Rethink autumn cleanup to provide habitat for wildlife and insulate perennials
Autumn has come in the Mid - Atlantic and with it , beautiful garden colors . As leaves hang and works start to go to sleep , what do we do ? Traditional gardening dictate getting the pruner and pruner out to cut back everything that is not evergreen , remove all the leaves from the lawn and garden , and then kick all that waste matter to the curb . However , there are better ways to clean up the garden in the free fall that are well-disposed to the surroundings and just plain easier for the gardener . I spoke with garden manager Kelsey Skaroff and project manager Ryan Snyder at GreenWeaver Landscapes in Media , Pennsylvania , about how they approach fall cleanups for their clients . Here are some tips from those conversations .
Leave the leaves
Leaves are a wonderful source of natural mulch and can be left in the garden . If you live in a heavily wooded country , remove some is still a expectant option to denudate all of them away . Kelsey and her gardeners leave as many leaves as possible . They make indisputable there are enough to act as a stratum of mulch without smothering plants or creating a habitat for fungous growth . If the leaf bed is not too buddy-buddy , the leaves will generally decompose relatively quickly ( compare to hardwood mulch ) and provide a bed of insulation and a roadblock against coolheaded - weather condition sens . In the spring , if postulate , mildly rake the leaves away from any emerging plants .
Mulch mow
Ryan often has his crews mulch mow the leaves on the lawn . This is the appendage of fuck up out leave of absence , chop them up , and returning them to the garden . This option is good for those in the drug abuse of cleanse up their leaf and then add a new stratum of mulch in the fall or spring . The home gardener can easily do this by mowing the lawn one last time for the season . Rake or blow out the leaves from the beds and give them a rough chopper with the lawn lawn mower . Then return them to the garden . This process will tidy up the garden while leaving organic topic to enrich the soil .
Don’t cut back all perennial growth
Kelsey leaves many perennial digest for the winter in her clients ’ garden . As the company ’s house decorator utilize at least 75 % aboriginal plants in their invention , they realize the grandness of these plant as rootage for intellectual nourishment and shelter for insects and beast . For example , black - eyed Susan ( Rudbeckiaspp . and cvs . , Zones 3–9 ) seed heads are a food generator for the house finch , chickadee , and American Spinus tristis . While cutting back anything that tends to “ melt , ” like genus Hosta ( Hostaspp . and cvs . , Zones 3–9 ) or daylily ( Hemerocallisspp . and cvs . , Zones 3–10 ) , Kelsey believe that letting the garden go through its rude cycle is ecologically critical . She understands it is crucial for the garden to await great , but she further her clients to shift their perspective from call up declension and winter gardens look messy to viewing gardens as animated in all four seasons . She will recommend or add plant with winter interest . A few standby favorites are winterberry holly ( Ilex verticillata , Zones 5–8 ) for its gorgeous red yield , redtwig dogwood ( Cornus sericea , Zones 3–8 ) for its colorful root , and purple coneflower ( Echinacea purpurea , Zones 3–9 ) for its striking wintertime seed heads .
Eradicate invasives
Fall cleanup is a great time to look for trespassing flora species . While garden are being hold during the summer , these plants tend to grow on bound of properties and woods . Most are quite light to recognise . Wineberry ( Rubus phoenicolasius ) , burn bush ( Euyonomous alatus ) , and amur Australian honeysuckle ( Lonicera mackii ) are a few of the most common encroaching species here in the Mid - Atlantic . If plant are young , pull or dig them out . If they ’re older , trim them back and apply a small amount of concentrated brushing Orcinus orca on the novel cuts .
While many gardener need to put the garden to seam in the fall , there is still a life , thriving ecosystem among those spent perennial and layers of leaves . As nurseryman , we can find the balance of functional sustainably and beauty .
— Michele Christiano has worked in public gardens for most of her career . She currently works as an the three estates gardener maintain a Piet Oudolf garden .
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Fading perennials, late-bloomers, and crinkled autumn leaves provide their own unique interest as gardeners decide what to tidy up and what to leave standing.Photo: Mary Ann Newcomer
Some leaves are left in this garden bed to insulate perennials and provide winter habitat for insects.Photo: Michele Christiano
Blow leaves out onto the lawn and mow over them to create an enriching, homemade mulch.Photo: Frank Quinette
Black-eyed Susan and other coneflower seed heads feed a wide array of native bird species throughout the winter if left standing.Photo: Michele Christiano
Fall is a great time to work on removing invasives, as some of the most common species in our area, such as burning bush, are more colorful in fall and easier to spot. Photo: Diana Koehm
