphytotrichum pilosum, Zones 4–8) stem.Photo: Kristin Green
These purple coneflower seed heads have already been picked at by goldfinches.Photo: Kristin Green
Pineapple sage blooming in a fall garden.Photo: Kristin Green
Place shredded leaves as mulch around perennials and shrubs.Photo: Kristin Green
Sea holly seed heads in a fall garden with teasel (Dipscacus fullonum, biennial) and bee balm (Monarda‘Clair Grace’, Zones 3–9) seed heads, and still-blooming hummingbird mint (Agastache‘Tutti Frutti’, Zones 6–10) and gaura (Gaura lindheimeri, Zones 5–9).Photo: Kristin Green
