Chris McKeown
| Special to The Enquirer
When the gardening season starts winding down, people who love working in the yard will keep finding things to do for as long as they can. Some people like to keep their landscape and gardens clean and free of yard debris. They will cut back any plants they can. They look at what they are doing now as a way of getting ahead for the next spring.
Is this the right thing to do? I always like to say there are very few mandatory rules when it comes to gardening. “Your yard, your rules” are how I see most things. With this being said, there are methods that will produce better results than others.
When it comes to the fall cleanup in your yard, cutting everything back and removing all debris is not always the best approach to take. This is because leaving the stems on your perennials and other debris in the garden can help insects and wildlife survive the winter.
So, you might be thinking that you are not a fan of bugs and wild animals hanging around your gardens. Why do they matter? Giving the insects and wildlife support in the winter is a great way of adapting more sustainable gardening practices.
Sustainable gardening is an environmentally friendly approach that protects the earth and its inhabitants by mimicking natural ecosystems, minimizing waste and conserving resources. It involves using techniques like composting and planting native species to attract pollinators. The goal is to create thriving gardens that benefit local ecosystems and contribute to a healthier planet for future generations.
Fall is a great time to start using more sustainable gardening practices. It will give you an extremely valuable reason to skip cleaning up your landscape this fall. Here are the reasons why.
Support biodiversity
You will be supporting biodiversity. Your dormant plants and yard debris helps to insulate and protect wildlife. Leaf litter and hollow stems provide critical shelter and insulation for many insects and small animals during the winter. This includes native bees, butterflies, moths, spiders and ladybugs.
Protect dormant insects
You will help to protect dormant insects. Many species of insects, including pollinators, overwinter as eggs, larvae or pupae in leaf litter or within plant stems. Removing this debris prematurely can disrupt or destroy their life cycles.
Provide bird food
The plants in your yard will continue to provide a food source for birds. Birds will feed on the seeds and the small insects found within the dead plant material during the lean winter months.
Return nutrients back to the soil
Fallen leaves and other plant debris act as a natural mulch, which slowly decomposes over the winter. This process releases valuable nutrients back into the soil, enriching it with organic matter and improving its structure and fertility.
When spring arrives, you also do not need to be in a hurry to get ahead cleaning up your gardens. If you are skipping the fall cleanup for reasons of sustainability, you should wait. You should wait until temperature consistently reaches 50 degrees, giving overwintering insect time to emerge.
There could never be anything wrong with becoming more aware of the benefits of sustainability. In doing so, must you change every way you care for your yard? Not at all. Remember what I said earlier: “Your yard, your rules.”
However, if you open yourself to learning, you might find that sustainability can make some of your gardening chores easier. This is very true when it comes to the fall cleanup.
I will admit that my knowledge and attention to sustainability has grown at a very fast pace in recent years. This is thanks to the great younger generation of employees we have at Bloomin Garden Centre. They are all very passionate about this subject. They opened me up to the positive values and, most importantly, they made it fun!
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