Submitted by Faye Mahaffey
OSUE Brown County Master Gardener Volunteer
A recent Audubon newsletter challenges gardeners to think outside the “tidy” box, saying,” a manicured lawn might look nice, but messy is better for birds and bugs.”
I have tried to limit how much I cut down in the fall. I leave all my ornamental and native grasses standing until spring, I only dead-head a portion of my coneflowers and black-eyed susans, and all the mountain mint stays until spring. I believe in being somewhat “tidy” but like to leave some seeds for the birds and bugs.
There is a certain satisfaction in autumn chores. Putting away the tomato cages, storing the planters, cleaning the potting shed, all seem like a rite of the season.
Tod Winston, Audubon’s Plants for Birds program, says, “If you want to make your backyard a welcoming winter haven for birds, some fall tasks call for a laissez-faire approach. Messy is definitely good to provide food and shelter for birds during the cold winter months.”
Other good autumn practices include:
Saving the Seeds. The seed heads of coneflowers, black-eyed Susans, and other native wildflowers provide a helpful food cache for birds. Grasses, like bluestems or gramas, also make for good foraging after they go to seed. And letting other dead plants stick around can fill your property with protein-packed bird snacks in the form of insect larvae, such as the fly and wasp larvae.
Leave the leaves. You can help birds and other wildlife-and save yourself some backache and blisters – by skipping the leaf raking. Winston says, “Those leaves are important because they rot and enrich the soil, and also provide places for bugs and birds to forage for food.”
If a fully hands-off approach doesn’t work for your yard, consider composting some leaves and letting the rest be. You could also rake them from the lawn to your garden beds or mulch them with a mower to nourish your lawn
Build a brush pile. Along with shaking loose showers of leaves, blustery fall days also tend to knock down tree limbs. Rather than hauling them away, you can use fallen branches to build a brush pile that will shelter birds from lousy weather and predators. You’ll find that the pile settles and decomposes over the seasons ahead, making room for next year’s additions.
Hit the nursery. When it comes to creating a bird-friendly backyard, it’s worth putting in some hard work planting native shrubs and trees. Cooler temperatures also make fall a more comfortable time to tear out some turf grass and expand your native plant garden. Native dogwoods, hawthorns, sumacs, and other flowering shrubs produce small fruits that not only feed birds during the colder months but can also provide a welcome pop of color when winter gets drab. Planted in the right place, evergreens give birds a cozy shelter. Fall is also a great time to get a substantial discount.
Have I given you something to think about? Is there a part of your landscape that you could leave a bit “messy” and help the birds and bugs? You have the whole winter to think about it!