Advice from Margaret Roach, Jessica Walliser, Doug Tallamy
Slowing Down, Slowing Down, Slowing Down
From Margaret Roach’s garden
During the Season of Senescence, celebrate the passing of time and observe moments of joy in the garden. Celebrate all living things as they cycle back into.
Unmow lawns or parts of lawns, six feet at a time. Let the grass grow and plan to mow in late May a la Margaret Roach, 365 Days of Gardening.
Leave the leaf litter in your garden beds until late spring. Many beneficial pollinators overwinter in hollow stalks of perennials or in the ground. Create more habitat and grow bugs for birds a la Jessica Walliser in, “Six Reasons Not to Clean Up in the Fall", Savvy Gardening, online.
Don’t take down that tree! Don’t grind the stump. Have a tree that is slowly dying? Remove dead branches that might be dangerous. Leave the trunk and stump for habitat.
Do not use chemicals. Let nature be activated, and let the food web work to control pests. Use compost instead of fertilizer. Biologic control of pests.
Start a new compost pile or keep adding to the pile leaves from you lawn. MR says “Forever after re-incarnation at the compost heap in late fall”.
Practice ecological gardening a la Doug Tallamy, author of Nature’s Best Hope
“Six Reasons Not Clean up in the Fall” a la Jessica Wallser
Never close your garden down a la Margaret Roach, Gardening 365 Days a Year
Read and see more about Margaret' Roach’s garden.