Whereas Cleaning up your vegetable garden after the season While this is necessary to prevent the spread of pests and diseases, there are also gardening tasks in the rest of your yard that you can skip or should delay until spring.
Gardening experts explain which fall and winter gardening tasks you should remove from your list and why skipping them is not only easier on you but better for the health of your plants, wildlife, and soil.
meet the expert
- rachel macko Alpha is the co-owner and founder of Wild Ridge Plants in New Jersey.
- Tabor L. Gifford is a customer experience and partnership farmer at High Country Gardens in Utah.
Do not cut grass and perennial plants
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Rachel Macko, co-founder of Wild Ridge Plants, explains that most people don’t need to do anything when it comes to handling dormant grass and flower stems. These grasses and herbaceous perennial plants are best left alone.
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food for wildlife
“The stems of grass and flowers serve many purposes. Birds like chickadees and sparrows will be looking for seeds throughout the winter,” explains Maco.
If you take the time to observe what’s happening in your garden during the winter, you’ll notice that many other birds flock to your plants to eat the seeds.
refuge for wildlife
Dead and dormant plants also provide shelter to wildlife and beneficial insects. Maco explains that plants with hollow stems can serve as overwintering grounds and nesting grounds for native pollinators. Tabor Gifford, Partnership Cultivator at High Country Gardens, explains how birds often use grass for shelter.
Wait to harvest the plants until the corms emerge in the spring.
insulation
In addition to providing overwintering space for native bees and other beneficial insects, keeping perennial plants from cutting them to the ground serves another important purpose.
“The dead stems act as insulation for the plant’s crown, improving its hardiness,” explains Gifford.
beauty
Leaving plants standing is also a boon to the human eye – it adds winter interest to an otherwise bare and drab-looking landscape.
“Ornamental grasses add beauty to the winter garden, their seed heads catch low-angle sunlight,” says Gifford.
For mako, the favorites that stand out as winter beauties are: little blue ,Schizachirium scoparium) with its coppery stems, native mints (Pycnanthemum spp.) with its brownish-rich brown color, and also wild bergamot ,monarda fistulosa,
stop pruning bushes
While winter is generally a good time to prune trees and shrubs, this does not apply to all shrubs.
“Like pruning spring-flowering bushes lilac And forsythiaThat blooms on old wood, removing flower buds,” warns Gifford. “Wait until these shrubs bloom in the spring to prune them, otherwise you will reduce the blooms.”
do not remove leaves
Other than removing fallen leaves blocking your lawn, don’t waste your time and energy removing leaves.
“Leaves are nature’s mulch,” says Gifford. “They decompose over time, enriching the soil with nutrients.”
Gifford explains how a layer of leaves protects garden beds from cold temperatures and lack of moisture during winter. Gifford also points to the role that leaves play for invertebrates as insects such as butterflies and moths overwinter in fallen leaves.
Do not use herbicide
If you’re struggling with invasive plants in your yard, winter is a great time to clear out overgrown areas. However, the cut stump method, where you apply a broad-spectrum herbicide such as glyphosate immediately after cutting to prevent the invasive plant from growing back, does not work in temperatures below 40°F.
The best approach is not to cut off the stems completely and to return in the spring when temperatures are between 60 and 75°F, cut off the remaining stems and treat them with herbicide.
delay in soil testing
If you’ve run out of time to test your soil, it may be tempting to tackle this task during the off-season, when you have more time than in the busy spring.
However, it is not a good idea to take soil samples during the winter when the soil is frozen. The sample should contain soil from different places in the area you want to test. If the soil is icy and thick, you won’t be able to mix it properly, so you won’t get a good sample.
Manually thawing the soil instead of allowing it to thaw on its own may introduce microbial activity, which may lead to inaccurate test results.
