By: Hedda Campbell
Inherently the verbiage fall and spring cleanup implies a level of tidiness that ecology does not actually require. Nature is not tidy. Often gardening involves tidying an outdoor space by way of removing debris and weeds. In actuality, in our efforts to tidy, we are often removing important soil nutrients, insect fodder, habitat, and various other life-giving resources from our soil. Soil, by definition, is a mixture of organic matter, minerals, gases, liquids and organisms that together support life of plants and soil organisms. Therefore, in order to maintain healthy landscapes, we must begin with healthy soils.
Traditional fall and spring cleanups involve removing weeds, cutting back perennials, removing annuals, and removing all debris from the top layer of the soil including dead sticks, perennial stalks and leaf litter by blowing, raking and removal. Typically a layer of fresh mulch of some variety is applied, often heavily for weed suppression, and then the garden is left looking tidy. This type of spring and fall cleanup is in fact rather sterile and does not take into account the variety of ecological systems at play.
Observe.
One extremely important first step is to take a moment to see what is going on on the site as each site can be unique and have different needs, ecologically speaking. Asking some basic questions can help with decision making and prioritization.
Are there woods nearby? What type of mammals, birds, amphibians and insects are enjoying this environment? What insects have you observed on the property and are they benefiting the ecosystem or making a neutral or negative contribution? Have you noticed nest sites for birds, small mammals or insects?
There is an area, for example, on the lawn where I live that is a westward facing slope and it’s home to ground dwelling bees that emerge every spring. You can observe them coming in and out of their hole. At first glance it simply looks like a lawn area, but when inspecting closer you can observe the holes and the bees coming in and out.
I see these bees on many of my properties and take note of the area so that I can give them some space and avoid disturbing the soil when they are active.
As another example, recently I observed this caterpillar chewing away at a small patch of nettle in a client’s garden:
This caterpillar happens to be Vanessa atalanta or the red admiral butterfly. Generally speaking, when we see insects devouring a plant, it’s instinctual to want to kill and remove the insect, assuming it will destroy the host plant. In this case I’m not worried about that. As many gardeners know, nettle is known to be prolific, therefore the caterpillar is unlikely to do serious damage to the nettle plant.
Now, of course, we can’t observe EVERYTHING so I try not to let myself get overwhelmed with the observations but simply notice and question if there’s something different I could be doing to support the life that’s happening. Often this process involves doing nothing and letting nature take its course.
Smart Sourcing & Pesticide Free Spaces
The more you can keep pesticides and chemicals away from your garden, the healthier your environment will be. Sourcing materials that do not have chemicals or other strange ingredients that will do harm is essential. Bagged soil and mulch can contain all sorts of unnatural materials from petroleum to plastics to pesticides that are not going to support a thriving ecosystem. While smart sourcing is often quite difficult, it’s worth taking the time on occasion to at least question the content of your resources.
Leave it.
Leave as much natural debris as possible onsite rather than removing it. When I am in a garden, I make small edits rather than big sweeping removals. This takes a bit more time and attention but certainly has great benefits. You can keep a light layer of leaves anywhere or focus on leaving a light layer in the garden and raking heavier areas into a pile somewhere onsite so it can naturally decompose. Also, leave as many perennial stems and seed heads as possible for literally as long as possible! Pithy stems are one hibernation habitat many insects utilize and seed heads will feed birds in winter/early spring. These will also provide aesthetic winter interest that is lost with cutbacks. Particular species that offer fodder for birds include, but are not limited to: coneflower, tickseed, milkweed, hyssop, sedum, teasel and various regionally native grasses and sedges.
It’s worth noting: in cases of disease and bacteria, especially in annual fruit and vegetable gardens, it’s important to do some removal to avoid spreading into the next season’s growth. Watch for disease such as leaf spot, blight, rusts, and mildews. You will want to remove decaying debris in these cases. Be sure to observe and identify first as some insect damage or soil deficiencies can look like a disease.
Mulch.
Whether to mulch, with what type of mulch and what time of year is a whole other discussion topic. One thing to note is that dumping a heavy layer of mulch on top of everything is not the answer. There is a mindset that exists that more equals better with mulch. I know this because I see it everywhere, all the time. It seems that rather than weeding lots of people and companies have resorted to extremely thick layers of mulch to smother weeds. This is great in theory but consider the definition of soil again. Healthy soil contains living organisms, water and air/gasses, therefore to smother the soil with a thick layer of mulch is also to smother the possibility of allowing the insects and organisms to do their important work. Some insects also require bare, well drained, loamy soil to nest in. For this reason, it’s valuable to leave at least some space without mulch.
Timing.
Especially in spring, timing is essential. After a significant amount of research I’ve settled on this: leave debris in spring until the nighttime temperatures have been at a consistent 50 degrees for 1 full week. It seems to be the current consensus that if we do this, we will avoid disturbing overwintering pollinators who will be in various stages of their life cycles amongst the debris.
To weed or not to weed.
Being able to identify keystone species while providing maintenance is a huge step. Often plants like milkweed, goldenrod and asters are weeded to create a tidy garden. These plants are heavy lifters when it comes to ecology. Wild strawberries support a variety of pollinating insects such as sweat bees, mason bees, cuckoo bees, syrphid flies, butterflies, and moths. Violets, a plant that often gets weeded, are the only host plant for all fritillary butterflies! Here is an example of a section of a fairly high maintenance garden that I’ve allowed goldenrod and asters to thrive in one back section.
Here’s another example of a garden that utilizes wild strawberries as a groundcover.
The take home message I’m hoping to convey is to observe first and maybe don’t stress about getting every leaf out of your garden! Sometimes the best maintenance is to do less, not more. We need to break our habits of cleanup and removal of everything that could provide nutrients, habitat and nectar. Insects depend on this, birds and small mammals depend on those insects and larger species depend on those birds and small mammals. We humans are simply a part of this beautiful system and through observation we can be great stewards right in our backyard!
Hedda Campbell grew up in Northern Maine picking potatoes and soaking up the wilderness. In 2008, they earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Maine in Horticulture & Studio Art. While studying horticulture, Hedda worked on farms in Maine, Montana and Honduras. In 2008 Hedda spent 2 years studying Permaculture Design and Education in Hawaii and Brooks, Maine. For the past 13 years Hedda has worked independently and with local Maine companies on a wide variety of plant care and design jobs: from back-porch container gardens to large property maintenance and landscaping. Currently Hedda has a small business in Southern Maine offering ecological gardening to many thoughtful clients.
