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As you transition your garden from fall to winter, you may be considering some garden cleanup. Before using pruning shears and rakes, consider all the benefits and beauty of having healthy perennials standing in winter.
The seed heads of many perennials, such as coneflower, coneflower, echinacea, and propolis, attract seed-eating songbirds like finches, sparrows, chickadees, jays, and jays to winter gardens. These winged visitors add movement and color to the winter garden. Best of all, you don’t need to refill and clean this natural food source.
Many of these plants provide homes for beneficial insects, including native bees and other pollinators. Many of these insects overwinter in or near the stems of perennials.
Native plants have evolved with many of these insects, birds, and wildlife, and most provide homes and food for native insects, songbirds, and wildlife. Echinacea, echinacea, coneflower, sunflower, asters, goldenrod, yucca, and Joe Pye weed are just a few of these native plants you might grow.
Leave evergreen and semi-evergreen perennials in the garden for the pleasure of winter foliage. Watch for and avoid disturbing the green leaves at the base of perennials like yarrow, shasta daisy, and ball thistle.
Leave edge hardy perennials intact to improve their chances of surviving a harsher-than-normal winter. The stems trap any snow and help retain any extra winter cover, both of which provide needed root insulation.
Remove any diseased or pest-infested plants. Removing it from the garden in the fall reduces the risk of these problems next year. Discard Do not compost this material, as most composts will not heat up high enough to kill them. Please contact your local municipality for disposal options.
Once the fall color is gone and the leaves die, remove the hosta leaves to reduce the risk of leaf nematodes overwintering on the canopy of the plant. It also eliminates winter homes for slugs and their eggs.
When reducing perennials in the fall, wait for a few hard frosts. In milder climates, wait for the leaves to turn brown and dry completely. This ensures that the plant stores all the energy it produces in the roots for healthy growth next spring.
Use sharp bypass pruning shears to make clean cuts on the stem. Sterilize tools by dipping in rubbing alcohol or spraying them with disinfectant spray to prevent the spread of disease.
Rake the leaves into the garden on the soil surface around the plant, not the side of the road. Fall leaves are great mulch that regulates soil temperature, suppresses weeds, retains moisture, and improves soil as they decompose. Plus, they’re free.
Wait to finish removing perennials until spring temperatures often hover in the 50s. This gives overwintering insects a chance to leave their winter homes. It also provides much-needed food for songbirds in the spring, before many of our plants start producing seeds and berries.
Once the garden is set for winter, you can relax and make plans for the spring garden.
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