10/3/2024: Ask a Naturalist: Is there anything I should be doing to prepare my garden beds for winter?

As temperatures cool and fall starts slipping into winter, is there anything you should do to prepare your garden for the coming colder season? Not much, really.

Leave the leaves that fall in your garden beds. Don’t chop them up, just let them lie as they fall. On, in and under the leaves, butterflies, bees and other insects at various life-cycle stages are taking refuge for the winter. If you leave the leaves, some insects will become a welcome meal for a foraging bird, while the rest will emerge as adults when the warm temperatures return.

For leaves that fall on your lawn, consider gently raking them into planting beds or an out of the way pile. Using a leaf blower can disturb the insects sheltering inside.

Leaves are also the best mulch you can have for replenishing nutrients in the soil. They are more effective than hardwood mulch for stormwater management. Leaves work like sponges to absorb and slowly release rainwater, while rainwater has a tough time penetrating mulch. You’ll save energy, too—yours and likely also fossil fuel, helping to mitigate climate change. As a bonus, they are free!

For the same reasons, leave your spent herbaceous perennials standing, too. Insects may be sheltering for the winter in a curled leaf, inside a stem or attached to a branch with silk—their own silk threads. Besides eating insects, birds will appreciate the seeds and fruit the perennials offer. Also, consider harvesting some of the seeds yourself to expand your beds or to share with friends.

Your enjoyment of your garden in winter will be enriched by the architecture of the standing perennials, the activities of the birds that visit and your thoughts of the butterflies and bees that will emerge in spring.

— Mary Anne Borge, Preserve Naturalist