Leaves are falling and flowers are dying back. It must be time to clean up garden beds.

Well, no. Pollinators – bees, butterflies and other insects – that will bring the garden back to life in spring need a safe place to lay their eggs. The leaf layer and dry stems in a messy garden bed provide protection for the eggs.

For birds, the seeds from flowers that dry are food during the long winter when nothing is growing. In the spring, some of the insect eggs will become caterpillars – food for the baby birds. 

So, when you see garden beds that look messy, think of the birds and the bees. And of all the new life in spring.

For more information on fall cleanup with pollinators in mind, click on Blog in the top menu, then click on Previous at the bottom of the postings to scroll back to “The Value of a Messy Winter Garden,” from February 6, 2020.