Ahhh spring, which this year is being welcomed by nearly everyone with open arms, particularly after the previous couple of snowstorms that hit our area! Time to think about gardening, birds, the annual renewal and rejuvenation of nature all around us!
Cleaning up the yard is something that everyone seems to think of as a task to complete right away, but it is better to wait on cleaning up dead stems and leaves until the regular daytime temperature is consistently 50 degrees or above (for seven or more days straight). Many important organisms use the leaf litter layer for their lifecycles, butterfly chrysalis, large silk and other moth pupa, fireflies, and more rely on this layer. Birds also rely on this layer to find insect food.
Rake leaves off of lawns into planting beds and around the base of trees to continue to provide homes for so many organisms. Leave the leaves and use them as a natural source of mulch for your beds. Leaves will break down over time in your planting beds and make nutrients available back to the soil and plants, making them a natural way to add nutrients and organic matter. If you must cut the stems from last year’s perennials and grasses, cut them back to 15-24 inches tall or create a pile of branches and stems on your property, leaving them until later in the early summer. Leaving the stems or creating a pile allows pollinators, butterfly chrysalis, pupa and eggs of other insects to hatch from their overwinter protective stems.
When enjoying a dog walk or some walking exercise, consider carrying a bag in which to collect trash lying in the gutter or along sidewalks from along your route. This helps clean up the neighborhoods, and protects pets, young children, birds, and animals from potential sources of harm. It also protects our drinking water, as many sewer grates in our area lead to sewer lines and right to the Delaware River! Also make certain to pick up after your dogs! Dog waste can be messy but also harmful to humans and other animals, so please be considerate of everyone else, as well as follow the law and borough ordinances.
By making plans to decrease the amount of lawn on your property and planning new planting beds you are decreasing the amount of time you will need to spend mowing, the need to use potentially harmful lawn chemicals, which helps the environment, our drinking water and your wallet! By planting new or existing beds with native species of trees, shrubs, perennials, grasses and ground covers, you will be creating habitat for pollinators and birds and restoring the land to what was historically in our area. Plant in clusters and masses too; this will provide more shelter, and areas for nesting birds, or more nectar and pollen sources for pollinators so they do not waste energy traveling between widespread sources looking for precious food. Planting a bit more tightly together also reduces weeds as your plants crowd weeds out and reduce germination of weed seeds.
Do you know that if we do not change our gardening practices, that a majority of the plants that greeted the Colonists will be gone within our lifetime? Plants help to define the area one lives in, the plants that historically have grown here are part of what makes up southeastern Pennsylvania’s unique identity, just as the plants in every other location make that location unique and identifiable. Plants, insects, pollinators, birds and animals evolved with one another and share very intricate relationships. That is food for thought in this 250th Anniversary Celebration Year and more reasons to install plants that are truly native to your location. There exist several databases that allow you to find out more about the plants native to your specific state, county and location; use one of them when making your garden plans and purchases. Check out the Native plant databases available through the National Wildlife Foundation, Audubon, USDA Plants Database, or the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.
Spring migration is already underway, and the birds rely on several things to make their way back to their breeding grounds each year. One of those things is star location in the sky, just as sailors rely on sky charts, so do birds, but if there is too much artificial light pollution then they get confused and drawn into boroughs and cities where they can become prey to deadly window strikes and predators; they use up precious energy resources and may not have the energy to get to where they need to be, at the right time for food emergence, whether that be insect or plant based. Wasting energy in that manner also can negatively affect breeding and egg production.
Help birds by turning off all unnecessary outdoor and overnight lighting, particularly during migration periods in the spring and fall, (March-June, and August- November) and use blackout blinds or curtains in your home. Consider replacing outdoor lights with motion detector ones that automatically shut off when not triggered. Use special bird-friendly anti-strike decals on your windows to signal to birds that they cannot fly there.
Happy spring everyone, get outside, and enjoy!
