Spring is right around the corner, but don’t trim back your dormant plants just yet! While this year’s colder-than-normal winter might have you wanting to get back in the garden, it’s important to wait until the last freeze of the season before starting spring cleaning.

Leaf litter, brush piles, and dormant plants become home to beetles, bees, moths, spiders, and other insects during the winter months. Protecting their habitat year-round is essential to preserving the pollinator population. Here are a few things you can do:

 

Leave the leaves!

With the same weed suppression properties as traditional mulch, also known as “natural mulch,” a light layer of leaves is a great alternative. Leaves provide shelter, protection from predators, food for emerging insects in the spring, and insulation for root systems of nearby plants.

A person spreading whole leaves between garden beds

Photo: sergabblog.wordpress.com

 

Postpone pruning

  • Grasses and wildflower stems should be trimmed in early spring. Pruning stems at various heights approximately 8-24” tall will create a variety of nesting options for insects of different sizes.
Fall, winter, and spring bee activities

Photo: xerces.org

  • Shrubs should be pruned after the final freeze of the season when the branches are free of ice and snow. While specific pruning instructions will vary depending on the shrub, damaged, dead or diseased branches should always be removed.
Left, pruning hollow stems. Right, a close up of a bee inside a hollow stem

Photos: xerces.org

  • Planting cold weather natives: Prepare for spring gardens by cleaning tools and creating a planting plan with a timeline. Start by evaluating available space and need for new plants to create a planting plan. Adding some cold-weather plants in the spring will help increase food sources for insects and birds next winter!
Left, a hand hosing off gardening tools. Right, un overhead illustration of a garden plot

Photo: Left, The Spruce / Jorge Gamboa. Right,

 

Warmer weather and longer days are right around the corner! Check out the links below for more information.