Rooting for Autumn: Preparing for your Garden's Winter Guests
Autumn has arrived!! Which is arguably the BEST season. There is so much to do and celebrate, and the world BURSTS into color. Sweaters come out, soup is back on the stove, and there is a wonderful excuse to make cookies and turn the oven on. Things just start to slow down and there is a shared notion to prepare for the freezing months ahead. However, autumn isn't just about preparing for winter - it's also a season full of opportunities to enjoy, care for, and connect with the natural world around us. This blog post will explore some ecologically mindful lawn care techniques, ways you can keep enjoying the garden, and some fun projects that are only possible in Autumn. At the end, you can share your thoughts about a possible new program in Yarmouth.
Leaving Leaves
Last fall, my friend and I were quietly driving through her suburban neighborhood in upstate New York, listening to the familiar hum of a Sunday morning. Along the lawns, leaf blowers roared, pushing great clouds of yellow, orange, and red leaves toward the curb. Children were raking the leaves into piles, and some people were shoving them into brown bags.
Out of the blue, my friend broke the silence.
“The leaves… MUST go.”
I couldn’t stop laughing, and she was right. That seemed to be the neighborhood mantra. Nearly every lawn had someone meticulously removing every leaf from their property.
Nearly every lawn. One of our Environmental Studies professors lived in her neighborhood. His lawn was still carpeted in leaves. He was also outside, but instead of clearing the leaves, he was bent over his garden, tending to the plants beneath them.
So, who was “correctly” gardening that morning?
In one sense, everyone was. Each homeowner was tending to their yard according to their desired aesthetics and goals. But that raises a bigger question: Where did we get the idea that a perfectly manicured, leaf-free lawn is the ideal landscape in the first place?
If you haven't already, I highly recommend checking out our blog post, Is the Grass Really Greener?, which provides some context on how the perfectly manicured American lawn became the standard. But, just because something has become the standard doesn't necessarily mean it's the only way.
Although yard waste only accounts for 1.4% of annual waste for the state of Maine, that is still 9,083 tons annually - or one Eiffel Tower worth of leaves! Discarding your yard waste is also a missed opportunity to take advantage of some fabulous resources. Leaves can help suppress weeds in garden beds, provide vital nutrients to plants (including grass) as they decompose, and provide food and shelter for a variety of critters such as amphibians, birds, mammals, and invertebrates. While we are preparing our homes and yards for winter, there are a few simple things we can do to help our non-human neighbors prepare, too.
1. Skip the blower and mulch your leaves instead.
Rather than blowing and/or bagging all your leaves, run your lawn mower over them and leave the finely chopped pieces on your lawn. As the leaf fragments break down, they return nutrients to the soil and provide a natural source of organic matter for your grass. If you usually use fertilizer on your lawn, mulching your leaves in the fall could reduce your need for fertilizer and grass treatments in the spring and summer - which will save you money!
2. If you can't bear the thought of leaves on your lawn, move them.
Gather your leaves and spread them over your garden beds as mulch. Leaf mulch can help insulate the soil, retain moisture, suppress weeds, and return nutrients to the soil as it decomposes. Even better, that layer of leaf litter creates valuable habitat for the small creatures that call your yard home. Insects and amphibians can shelter among the leaves, while decomposing leaf litter eventually becomes food for earthworms and the plants themselves.
3. Leave your flower seed heads standing.
Those dried-up flowers may look like they're past their prime, but to birds, they're a winter snack. Leaving seed heads on your plants provides a food source when other food becomes harder to find.
4. Don't cut back hollow-stemmed plants.
Those seemingly dead stems aren't necessarily unsightly to everyone. Hollow stems can provide shelter for overwintering insects, including native bees. Instead of cutting everything back to the ground in the fall, consider leaving your stems standing through the winter.
What about ticks?
One common concern about leaving leaves in the yard is that they might create a perfect habitat for ticks. Regularly mowing and mulching leaves on your lawn can help prevent the thick layer of leaf litter that ticks tend to favor. If you choose to move your leaves into your garden beds, consider keeping a clearly defined edge between leaf-litter areas and places where people and pets spend a lot of time.
