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 The seed heads of many perennials like coneflower,
rudbeckias, liatris and bee balm attract seed-eating songbirds like
finches, sparrow, chickadees, juncos, and jays to the winter garden.
These winged visitors add motion and color to the winter garden.
Best of all, you don’t need to refill and clean this natural food
source.
Many of these plants provide homes for beneficial insects, including
native bees and other pollinators. A variety of these insects
overwinter in or near the stems of perennials.
Native plants have evolved with many of these insects, birds and
wildlife and most provide homes and food for native insects,
songbirds, and wildlife. Purple coneflower, liatris, rudbeckias,
sunflowers, asters, goldenrod, yucca, and Joe Pye weed are just a
few of these native plants you might be growing.
Enjoy the winter foliage of evergreen and semi-evergreen perennials
by leaving them intact in the garden. Watch for and avoid disturbing
the green leaves at the base of perennials like yarrow, Shasta
daisy, and globe thistle.
Leave borderline hardy perennials intact to improve their chances of
surviving a harsher-than-normal winter. The stems capture any snow
and helps retain any additional winter mulch, both providing needed
root insulation.
Remove any diseased or insect-pest-infested plants. Removing this
from the garden in fall reduces the risk of these problems occurring
next year. Discard do not compost this material as most compost
piles do not heat up to high enough temperatures to kill them.
Contact your local municipality for disposal options.
Remove hosta leaves once the fall color fades and leaves die to
reduce the risk of leaf nematodes overwintering in the crown of the
plants. It also eliminates a winter home for slugs and their eggs.
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Wait for several hard frosts when cutting back
perennials in the fall. In milder climates, wait for leaves to brown
and dry completely. This ensures the plant has stored all the energy
it produced in the roots for healthy growth next spring.
Use sharp bypass pruners to make a clean cut through the stem.
Disinfect tools by dipping in rubbing alcohol or spraying with a
disinfect spray to prevent the spread of disease.
Rake leaves into the garden over the soil surface around the plants
instead of to the curb. Fall leaves make great mulch that moderates
soil temperature, suppresses weeds, conserves moisture, and improves
the soil as they break down. Plus, they are free.
Wait to finish removing perennials until spring temperatures
regularly hover in the 50’s. This allows overwintering insects a
chance to leave their winter homes. It also provides songbirds much
needed food in spring before many of our plants begin producing
seeds and berries.
Once the garden is set for winter, you can relax and make plans for
the spring garden.
Melinda Myers has written more than 20 gardening books, including
the recently released Midwest Gardener’s Handbook, 2nd Edition and
Small Space Gardening. She hosts The Great Courses “How to Grow
Anything” instant video and DVD series and the nationally syndicated
Melinda’s Garden Moment TV & radio program. Myers is a columnist and
contributing editor for Birds & Blooms magazine and her website is
www.MelindaMyers.com.
[Photo courtesy of MelindaMyers.com]
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