How and When to Clean Up the Spring Garden: Pollinator-Friendly Tips

When gardeners see the first signs of spring, we feel a certain excitement, like an itch that we need to scratch. The only cure for that itch is sunshine on your face and dirt under your fingernails at the end of the day. The birds come out of hiding early, eager to start building new, cozy nests to lay their eggs. Other small animals peek out of their dens, and venture out to find a hearty meal after their hibernation. 

As the garden comes to life, it’s easy to get caught up in the process of cleaning up for spring. Before you start bagging leaves and mowing the lawn, there is one more important factor to consider. Pollinators hibernate as well. They take refuge, in their various forms, in all the nooks and crannies that nature provides. 

You may have noticed the birds flitting from place to place with twigs and string. Cherry and peach trees are also showing off their most beautiful blooms. But with all of the awakening and bustle, it’s important to consider those smallest of garden helpers. 

Pollinators often stay hidden away until the temperatures are consistently warm enough for their survival. For many of them, that won’t happen until spring is well underway. There are easy ways to adapt your clean-up to accommodate these tiny friends while still prepping for the growing season ahead.

Let’s talk about how to clean up the garden in a way that preserves and protects our local pollinators. 

Tip 1: Wait For Warmer Weather to Start Spring Garden Cleaning

I know that it can be difficult to practice patience in the garden. There is already so much waiting for seeds to grow on the horizon. While there are things that you can certainly get started on, there are other tasks that you should stick a pin in and come back to them when the weather warms up.

I know that as soon as a warm spring day shows up, I am out in the garden looking for things to prune, clear, and clean up. Sadly, the pollinators are probably not ready as soon as I am. For the tasks that affect their hibernation, hold off until the temperature is consistently above 50°F (10°C). This is when you can be certain that they’ve emerged and are looking for food. 

Tip 2: Skip Chemicals

One of the most important ways for you to protect these helpers in the garden is to avoid using chemicals. Pesticides are, of course, bad for all insects, not just the nuisance types. If you start spraying chemicals on your plants, it will deter pollinators and could kill the ones that are already present. Remember that these creatures overwinter all over the yard in various spaces. 

Try to use physical controls as much as possible when it comes to pest control. Most pests should be in their dormant stages during spring garden cleaning, but sometimes, there are eggs to remove or affected foliage to treat. Removing these affected plant parts by hand will go a long way toward keeping the beneficial insects safe. 

Tip 3: Go Slow and Look For Friends

As you begin your work, practice restraint and watch for signs of pollinators still hibernating. Any cavity in the ground, leftover stems, seed heads, and other nooks and crannies are hibernation spots. Be aware of the garden spaces you’re cleaning in the spring and look for these winter homes as you work. 

Many butterflies overwinter in their pupa stage. They build themselves into a snug cocoon, and there they stay until it’s warm enough to emerge. Look for these chrysalises hanging in protected areas. Make sure to look underneath any outdoor furniture before you set to work cleaning it.  

Tip 4: Move the Leaves, But Don’t Throw Them Away

One of the first things you’ll want to do in spring is clear away the leaves from last fall. In the fall, we leave the leaves, because many small, important creatures use these leaf piles to keep warm in. If they are still hibernating, you don’t want to throw them out with the leaves. 

I’m not a fan of bagging and disposing of leaves in general. They make excellent mulch and, eventually, compost. Why throw away all of that useful organic material? If you must bag your leaves, please consider using paper bags, as these will biodegrade. Leaves in plastic bags will sit in landfills for much longer. 

If you want to clear the leaves away so that your lawn gets the sun it needs to grow, you can simply move them to a new location. I like to do this in the fall. We pile our leaves around the base of larger plants and trees, and they feed those plants as they break down. If you need to clear them away, that’s okay, too. Just hold off until the temperature consistently reaches 50°F (10°C). 

Tip 5: Plant Early Bloomers

Over the winter, pollinators do one of two things: they hibernate or they migrate. No matter which one they do, they have one important thing in common in the spring. They are ravenous. Monarch butterflies travel more than a thousand miles to reach their winter home in Mexico. They make the journey in reverse in spring, and it’s exhausting!

Female bumblebees make their winter home in holes in the ground, sometimes those left behind by rodents. Here they conserve energy until the spring when they single-handedly repopulate the garden with their offspring. They, too, need a wealth of energy to get this done. 

By planting things that bloom early in the year, you give these creatures a strong start to the season. Providing ample food sources will keep the bees and butterflies visiting, and help them reproduce to rebuild a strong workforce. 

Think about planting perennials that flower in late winter. Trees and shrubs are great because they produce a ton of flowers in a small space. This makes it easier to collect a great deal of nectar and pollen without expending a lot of energy flying around to find more. 

Tip 6: Keep Plant Waste in the Garden

Just the same as with leaf litter, there are other plant parts where pollinators spend their winter dormancy tucked into. Sometimes we can’t help pruning off material that is housing these creatures. We do it without even being aware. 

When you begin pruning and general spring cleaning in your garden landscape, keep the cast-offs close. Leaving the remnants of your pruning underneath plants is not a good idea; this is how pests and diseases stick around. Any diseased or damaged foliage should certainly go. Go ahead and toss it on the burn pile. 

For healthy trimmings, don’t destroy those potential pollinator homes. Move yard debris to a location out of the way and leave it there for a while longer. This gives those beneficial insects a bit more time to come out of hiding and take their place in the garden. 

Tip 7: Hold Off On Mowing

You may have heard about no-mow May. It’s sort of like no-shave November, but for your yard rather than your face. Depending on your climate, May might be a bit late to hold off on mowing. Here in zone 9, we do no-mow March. By April, we are well on our way to summer heat. 

You can adjust this timing to suit your climate. The concept is the same no matter when you do it. It’s great to hold off on mowing your lawn for an extra month for a very important reason—by delaying mowing, you allow some early wildflowers to bloom. These are an incredibly valuable food source for pollinators as they come out of hibernation. 

If you can stand the way it looks, leave those wildflowers to bloom first thing. By the time that month passes, there should be more than enough pollen and nectar to go around. Then, you can continue your mowing and spring garden cleaning as usual while knowing you benefited the hungry early-season pollinators.