Pollinator Patch App | Plant Care

Before you bag the leaves this fall, it helps to know what is in them.

The Xerces Society says luna moths and swallowtail butterflies "disguise their cocoons and chrysalises as dried leaves." Mourning cloaks spend the winter as adults in gaps in brush piles, which is why they show up so early in spring. Small carpenter bees nest in dead raspberry canes and wildflower stems.

So leave the leaves and the stems, and hold off on cleanup. Xerces says to wait "until late in the spring." Rake the leaves into your beds and keep a clean, mowed edge out front so the yard still reads as intentional.

I talked about this with Robin Motzer this week. She writes Wildlands, a Substack about restoring nature and the land: robinmotzer.substack.com

Pollinator Patch plans native gardens for your area and keeps care on track through the seasons: https://thepollinatorpatchgarden.com/go/ig-tip?path=care

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Comment GARDEN and I will send you a native plant plan for your zip code by DM.