#38 Winter Clean-up for the Wildlife

Winter clean-up for the wildlife leaves seeds behing — In previous years, this would be all cut to the ground. This year, we left plants on either side of the path.

Winter clean-up for the wildlife we call it. Mr. Finch likes the neatly trimmed landscape. Maybe it was Mrs. Finch – I usually can’t tell the difference and the madman was busy planting garlic, so I couldn’t ask him. This year we are trying something different – minimal cutback. After attending lots of lectures on nature, the madman is really excited about this. We aren’t just gardening for ourselves these days – we’re looking at the big picture.

Madman planting his garlic — As the madman planted his garlic, I was working on a plan for winter clean-up.

We have always liked to watch wildlife. But, when we attended the last Master Gardener symposium, we realized that our role was in maintaining balance in nature. If we didn’t have the plants, the wildlife wouldn’t come.

seedheads left by the madman during his winter-cleanup for the wildlife — During winter clean-up, we made sure to leave seed heads standing.

We Opened our Eyes

Last summer we followed the advice of one of the Master Gardener instructors, Pamm Cooper. We became much more observant. As we explored our little piece of the world and noticed things we had often passed over before. We examined leaves. Tiny eggs thrilled us. The dragonflies, moths and ladybugs excited us. Birds amazed us. And, when the madman saw a monarch emerging from its chrysalis, he felt he’d hit the jackpot. We were like two kids seeing nature for the first time and it was wonderful.

Monarch emerged from its chrysalis in front of the madman. — The madman watched this monarch emerge from its chrysalis.

Now, we are in the Persephone period – without 10 hours of sunlight, our garden has gone to sleep. At one time we would have pronounced it dead, but that was then and this is now.

Old Thinking

Then, we would have cut back the perennials and pulled out all the weeds and dead annual plants, leaving a clean, barren garden that would awake in the spring. We did clean out our vegetable beds this year – leaving nothing behind to encourage pests and diseases to hang around. But, that’s the madman’s department, and cleanliness is everything.

Old garden clean-up left little for the wildlife. — 2018 clean-up left our beds looking rather barren.

New Approach

Current thinking in gardening for the wildlife is to use native plants as much as possible and cut back as little as possible in the fall. As we discussed our new idea of let-it-be gardening, the madman suggested that we should keep our beds, “neat, but not barren.” While he was planting his garlic, I was trying to plan out our new approach.

By the time he buried his final garlic clove, I was ready to give him directions. I knew I would have to keep a good eye on him because he likes to get these cut-back jobs out of the way as quickly as possible. I sometimes see him as a blur of snip, cut, pull, and repeat. Then I hear the occasional “Uh, oh!”

Work Began

We started in the back beds. The madman’s first task was to cut back the morning glory vines from one of his potted larch trees. How we let that morning glory overtake the poor larch, I’ll never know, but that’s what happened. While furiously snipping away, the madman came eye to eye with a praying mantis. Interestingly, the praying mantis (Mantis religiosa) is originally from northern Africa, southern Europe and temperate areas of Asia, but became the Connecticut state insect on October 1, 1977. A beneficial insect for farmers, the praying mantis represents the importance of the natural environment.

Praying mantis drove home the idea of winter-cleanup for the wildlife. — This Praying mantis startled the madman.

Wow! You should have seen the two of them with their staring contest. But, seeing the madman’s reaction to his discovery convinced me I could relax. “I almost didn’t see him!” the madman exclaimed. I just smiled, knowing that the praying mantis had slowed down his snipping considerably. I think he suddenly understood what I meant by snip with care and cut only what you need to.

Keep the Chickadees Happy

The reasoning behind the let-it-be attitude is quite simple. We need pollinators, and we need to keep our Black-capped chickadees (Poecile atricapillus) happy. The American robin (Turdus migratorius) may be the Connecticut state bird, but in the madman’s yard, the chickadees win first place. All year long we watch these friendly birds grab a seed and disappear into the branches of the spruce tree only to come out and repeat the process. The chickadee has become a favorite of the madman. And, thanks to Doug Tallamy’s lecture at the Master Gardener Symposium, the chickadee is the poster bird for our current gardening methods.

winter clean-up for the wildlife ensures that this chickadee will be happy — Black-capped chickadees are frequent visitors to our backyard.

Gardening for All

In reality, we aren’t creating a truly native-only garden; just look at the madman’s cactus garden – not much native there except for his Prickly pear (Opuntia humifusa). But it makes us happy. Now, we have to make the native wildlife happy. In the past we would have cut everything to the ground and carried it to piles in the back. The piles were okay, but the cut-back was not. The beds looked neat, but there was nothing left to attract or keep wildlife.

Activating the Plan

This year we went about winterizing the garden in stages. First, we removed all sensitive potted plants, such as my Mandevilla and the madman’s citrus and cactus collections. Next, we pulled out most of the non-native plants like the madman’s Datura and castor beans.

winter clean-up for the madman means moving the mandevilla indoors. — When the Mandevilla stops blooming we will cut back to about 10″ to store in a dormant state.

Then we cut back anything hanging over the garden edge, just to make it look neat. We left behind most of the perennials, wildflowers and herbs with their seed heads. By leaving standing seed heads, we are inviting wildlife into the garden. We are also leaving any eggs untouched. And, by leaving some of the leaf litter and dead plants, we are providing hiding spots for things like insects, small mammals, frogs and toads. Any plants we cut back were piled just beyond the trees to provide cover for wildlife during the winter. The final wintering step was to fill in any spaces left in the beds by digging in the madman’s collection of potted conifers. This adds visual interest and keeps the plants safe for the winter. Sometimes they even give us support for the Christmas tree lights.

Winter clean-up for the wildlife involved leaving dead plants on the side — Side garden beds after winter clean-up: note the potted conifers interspersed with the seed heads.

Wildlife Liked It!

I was surprised to see how well our plan worked. Since we can see several of our beds from the warmth and comfort of our house, we have been able to watch the birds foraging through the beds and sitting on the stems to pick at seeds. We have been able to see small mammals scurry from the safety of the spruce trees to the cover of my back beds. And, we know that in the spring when the insect larvae hatch the chickadee and his friends will have the material and protein they need for nesting activities.

Winter clean-up for the wildlife meant leaving behind some plants for the birds. — One of our original garden beds as seen from the warmth of the house.

It looks like the Dark-eyed juncos (Junco hyemalis) are back from their summer vacation in the north. We have been watching the sparrow-like birds flitting around for a while, but now they are in the back beds. The wintering tasks are done. Looks like it’s time to relax and enjoy the show.

Cocoa is ready.

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