7 Steps To A Wildlife-Friendly Fall Garden Cleanup
Green-up your garden cleanup! Biologist and gardener Lindsay Miller offers some easy and impactful tips to make your garden both beautiful and beneficial for wildlife this fall.
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Conservation and biodiversity protection doesn’t have to be limited to national parks, state forests, and large swaths of protected land. Yes, these huge spaces are absolutely vital for wildlife, but I’m here to argue that conservation can start small, right in our garden.
Successful protection of biodiversity relies heavily on our suburban backyards, cul de sac greens, hellstrip gardens, and all the little spaces in between. And that’s a good thing! That means each and every gardener, whether they have a 5-acre backyard or a 100-square foot balcony garden, has the opportunity to create an oasis for wildlife. Just think: If Americans replaced just half of their grass lawn with native plants, we could create 20 million acres of wildlife habitat!
It’ll take more than just hanging a birdfeeder or two to turn your garden into healthy, functioning wildlife habitat. Gardeners may even need to break away from their usual gardening habits. By making a few thoughtful adjustments to your garden practices, you can make your garden into a haven for wildlife.
Read on and glean a few tips for a fall garden cleanup that benefits the birds, bees, and everything in between.
Step 1. Cut Back on Cutting Back
Tidying up the perennial bed with a pair of pruners has got to be one of the most satisfying garden tasks (along with weeding, in my opinion!). Fall pruning can resize, reshape, and rejuvenate many shrubs and perennials. But, consider easing up on your pruning practices, and allow your garden to support wildlife well into the winter.
Instead of pruning away seedheads, allow them to remain standing through the winter. Dried seedheads provide a late-season source of nutrient-dense food for birds and small mammals. As a bonus for us gardeners, they also add plenty of interesting texture and structure in an otherwise bare winter landscape.
Coneflower, bee balm, blue false indigo, black-eyed Susan, and milkweed, have particularly charming seedheads. Many grasses, like big bluestem and pink Muhly grass, also provide wonderful fall color and privacy screening, in addition to nutritious wildlife food.
Leave some stems! You may be surprised to hear that those dried stalks and stems you normally can’t wait to chop down are actually quite important for wildlife. Several native bee species nest exclusively in hollow plant stems or stems that have pithy (soft, spongy) centers. Wild bergamot, Joe Pye weed, mountain mint, and even raspberry canes are all excellent hollow-stem plants.
If you must tidy some perennials, consider cutting stems only halfway down, or leave at least 8-10 inches intact. This will give your beds a neat appearance but still leave plenty of structure for insects to tuck away for warmth and protection.
Step 2. Make a Plan For Leaves
Fallen leaves are Nature’s cozy blanket, and they provide excellent cover for overwintering moths, butterflies, bumblebees, and other insects. When you scoop, bag, and haul away all your fallen leaves, you are not only “throwing away” potential mulch and compost material, but you are also removing important wildlife habitat.
Wanting to help wildlife but not loving the look of a leaf-covered lawn? Here are a few ways to strategically manage fallen leaves:
- Consider leaving at least some leaves where they fall, like those in back corners of the yard or other out-of-the-way areas. Rake up leaves from the front yard or immediately adjacent to the house and toss them in the compost. Dried leaves are carbon-rich “browns” that help balance out nitrogen-rich “greens”.
- Apply a layer of leaf mulch around perennials, where it will insulate the soil and provide a bit of cover for overwintering insects. Broadleaf evergreens like mountain laurel or rhododendrons are susceptible to drying out in the winter and may also appreciate a layer of protection.
- Cover any bare soil or empty garden beds with leaves. Bare soil is susceptible to erosion, compaction, and of course, weeds. I add a healthy layer of leaves over my veggie beds after they are cleaned out for the season then simply push the leaves out of the way when it’s time to plant in the spring. Leaves are hands down, my favorite mulch!
A common concern is that leaves will smother and kill the grass lawn. A particularly thick, matted layer of leaves can encourage rot, but luckily, most grass isn’t bothered by an inch or two of leaves. If you are still worried, a quick pass or two with a lawn mower will chop leaves up into small bits. Chopped mulched leaves aren’t as protective of overwintering wildlife, but they will help put organic matter back into the soil.
One spot where leaves should be removed? Rake leaves from walkways, patios, and other heavily trafficked areas. Once wet, leaves can make some surfaces slippery.
Step 3. Build Habitat
Doing a little garden renovation and wondering what to do with all that woody debris? If you don’t plan to compost it, why not create a brush pile?
A brush pile is a mound of branches, twigs, stumps and other clean woody debris (no treated or painted lumber). Brush piles are used to create cover for songbirds, small mammals, reptiles, and amphibians when natural cover is limited. Wildlife will happily use your discarded tree and shrub trimmings for nesting, winter shelter, and protection from predators.
One caveat for gardeners to keep in mind: Know your invasive plants and make sure you’re not accidentally spreading seeds or root fragments.
