A Sustainable Clean-Up Guide for the Home Landscape
Let me take a moment to praise my new favorite plant for the fall – Goldenrod. However, I must tell you - whatever the season, I always choose a new favorite!
Enjoy a drive along country roads and farm lanes and enjoy the scenery. Walking is even better since you will have plenty of time to observe how many species of goldenrods grow in the same fields or hedgerows. At this time of the year one of the most common sights will be fields filled with goldenrod and asters. Asters come in many colors, ranging from white, through blue to dark purple. These are the flowers you will be seeing from late August through October. Take a dirt road and drive slowly and stop often to take in the beauty of Connecticut’s flowers. I have allowed the wild form to grow in the edges of my property and I have been enjoying the yellow highlights for weeks now, all effort-free.
Goldenrod also attracts pollinating insects - there have been bees, flower flies, ermine moths, monarch butterflies on my goldenrods. Remember, goldenrod does not cause hay fever, ragweed does and ragweed is not a pretty plant.
Now, getting down to fall clean-up, getting your yard ready for winter over the next two months could determine its success come springtime. Also how you do it may benefit local wildlife. Sometimes we tend to think about creating a desert in our garden and taking everything down in the fall, but we need to think about things that will benefit the insects and birds.
You can actually do less in your yard and let nature work for you. If it's possible, leave some perennials standing. It's fun to watch finches on coneflowers picking out the seeds. Liatris and other flowers that go to seed will provide food for wildlife. Watching birds can give you hours of enjoyment in the winter garden. Leaving flowers and stalks through the winter will also provide homes for beneficial overwintering insects which in turn are useful as food for birds and each other.
An environmentally friendly garden will always have lots of bugs in it. By leaving seed heads and some winter protection for birds and insects in your garden, you'll have lots of wildlife to enjoy this fall and winter. Milkweed pods provide seeds for food and flycatchers, vireos, wrens, some warblers, sparrows, orioles and finches will use the floss for nesting. You'll have more insects in the spring, too. Remember, 97% of insects are beneficial. It’s seems like an oxymoron, but the more insects your garden has, the fewer insect problems there will be. In spring, migrating birds will come looking for those insects and visit the garden that provides food.
When you simply must cut down perennial stalks, chop them into six-inch lengths (or so) and pile them in the garden as mulch with fall leaves. Stick piles give cover for wildlife, including overwintering butterflies like the Mourning cloak. The leaves and plant material you leave on the ground will mulch the garden and can be turned in to the soil in spring, adding important organic material.
But you will want to do some cleaning out. First, remove the weeds. Get as many of the weeds out now because they’ll reseed and multiply by the spring.
Also cut back and clean up soft tissues plants, like hostas, and remove all annuals. Annuals need to come all the way out because they can harbor harmful insects.
Cut down and discard diseased plant material as a hygienic step. Remove this spent growth; don't use it in your compost pile.
Vegetable gardens will need to be cleared of old growth, to assure the best conditions for next year's crop.
Dead head plants and shrubs that start too many unwanted new plants. An example is the ubiquitous butterfly bush. As far as pruning, in Connecticut it is best to not cut down the Buddleia until late winter, then cut to a foot high and it will re-grow beautifully next season.
Tropicals take a lot of care in this non-tropical area. I used to spend my October digging up, drying out and preparing to store cannas and dahlias and elephant ear. Plants that naturally grow here (and many are beautiful additions to your yard) will not take up your time, effort, and basement with the coddling that non-natives require. Do a little research and trade those labor-intensive tropicals for plants that grow in our climate naturally.
Your spouse or neighbors may ask why you've left some of your garden standing through the winter. It can take some getting used to, if you normally clear everything out of your garden in the fall. Take small steps at first. And while you're saving time by not cleaning out your garden, fall is the time to clean, sharpen and oil your tools. They'll be ready to make our spring work easier.
