Tending to the landscape

The end of October is finally in sight and the feel, look, and smell of fall is in the air. The trees and shrubs are quickly dropping their leaves as the colors change from green to varied hues of gold, red, and bronze. The mad rush to tidy and clear the landscape before winter arrives has begun. For many people this annual fall activity is what it means to tend to the landscape. This fall ritual is what we are expected to do. But when we remove the leaves, twigs and stems that remain from the last season, we are sterilizing the landscape and take away the potential for the growing season yet to come.

I have been growing natives in my landscape since 1996. Long before I understood the important role that dried leaves and plant debris plays in the life cycle of our native insects and wildlife, I left the leaves in my garden beds and the plant stalks remained standing through winter. I left the landscape alone because life was busy and I did not have time to “tend” to the typical fall activities. Through the winter and into the spring and summer each year, I would receive comments from neighbors regarding the many different species of birds, butterflies and bees visiting my yard. I assumed it was because my yard was planted with mostly native flowers and grasses. The native plants are certainly an important part of the equation however, I now know that my practice of “leaving” the leaves and stems and building brush piles in the back corner of my yard resulted in creating habitat for many native insects to overwinter successfully. Habitat is crucial for sustainability. During the cold winter months I now see the piles of leaves and twigs and standing stems as tending to the landscape providing safe shelter and food for wildlife..