Happy fall, y’all! In 1924, the Houghton Mifflin Company released “How to Tell Stories to Children,” a book by Sara Cone Boyle. In this book is a gem of a short story, “Why the Evergreen Trees Keep their Leaves in Winter.” This story always comes to mind as we enter autumn, and the nighttime temperatures begin to drop. Colors change and leaves begin to fall, perhaps having been touched by the cold North Wind. The North Wind is not just a natural phenomenon in the story, but rather a living entity with a will of its own and with a compassionate, yet stern father’s instructions to follow.
Of course, the story is a fictionalized version of seasonal transition intended for childhood audiences. However, it is also a beautiful reminder of the seasonal change in the days before winter and the survival of species dependent on habitats provided by the natural world. I highly recommend that anyone with young children consider it as a bedtime read at least once in your child’s life.
With that in mind, fall is also a perfect time to discuss what you can do around the home to prepare for the winter season and make the most of preserving natural processes around your home that benefit your whole native ecosystem. Here are a few helpful tips to ensure that your yard and garden provide optimum benefits heading into the winter season.
Lawn
A healthy lawn should be kept about 3 to 4 inches tall throughout the spring and summer months. However, as we transition through fall, you may want to incrementally start cutting your lawn shorter in the last few mows of the season. Lowering your mower deck down gradually until you reach a grass height between 2 and 2.5 inches will help your lawn during the cold and snowy months. Longer blades that lay down and mat during winter can suffer turf damage and foster disease, whereas the shorter cut blades from fall will stand tall under the weight of most snow.
Additionally, consider leaving the leaves beneath trees and in edge areas. Leaf litter provides winter shelter for a host of beneficial insects, pollinator species and invertebrates. If you love the butterflies and bumblebees of summer, save them some critical habitat by not disturbing the leaf litter layers around your yard. If you must disturb the leaves, consider mulching them along with your grass to reduce the overall nitrogen needs of your lawn come spring.
Provided you have not applied a late-season lawn fertilizer or lime, fall can be a good time to test your soil. A soil test is often the best investment you can make regarding your lawn. A simple and inexpensive test can tell you the specific fertilization needs for your lawn, saving you the expense of applying costly fertilizers your lawn may not actually need. If you applied a fall or winter fertilizer, however, wait until early spring and test your soil prior to applying spring treatments.
Flower beds
Whether you’ve gone fully native with your flower beds or prefer a host of decorative annuals, don’t be in a rush to remove stems, stalks, leaves and seedheads from your beds in the fall. These can provide both food and shelter for a host of birds, native bees, ground beetles and other beneficial insects. Many species can overwinter in these plant structures until spring arrives. Save yourself some labor and let them be!
Fall is also an excellent time to fertilize shrubs and trees in and around your flower beds. Before the ground freezes, consider applying an appropriate fertilizer as recommended around the drip lines of your trees and shrubs. This stimulates root growth, helping to keep them healthy and strong through the long winter months.
Garden
The fall garden can be surprisingly productive. Fast-growing cold weather crops like radishes, carrots, brassicas, lettuces and kale can be harvested well into November in most years. When the time comes and winter settles in, consider leaving leaves, stems and stalks in place for habitat, much like in your flower beds.
Another option for the garden in fall is the use of cover crops. While winter ryes and clover are frequently used in larger fields, there are readily available options for smaller gardens as well. For raised beds and smaller gardens, consider growing various types of beans or peas. These plants fix nitrogen in the soil by storing it in small nodules in their root systems. Beans planted in fall can be cut down before they fully mature and tilled back into the soil. Not only does this provide nitrogen for next year’s crop, but it also improves overall soil health and tilth.
Hopefully these shared tips for an autumn clean-up of the yard, flower beds and garden will save you time and labor as we head into winter. Who doesn’t benefit from shortening the time spent on these autumnal chores? Take that extra time to sit down with a mug of hot, spiced cider and cozy up with a good read. Maybe this fall you can even find time to share a classic like Boyle’s “Why the Evergreen Trees Keep their Leaves in Winter” with a child or grandchild.
