Huey knows what's up in the ecological landscaping world! Here are two pollinator and plant-friendly options for what to do with all the biomass your garden has produced over the season. Optional but encouraged: play Pop, Lock & Drop It on repeat while working in your garden (or is that just us? We swear it makes the plants grow better).
Option 1: The Chop and Drop
What is chop and drop?
Chop and drop is pretty much what it sounds like: standing plant material is chopped down at the end of the season and dropped in the garden to decompose over the winter. This has a variety of benefits, such as improving soil health as materials break down and release nutrients, increasing moisture retention, suppressing weeds, and creating habitat for insects and micro-organisms.
How to:
Cut plants back a few inches above the base (see option 2 for details!), leaving roots intact in the ground.
Lay cut material on your garden bed-- either directly in place, or move it to wherever is needed.
If you have large pieces, they can be chopped up further so that they decompose faster.
Sit back and relax! The work is done for the season and you can let nature take its course over the winter. Congratulate yourself on creating some great habitat for overwintering insects and helping to nurture your soil and plants.
When NOT to use the chop and drop method:
This method is not suggested for diseased plants, which should be removed from the garden to prevent disease spread. Additionally, be careful about cutting seed heads! You don't want to spread weeds or other unwanted plants.
Option 2: Stubble- not just for your face anymore
Have you heard about this hot new trend for gardens? Instead of cutting everything back all the way to the ground, we're leaving a few inches of stem (AKA garden stubble!) to help insects that overwinter there.
Did you know that about 30% of our native bees nest in dead wood, branches, and plant stems? We still don't know exactly what plants are best for nesting insects, although hollow stems in a variety of sizes are a big draw! It's a great idea to keep an eye on your garden and see what stems are being used.
How to:
The best practice for helping insects is to leave your plants standing over the winter and cut them back in the spring. However, we know that's not an option for everyone, so if you can't do that here are some alternatives:
Choose some areas of your garden to leave standing and cut back others. This could be a good option if you have some high visibility gardens that you want to keep looking neat over the winter.
Cut back some of your plants, but leave some ornamental or strong-stemmed plants and plants with seed heads over the winter. It doesn't have to be all-or-nothing!
If you do cut back your plants in the fall, leave 6-12 inches of stem over the winter to provide habitat for stem-nesting insects.
When NOT to leave garden stubble:
Again, diseased foliage should be removed. Any disease-prone plants (such as peonies) should still be cut back completely.
Both of these techniques can be combined with a leaf mulch over the top (see our previous blog post for tips on that) to make your garden, soil, and local fauna happy!
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