How to Help Plants & Pollinators Survive Winter
Rainy Autumn days are so important for our health and gardens. Nature is telling us and our plants to slow down to prepare for Winter! Read on to learn 2 easy gardening tips to prepare your plants and garden for the cold & snows of Winter.
Why do plants need Autumn rains?
Did you know rain and cooler Autumn temps trigger amazing reactions from within plants cells?
(Don’t worry I’m not going to get all science & technical!)
ANYWY… Your perennial native plants are soaking up all this cool rain. As a result they are shifting into Winter dormancy over the 2 months. Dormancy doesn’t happen overnight!
Topsy turvy weather helps plants, wildlife and ourselves prepare for the Winter. Autumn’s sunshine golden filled days then rainy cold days help to survive Winter~ the sunshine helps them store energy and the rains trigger dormancy.
And for perennials …
dormancy aka sleeping through the cold days of Winter is everything!
Like this patch of New England Asters~ dormant & insulated under the snow from a week of -20* temps in January 2021.
See all the bird and bunny tracks? Those are the ‘seed crew’ not only did they eat the seeds to survive the cold but they also SPREAD them around my garden.
We had LOTS of asters blooming for pollinators in the garden that Autumn!
Want to help pollinators & plants survive Winter too?
Here’s 2 easy tips to help your plants prepare for Winter:
TIP #1 DO NOT TRIM or CLEAN UP YOUR PLANTS this Autumn!
Leave all the stems, leaves ect on your plants. Why?
Leaves, stems and other plant debris is plants versions of flannel shirts & coats— they protect your plants roots through WInter’s cold, ice & snow.
All that ‘debris’ you see as ‘untidy’ is someone’s home for the Winter— They hide insect eggs and hibernating insects~~ POLLINATORS for next years garden
** REMEMBER to never clean up your garden until June 1 or until temps are consistantly over 77* aka after all the pollinators have emerged.
TIP #2 WALK AWAY FROM THE WOOD MULCH & the landscape fabric
Wood chip or bark mulch used in garden beds blocks native bees access to soil. Landscape fabric suffocates the soil so no life can live in our soil—it kills all those microorganisms that create 'the soil conditions you want!
Mulch and fabric also block the doors of pollinator ground homes— those Queen Bumblebees won’t be able to pollinate your flowers if they cant’ get out of their holes!
What can you use Instead?
FREE leaves from your own yard! Nature’s own fertilizer, super bird feeder, weed blocker & insulator all in one!
** prevent the spread of invasive jumping worms into your garden: do not use leaves from elsewhere!!**
You can also use straw. BUT be sure to buy it from a local farmer and ask about their pesticide use. Avoid big box stores for not only plants but also straw that has herbicides, neonicotoids and other pesticides.
Mulching with leaves and straw helps plants to survive Winter but also feeds microorganisms and provides homes to pollinators. Native bees will be a lot happier if you do!
It’s a powerhouse way to stop weeds from germinating next Summer!!!!
DID YOU KNOW THERE IS A RIGHT TIME TO MULCH?
Yeppers there is …
Wait until your plants are completely dormant before you mulch with leaves or straw. This will allow your plants to take advantage of sunny Autumn days to grow strong roots before Winter!
Then in Spring, about early June, simply move the straw or leaves from around your plant’s crowns.
Look at that
A FREE & EASY PEASY way to protect pollinators and your plants!
Doing so will help control any unwanted ‘weeds’ and create compost right where the plants are over the Summer!
How do you mulch with leaves?
Once your plants are fully dormant simply gather leaves from your own yard and spread them on your flower beds. A few inches should make them a nice ‘blanket’ for the Winter.
But how will you know what plants are under the leaves? See my blog post for an easy trick!
Your garden will so pretty dressed in all its Autumn Splendor!
Then enjoy the rainy Autumn days..
Grab your favorite sweater & a cuppa tea. Then watch this great video about learning to love dead plants, bare spaces and nesting bees!
How’s that for Lazy Gardening!
What will you be doing with all the time saved from NOT cleaning up fallen leaves in your garden this year?
Tell me in the comments below!
Worried you’ll forget where your plants are under those leaves? See my blog post for an easy trick!
