Fall Gardening Tips: How Not to Starve North American Songbirds

Above photo: When Toronto-based nature photographer Ann Brokelman noticed city workers removing dead sunflowers, she asked them to leave them so that chickadees and goldfinch could continue to eat them.

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2 Essential Fall Gardening Tips:

1. DON'T deadhead or cutback native plants.  
2. DON'T rake up and remove all of your leaves.

WHY?

It’s not good for your garden and it puts beneficial pollinators --birds, butterflies, moths and bees, etc. -- at risk of extinction.
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Seedheads provide food for resident and migratory birds during the fall and winter.

• “Dead, seed-filled native flowers and shriveled fruits are essential for resident and migratory songbirds. For finches, sparrows, chickadees, buntings, jays, nuthatches, blackbirds, grosbeaks, etc., one stop in a messy garden equals a smörgåsbord.” Habitat Network: The Wildlife Value of A Messy Garden

​Plant stems, leaf piles, twigs and logs provide winter homes of beneficial insects.
"According to the conservation scientists at The Xerces Society "when we treat leaves like trash – we’re tossing out the beautiful moths and butterflies that we’ll surely miss and work so very hard to attract."

• ​​"Most butterflies and moths overwinter as an egg, caterpillar, chrysalis, or adult and use leaf litter for winter cover (in all but the warmest climates).
• Bumble bees need leaf litter to protect them from harsh winter conditions. At summer's end, mated queen bumble bees burrow into the earth (only about 1-2 in; 5 cm) to hibernate for winter. 
• Other leaf-dwelling animals: spiders, snails, worms, beetles, millipedes, mites, and more support the chipmunks, turtles, birds, and amphibians that rely on these insects for food."  Xerces.org

Image: Habitat Network. Butterfly: The, question mark (Polygonia interrogationis) in fall leaf litter.

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​​More advice from the Habitat Network:
Many butterfly species burrow into:

• "thick piles of leaf litter
• a chunk of tree bark or other cavity 

Other butterflies, such as the swallowtail and sulphur butterflies will remain in their chrysalis’ over the winter suspended under a dried leaf or tucked away on the ground.

When you leave your gardens messy, including ignoring the dried leaves on plants, you help to encourage a rich population of native butterflies and moths in the following spring and summer."

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​Beyond Your Garden: Further Action Steps

1. Contact park and city staff to request that they leave the dead native plants and leaves alone.​
2. ​Spread the word to residents, churches, and other community members.

Manicured gardening chores:

1. are not good for your plants
2. contribute to global warming
3. harm wildlife​

Sustainable pesticide-free gardens
are alive with energy that supports the ecosystems we humans depend on to survive.

​Resources: 

• A sustainable garden can look attractive.  ​Click to find out how to How to Make a Messy Garden Look Good.
• For more Fall Do's and Don'ts: Put Down Those Pruners: Pollinators Need Your ‘Garden Garbage!’