Putting the garden to bed
The debris debate — debris or no debris — that is the question
The latest word on the street about fall cleanup is — keep it to a minimum — leave the leaves.
That usually happens in my garden by default, but there was one year that I cleaned up the whole garden in the fall and did I ever appreciate that effort when the spring came. It was a joy to look out and have the green shoots coming up, their beauty unobscured by litter and mess.
The rationale for leaving the debris in the garden is that leaving it in place allows it to release nutrients into the soil it is sitting on as it decays, and allows it to protect the plants from winter damage by collecting snow and keeping the plants more insulated from swings in temperature.
In these parts, it is typically not the cold that kills plants, it is the successive freezes and thaws that do the damage.
In fact, you can choose a few plants that look great in the winter, like grasses, astilbe and sedum.
A push has been made lately to let people know that the leaf and litter also provide habitat for beneficial bugs that live in the garden and depend on it to survive the winter. This is multiplied if you choose native species.
So why clear it away? As I mentioned, it is hard to beat that clean look, and it is a way to avoid damaging the tender shoots when taking away debris in the spring. Another reason is akin to the habitat point — that is, it also harbours disease, so removing the litter may have that benefit.
But I want all the benefits, so my strategy covers all the bases. In the fall, I leave anything standing that will look interesting in the snow through the winter, and then pull away the messy dead plant material. Then I place the debris neatly back around the plants that are overwintering. I lay it flattened to the ground so that it can break down a bit, providing nourishment, winter protection and habitat for the critters through the winter.
In the spring, when the shoots are starting to emerge, it is a quick job to clear away the litter without damaging the shoots. I like to try to break it up a bit and work some of the litter into the garden soil. For the most part, the more organic matter, the better, and buried debris is less likely to encourage some of the molds whose spores infect new growth. However, if your plants were actually showing signs of disease, it is best to remove the plant material altogether.
Some other considerations for putting the garden to bed:
• Be sure to bring inside delicate bulbs such as dahlias, callas and gladiolus, and store in a dry cool place until spring planting.
• For the tulips and daffodils, a handful of bone meal sprinkled over a patch is good for their roots, which grow late into the fall and early in the spring.
• For delicate plants, or very exposed locations, it is wise to cover plants with a few spruce branches or some straw or seaweed. It surprised me to learn that this is to be done after the ground freezes. It is best to let the ground cool off, which will slow down root growth. If the roots grow too late into the winter, they draw down their winter reserves and may have a hard time recovering in the spring.
• Get a second use out of your Christmas tree. Small shrubs benefit from the protection of a used Christmas tree secured on their windy side in January.