Mysest56 
February 20, 2019
My belief in leaving the garden in fall was cemented last year on a December morning, as soon as a robin landed on a garden chest where I keep my resources. It balanced on the border where some snow was melting and dripping to the deck beneath. The robin arched its head downward and pecked at each droplet. Soon a bluebird landed right behind the robin on the border of the torso. Another bluebird. All three were lined up, ready to take their turn at the snow. I’ve little doubt that if I had not left up the garden, creating a relaxing space, I would not have seen them. And I have little doubt that winter would not have meant so much, or been easier to get through, without the dwelling beauty outside my door at a “dead” year so many of us anglers reluctantly despise. Here are just seven of the many reasons to depart from your fall garden status.
Benjamin Vogt / Monarch Gardens
1. Why work when it’s cold? Look, I’m tired; you’re tired. So leave the garden. Plus it’s getting chilly. Can you really want to be outside working? Isn’t there a soccer game on or any pumpkin-spice latte to savor? Allow the garden be for your health and sanity.
Benjamin Vogt / Monarch Gardens
2. Wildlife is hibernating. Lots and lots of insects and frogs, and who knows what else, are available on your garden overwintering in leaf litter, on twigs, even at the top layer of dirt. What happens when you “clean up” the leaves and chop down the plants? You might be tossing out a black swallowtail chrysalis or even a mantis egg case, or stepping on a mourning cloak butterfly.
Benjamin Vogt / Monarch Gardens
3. Protect your crops. Leaving the perennials standing can help them gather snow. That snow subsequently will insulate the roots as soon as it gets really cold and also add moisture into the soil. That’s a double win for low-maintenance gardening. Besides, isn’t this image just gorgeous? Viva snow!
Benjamin Vogt / Monarch Gardens
4. Discover a new measurement. You won’t need to miss frosty mornings when each leaf, stem and seed head is accented with fascinating patterns of silvery shadows — halos of snow and ice that make the garden exquisite. And were you aware that a snowflake is a fractal — a mathematical equation — just like coastlines, mountain ranges, trees, sunflowers as well as the human circulatory system? Everything in nature can be mapped out by mathematics, and nowhere is that more evident than with a winter frost. Take your kids outside and expose them into a healthier double groan — mathematics and character.
Benjamin Vogt / Monarch Gardens
5. Appreciate new neighbors. Leaving up your plants welcomes all kinds of wildlife you would never see, even though they’re quite common. One year this sharp-shinned hawk visited because juncos were taking refuge in the thick garden cover. The hawk did eventually nab a meal, but that’s OK — the garden was helping everybody, doing what nature does best and right from the back door. What a cure for seasonal affective disorder.
Benjamin Vogt / Monarch Gardens
6. Even robin redbreasts will stop by and surprise you. Did you know that there are robins about in winter? They tend to roost in classes, going about only when thirsty or hungry. A heated birdbath is great, but so are all of those fermenting berries on trees and shrubs. Tons of different songbirds will also be enjoying seeds from status perennial cover, too.
Benjamin Vogt / Monarch Gardens
7. Gardens thrive in all four seasons. When the first spring blossoms arise, you won’t feel like you overlooked them (as much), because so much was happening in your garden during winter — leaving up the plants makes winter seem shorter. Those first spring blossoms won’t seem as much like a relief as a confirmation that a garden not actually melts, and you’ll be seeing that firsthand in all four seasons.
Benjamin Vogt / Monarch Gardens
“Winter interest” is a scene term which means there is something beautiful to check at through the cold season. Usually, that means grasses or redtwig dogwoods, but any old perennial will do — like the ones shown here. Winter interest isn’t only for us, though; it’s for birds, butterflies, frogs and soil microbes munching on leaves and making the garden healthier for summer. A lot will be going on in the event that you leave up the garden before a spring cut-down — get out there and enjoy it this winter!
Inform us: how can you help organic processes in your garden throughout the year? What provides you the greatest winter interest?