Step 4. Keep Trees, Even the Dead Ones
Trees don’t lose their ecological value once they die! More than 100 species of birds, mammals, reptiles, and amphibians rely on dead standing trees for nesting and shelter. Try to retain dead standing trees, or snags, whenever possible. If you live in an urban or heavily developed area, keep dead standing trees if they are downhill or leaning away from infrastructure.
If you do need to bring down a snag because it poses a hazard, consider leaving the log on your property. Frogs, snakes, salamanders, chipmunks, and mice, and more use fallen logs for shelter. Foxes may use large logs for dens. Skunks and other scavengers rely on the insects hiding in and under logs for food. Downed logs support fungi and insects as they decompose and feed the soil below. In short, dead trees support the whole food web, from top to bottom!
It’s understandable, however, if you don’t want a dead log laying across your front walkway. Relocate a fallen log to the back corner of your garden, where it can continue to provide for wildlife without being front and center of your home. Better yet, add it to your brush pile!
Step 5. Plant More Plants
It’s time to ditch the sterile expanse of lawn that supports very few species yet requires tons of water and fertilizer to maintain. And fall is a fabulous time to add more perennials, shrubs, and trees to your garden! Still-warm soil encourages healthy root development, and cooler air temperatures mean less drought-stress and fewer competing weeds. Fall-planted seeds will benefit from several weeks or months of cold stratification.
When it comes to adding more plants, think variety—both in size and seasonality. Plant layers of tall, medium and low-growing plants to support a range of pollinators, birds, and mammals. Trees provide canopy cover for animals to perch and hide. Medium-sized shrubs and perennials fill the understory, feeding pollinators and birds. Grasses and ground covers allow wildlife to forage and nest.
Plant a variety of plants that bloom at different times of the year. This ensures that there is always something in bloom, providing plenty of nectar and pollen for bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds. Fall-blooming plants like asters, coneflower, and goldenrod are especially beneficial for migrating species as well as those that overwinter in place.
Step 6. Now Plant More Native Plants
While we’re on the topic of adding new plants to the garden, let’s talk about native plants.
Native plants provide essential nuts, seeds, fruit, nectar, and pollen that local wildlife have adapted to rely on. Native plants have co-evolved with many different insects, which are not only important pollinators, but also the base of food webs and defenders of our gardens from detrimental pests. As much as we gardeners love to hate on the bugs, they are necessary food for birds, frogs, turtles, and more.
Supporting wildlife is just one perk of these powerful plants! Native plants are adapted to the local soils and climate, so they are typically hardier and more resilient than ornamental plants. Native plants can get by with less fertilizer, fewer pesticides, and generally less coddling than their ornamental counterparts.
Know your ecoregion! Do you live and garden in the cold and rocky northeast? Or is your garden located in the dry desert region of the southwest? Understanding your garden’s unique combination of rainfall, temperature, elevation, and geology will help you determine whether a lowbush blueberry or a prickly pear is best-suited for it. Choose plants native to your ecoregion, and they’ll be sure to thrive and support local wildlife.
Step 7: Skip the Chemicals
The studies are clear and plentiful: chemical-based pesticides and herbicides are detrimental to wildlife. Commonly available herbicides adversely affect 93% of our endangered and threatened species. Pesticides and herbicides have been shown to majorly reduce the biodiversity of aquatic organisms. Pesticides banned long ago are still detectable in soils and small mammals.
So what’s a gardener battling garden pests and weeds to do?
Roll up your sleeves and get to work. There are plenty of ways to suppress pesky weeds and deter insect intruders in your garden that don’t involve toxic chemicals. These require a little planning and, admittedly, a little labor, but they are safe and effective in the long run:
- Fall is an excellent time to tackle weeds via tarping and sheet mulching. Smothering weeds now will prevent them from popping up in the spring. I’ve had a lot of success removing crabgrass by employing a one-two punch of pulling up the grass by hand, then covering the area with cardboard and mulch. Several months of snow, mulch, and cardboard has kept it from coming back.
- Interplant strongly scented plants among your ornamentals and edibles. Heavily scented marigolds, rosemary, and chrysanthemums can help deter common garden pests like spider mites, tomato hornworms, and even ticks.
- Use row covers over your edibles to physically block insect pests, rabbits, and deer from chewing up your leafy greens and other veggies.
- If you’ve exhausted everything and need to turn to a chemical, apply neem oil. When used sparingly, neem oil can control insects like Japanese beetles, leafhoppers, spider mites, thrips, and aphids. It also reduces the spread of fungal diseases like fire blight and powdery mildew. All of this, and neem oil is practically non-toxic to birds, mammals, and bees.
Key Takeaways
Creating a wildlife-friendly oasis doesn’t have to mean forgoing a tidy-looking garden! Softening your garden cleanup methods can be as simple as foregoing the chemicals, leaving some seeds and stems, and being slightly strategic with leaf raking. A few simple steps can go a long way in nurturing your garden’s natural beauty and ecological resilience.
