Part of Our “Making Your Garden Work for You” 2016-2017 Theme Series

As we pass the mid-point of January, we enter the deepest phase of winter – which brings to New England the coldest temperatures and heaviest precipitation. A glance out your window or a brisk walk through your yard or a park, however, will show that winter is anything but desolate. Squirrels continue to scurry from undergrowth to tree, and branches are alight with a variety of overwintering birds.

In November, we discussed the important role gardens can play in the ecosystem, with members Renee Marsh (past ORGC president and master gardener) and Joyce Fedorko (Horticulture Chair) presenting garden bed preparation considerations and information on soil and wildlife needs. Here in the coldest months of the year, gardeners can see the payoff of this advice.

Refraining from deadheading plants, instead leaving seed pods and stalks in place, and allowing some leaf and twig piles to remain within gardens promote sustainability by providing important sources of food and shelter for wildlife and consistent temperature, moisture, and nourishment for soil microorganisms. Remember that an insulating and decomposing leaf layer is critical for the nutritional elements, fungi, bacteria, and insects that feed plants and animals.

Specific benefits of leaving leaf and twig piles in garden beds include:

• Letting branches (both on plants and fallen on the ground) and brush serve as temporary shelter for rabbits, squirrels, turtles, and birds;
• Allowing the leaf layer to serve its important part of wildlife habitat, including salamanders, toads, chipmunks, turtles, and shrews;
• Protecting the butterflies and moths that often overwinter as pupae in leaf litter¹;
• Ensuring the garden bed preserves its natural, self-fertilizing ecosystem.

Leaving seed pods and stalks on plants not only provides visual interest in the spare winter months but, more importantly, provides important food sources for birds. Don’t forget about the berries and seeds produced by the hedges, scrub, vines, and natural brush around your gardens – it’s just as important to leave these alone, postponing pruning to spring wherever possible.

Important food sources, including a few that might surprise you, are:

• Coneflower
• Round-head bush clover
• Asters
• Brown-eyed Susans
• Native sun flowers
• Juniper
• Sumac
• Hollies
• Mountain ash
• Poison ivy
• Wild grape vines
• Virginia creeper
• Pokeweed
• Inkberry^{2, 3, 4}

As gardeners, we’re well familiar with the importance of the snow layer in winter: snow provides critical moisture and insulates both plants and soil. Biologist Jonathan Pauli with the University of Wisconsin-Madison, explains that near the ground, snow traps heat from the soil. Though temperature there is still cold, it has less fluctuation than above the snow layer. Snow also protects from icy precipitation and wind.⁵ These qualities of the winter environment are beneficial not only to plants but also wildlife and microorganisms.

Hopefully, you’re seeing a flurry of activity in your own gardens, perhaps as a result of new pruning and clean-up approaches from the late summer and fall. To help attract and protect wildlife (both aboveground and below), remember to focus on native plants, include a source of liquid water, leave seed pods and berries through winter, and allow parts of your garden and yard to accumulate twigs, branches, and leaves.

For more information about helping birds in winter, check out the following resources:

National Wildlife Federation’s article, “Help Birds Weather Winter”

National Wildlife Federation’s article, “Junipers Help Birds Cope with the Cold”

Notes:

¹ Brush and Leaf Cover. Retrieved from http://www.nwf.org/Garden-For-Wildlife/Cover/Brush-and-Leaf-Shelter.aspx.

² Setting a Winter Table for Wildlife. Retrieved from http://www.nwf.org/News-and-Magazines/National-Wildlife/Gardening/Archives/2012/Winter-Table-for-Wildlife.aspx

³ Winter Berries for Birds. [Blog post]. Retrieved from http://blog.nwf.org/2014/12/winter-berries-for-birds/

⁴ Hide a Berry Treasure Around Your Home. Retrieved from http://www.nwf.org/News-and-Magazines/National-Wildlife/Gardening/Archives/1996/How-to-Hide-a-Berry-Treasure-Around-Your-Home.aspx

⁵ Probing the Hidden World of Snow. Retrieved from http://www.nwf.org/News-and-Magazines/National-Wildlife/Animals/Archives/2015/Hidden-World-of-Snow.aspx.