Fall Gardening:
When I think of fall gardening, I often picture the end of the growing season: harvesting the last tomatoes, winter squash that is finally ready for storage, and preparing the garden for winter. But fall isn't necessarily the time to say goodbye to your garden for the year - in many ways, it’s the start of the growing season.
Have you ever bought a small plant at a nursery and wondered when you should actually put it in the ground? While it may seem intuitive to plant them during the height of summer sunlight, the heat and long days can actually make establishing a new plant more difficult. Spring and fall offer a gentler transition, with fall being the superior season for transplants. In the fall, the air is cooler, but the soil is still holding onto the warmth of summer, which means the roots will have time to establish themselves before winter arrives.
What should you plant this fall?
Native perennials - Once established, native plants are often lower-maintenance because they are adapted to Maine's climate and soils. As a bonus, they also provide food and habitat for local wildlife.
Spring-flowering bulbs - Tulips, daffodils, crocuses, and other bulbs need a period of cold in order to bloom in the spring.
Garlic! - Plant cloves in mid-October through early November for a harvest next summer
Trees and shrubs - Cooler temperatures and warm soil give their roots time to establish before the ground freezes.
Seasonal Projects
The holiday season is quickly approaching, and your ecologically mindful garden can be an abundant resource for thoughtful, homemade gifts and decorations.
By leaving the leaves on your lawn, you free up valuable time to truly appreciate this wonderful season. Take a look around your yard, or go for a walk around your neighborhood. Fall leaves, acorns, branches, and late-blooming flowers can all become beautiful materials for holiday crafts.
Make Leaf Art
I've been enjoying going on “leaf walks” around my neighborhood. Sometimes I set out on a mission to collect every color of the rainbow (yes, there really are purple leaves!) but most of the time, I simply look for leaves that catch my eye.
When I get home, I tuck them between the pages of a book and let them dry flat. Once they're pressed, there are all sorts of possibilities. I usually tape mine into a window so that the sun can illuminate them, but you could also mount them onto homemade cards or frame them as wall art.
Make Natural Dye From Acorns
Did you know that acorns can be used to create a natural dye? Instead of throwing acorns into the yard waste, you can collect them and experiment with making your own natural pigments and dyes. I found all stages of this projects satisfying, especially foraging for the acorns. You can also mix your acorn dye with iron to get a natural black dye! I have successfully followed this recipe.
Make a Fall Bouquet
If you're thinking about next year's garden, consider planting flowers next spring that will keep blooming well into autumn like Zinnias or Cosmos. There are some wonderful native flowering plants you could include as well to create depth in your garden in addition to habitat for beneficial invertebrates. Goldenrod is one of my favorite signs of fall and asters complement them perfectly. The Cutleaf Coneflower is another flowering plant that has lovely yellow flowers from July through September.
Make a Branch Bouquet
You don't need flowers to make a beautiful arrangement. Look for fallen branches or low branches that still have their leaves attached. Bring them inside and hang them upside down somewhere dry. Once they've dried, gather the branches together into a bouquet.
Sow Good for the Earth
Before you join the symphony of leaf blowers and rakes as the days get shorter, take a moment to rethink the traditional approach to lawn care. There are ways to prepare your lawn for winter that are both beneficial for humans and non-humans alike.
By gardening in a more ecologically mindful way you are supporting your neighbors - in all of the sizes that they come.
Quick Poll: Should we start a Resilient Yards program?
Programs like the South Portland Resilient Yards are designed to help residents create their own native gardens and support local biodiversity. The Sustainability Department is interesting in introducing a similar program here in town in the next year. Check out the link above and let us know your thoughts below! As always, you're welcome to share additional thoughts and ideas with Meddy, the Sustainability Coordinator by reaching out to msmith@yarmouth.me.us.
Would you be interested in a Resilient Yards program in Yarmouth?
Yes
No
Image found throughout this article were captured by Christy Phillips.
