A winter blanket of leaves is vital for many valuable critters’ cold weather survival.
Photo: K. McKeon
Leave The Leaves
By Kevin McKeon, Maine Master Naturalist
Nature’s critters have evolved specific physical characteristics and behaviors to help ensure their survival and continued existence within their habitats. So certain habitats are able to support certain creatures, and those creatures seek out those habitats. Whenever habitats are altered by damming rivers, cutting trees, human housing development and fire, critters of those habitats must find new suitable areas for survival. Concurrently, other critters may find the altered habitats suitable for their particular survival needs and populate these areas. Given sufficient time, many others may evolve physically and behaviorally to cope with their changing landscapes.
Some of the rather drastic and relatively recent habitat alterations that have caused challenging conditions for many of nature’s critters are the human activities relating to home ownership. For some reason, the idea of adding an artistic touch to our yards and gardens has evolved into the thinking that certain chores are required to maintain the accepted norms of a well-tended house lot. So, the mowers get used all summer long for manicured grassy lawns; specialized chemicals are spread to keep those grasses green and healthy; other chemicals are used to keep everything but those grasses from sprouting; water is sprinkled over our yards to keep the grasses green and growing. Then we get the mowers out again and again to cut it to an acceptable-to-the-norm appearance and pleasing height.
Ecologically, nice green manicured lawns are a biological wasteland where very few critters can survive. And although our autumn clean-ups of lawns, gardens, and flowerbeds keep us active and healthy, there are some late season chores that we might want to consider doing at a different time — chores that are better for nature’s critters if we were to adjust our timing a bit. One eco-friendly item to consider is reducing lawn sizes by setting aside areas for natural meadow plants to appear. Another is the evolving “leave the leaves” movement that helps the many valuable critters overwintering in and under the leaf layer. Without this protective layer, their winter habitats are altered to a level incompatible for survival. Most of us cut everything in our flower and vegetable gardens down to ground level, mow our lawn one last time, rake the leaves up, bag everything up, and take it all to the dump. The third eco-friendly action is the “No Mow May” idea. Let’s consider the effects of altering our behaviors a bit to help these habitats retain their support of some valuable critters.
Some butterflies and moths overwinter in their chrysalises, many of which hang from our flower and garden plants’ stems. Others lie protected in the leaf layer, and many others lay curled up in a leaf or in the hollow of a standing garden plant, awaiting spring. Many of Maine’s bees shelter in our yard and garden areas, and in soil that has been left untilled/undisturbed. Others shelter in hollow stems and tall, thick grasses. Still others wait out winter in and under pieces of tree limbs and logs. We all know how valuable ladybugs are to our gardens. These hungry beetles eat destructive aphids, mites, and other bugs AND their eggs – some even eat fungi! Again, these garden friends overwinter, often in large groups, under leaves and wood pieces, and nestled against rocks.
Many of these plants that we allow to overwinter as stems and flower/seed heads offer areas of interest and color to our winter landscapes. They also house all those insects and seeds on the sunflowers, coneflowers, asters, and others that offer a great food source for our overwintering birds. Woodpeckers, cardinals, chickadees, nuthatches, titmice, and others will grace us with their winter visits, adding life, color, and movement to a white, cold landscape.
What could we do during fall “clean-up” to help all these friendly critters? When it comes to our yards and gardens, nothing — wait until spring. When it comes to our lawns, we could set aside places where we don’t normally walk too often and create small meadows. Then, we do nothing again — no mowing, weeding, spraying, watering, or raking. And we get to watch all the pollinators we’ve saved flit around the native flowers like Joe-Pye weed, bee balm, bergamot, and the king of meadow plants, goldenrods. Simply forgo clean up until after spring’s weather gets to be around 50º or so; this’ll give our little friends time to emerge from their winter homes healthy and intact, ready to do those various valuable things that they do like feeding birds, eating garden pests, and pollinating our flowers and gardens after we do our spring plantings and seedings.
“No Mow May” is the eco-friendly movement gaining acceptance whereby lawns aren’t mowed until late June, giving emerging and overwintering critters access to the early blooming flowers like clover and dandelions. Without this food supply, pollinator populations are unnaturally stressed, decreasing their health and survival levels. A very short video explains how this “do nothing a bit longer” action can help maintain more vibrant wildlife ecosystems.
Also, this three-minute video introduces us to some thoughts by renowned ecologist Dr. Doug Tallamy, and his Homegrown National Park initiative. His writings, seminars, books, and YouTube videos show us the impact that our home gardens and thoughtful landscaping can have on supporting wildlife, and what activities can enhance the survival of our little backyard critters.
Doug Tallamy’s video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tt8qspvW4FY
Homegrown National Park: https://homegrownnationalpark.org/
No Mow May: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/36cIgzn9j28
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