Snetsinger Butterfly Garden
  • Home
  • Visit
  • Volunteer
  • Butterfly Directory
  • Birds of the SBG
  • Plant Directory
  • Activities
  • Support the Project
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Events
  • Master Gardener Projects
SBG KS

Leave the Leaves

10/25/2022

0 Comments

 
Picture
​Leave the Leaves
With the advent of colder temperatures, curbside leaf collection is underway in many parts of the Centre region. But savvy pollinator gardeners know that fallen leaves are garden gold.
More than 90 percent of caterpillars that develop on plants hatch or pupate at the ground level, often beneath leaf litter. Many fallen leaves harbor small caterpillars in their curled leaf margins. Dozens of species of moth caterpillars and other ‘detrivores’ feed on fallen leaves. Still others rely on leaf litter as a cozy winter blanket– including the larvae of the beautiful great spangled fritillary (pictured). Queen bumblebees also appreciate the insulation as they sleep away the winter in shallow tunnels just underneath the surface of the ground. When we haul our fallen leaves to the curb for disposal, we’re also helping to dispose of next year’s pollinators.
So what’s a gardener to do with all that organic material? According to Douglas Tallamy, the author of Bringing Nature Home, “the best place to leave the leaves is under the trees that grew them.”
This year, don’t trash your treasure! Consider raking your leaves into your perennial beds and under trees.Fallen leaves are the best mulch that money can’t buy!
Snetsinger Butterfly Garden Knowledge Series
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    February 2023
    October 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    September 2021
    June 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020

    Categories

    All
    Bugs
    Invasive Plants And Bugs
    Knowledge Series
    Seeds And Planning
    Sights And Sounds
    Spotted Lantern Fly

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly