Natural landscaping can make properties look beautiful and inviting. There is scientific evidence that sustainable methods have better results for our yards than the "conventional" ways of landscaping using chemicals and practices that harm pollinators and other wildlife .
On this page you will find advice from the experts, and the most important steps you can take to make your landscaping practices more healthy and sustainable for everyone.
Through the Seasons...
Take a relaxed approach to wildlife gardening
You don't have to fuss with deadheading. This is because our native perennials (which serve as both nectar and host plants) are adorned with extremely camouflaged butterfly chrysalises and moth pupae, partially grown caterpillars hiding in curled shut leaves, and eggs on stems and leaves. Also, many birds feed on spent seeds through the summer, fall, and winter. So maintain your gardens and layered plantings under trees and shrubs in a wildlife-friendly way.
Don't Rush into Spring Clean-Up
Begin garden clean up in late winter / early spring, after about a 10-day stretch of warm weather, until temperatures are consistently about 50 degrees F. This will ensure overwintering insects have the chance to hatch out. Not only will you attract birds looking for those insects as well as left over seed heads, you will start the season with a healthy garden ecosystem.
Wait as long as possible to rake leaves out of perennial beds and from under trees and shrubs. Many butterflies such as morning cloaks, and beneficial insects like ladybugs, nestle into leaf litter for the winter as adults, eggs or pupae. Luna moths spend the winter in cocoons that look just like a crinkled brown leaf. As you rake up your leaves keep a sharp eye out for these insects and do your best not to disturb them. Better yet, don’t rake these areas at all - this fallen material will break down and provide natural fertilizer for your yard.
Don’t mulch till last - there are many beneficial insects and pollinators who burrow into the soil to overwinter as eggs, pupae, or adults. Covering the ground with a layer of mulch too early in the spring may block their emergence. Hold off on mulching until early summer when seedlings have emerged; and then use natural mulch such as untreated grass clippings, leaves and pine needles.
Create Homes for Native Bees
Leave some “stem stubble”. Break off substantial stems at a height of 12-15" for native bees that nest in cavities (many of our native bees nest in woody ends of plant stems.) These hollow stems will serve as overwintering sites for future generations of insects and the new growth in the plant will soon grow and hide them.
Prune with great care
When pruning back woody perennials or shrubs, keep a lookout for cocoons and chrysalises. Many moths and butterflies spend the winter in a delicate cocoon dangling from a branch. You can cut these back later in the season
Do Everything in June!
Try to get the garden clean up, divisions, new plantings, and mulching all done by late June, so that extremely camouflaged pollinator eggs, larvae, and pupa get a chance to survive and you have more time to study, document, and enjoy the garden and all its visitors.
Love the Leaves
Don’t tidy up in the fall, but instead leave your garden and layered plantings under trees and shrubs standing through winter. Leaves protect tree, shrub, and perennial roots; they break down and naturally and sustainably nourish your soil; they prevent erosion. Pollinators you’ve attracted will survive the winter, since many winter as an egg, partially grown caterpillar, chrysalis or pupa on standing vegetation or in the duff below it. Your spring-through-fall pollinator garden will transition into a winter bird garden. Birds will benefit from all the cover (plants left standing) and food (seed heads and overwintering insects).
Source: pollinator-pathway.org