As soon as the leaves fall from the trees, many people get the urge to tidy up: pruning everything neatly, clearing away the leaves and then going inside with a sense of satisfaction. But for the biodiversity in your garden, you are better off doing the opposite. Clearing up less means more shelter, more animals and more life in the soil. How to get your garden ready for winter!
‘Winterising’ garden’
Animals and insects are having an increasingly hard time in neat, paved-over gardens. They find little food there and certainly no suitable place to hibernate. If you do provide that space, in return you get a whole team of free garden workers in the spring. Ladybirds, wild bees, beetles, toads and woodlice help to keep pests in check, nourish the soil and ensure greater balance in your garden. But to do that, they do need food and suitable shelter in the winter. The best way to truly get your garden ready for winter? Above all, not to do too much, because in a sustainable garden almost nothing is waste. So keep your urge to tidy in check and leave leaves, twigs and spent stems lying around as much as possible. They form lovely hiding places for all kinds of animals and slowly turn into nourishment for the soil. Moreover, as ground cover, they help to suppress weeds in the spring. So you are doing both the animals and yourself a favour.
Winterising your garden: think about this!
Don't tidy up your garden too rigorously: that is the most important message if you want to help biodiversity. Even so, there are plenty of things you can do to help animals through the winter.
Helping birds by choosing the right plants
Be sure to leave spent flowers standing. Birds such as goldfinches, sparrows, chaffinches and greenfinches eat the remaining seeds in winter. Berries and fruit are also an important food source at that time. Plants that offer birds something include coneflowers, sunflowers, fruit trees and wild strawberries. Some spent plants also have a lovely winter silhouette. With a layer of hoarfrost or ice, stonecrop, great burnet and ornamental grasses are still wonderful to look at. They remain sturdy and provide structure in your border. Lovely for you, great for the birds. Preferably also choose native plants, such as ivy, yew and dog rose. Vogelbescherming Nederland uses four Vs for a bird-friendly garden: food, safety, reproduction and variation. Want to attract a specific bird to your garden? On the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds website read what that species needs.
Autumn and winter is best timing for planting
Autumn and winter are good times to plant perennials, shrubs and trees in the garden, as long as it isn't freezing. Above ground, many plants then go dormant, while the roots continue to grow in the still relatively warm soil. This gives them a few months to put down roots in their new spot. As a result, they have a head start in the spring and can absorb water and nutrients straight away. Also, in their first year, you often need to water them less than plants that you plant in spring or summer.
Hedgehogs in the garden
Hedgehogs are also welcome guests in the garden. Among other things, they eat slugs, caterpillars and grubs, and like to hibernate in a sheltered pile of leaves. Therefore, leave some leaves and twigs in a quiet spot. Paved and completely enclosed gardens are making things increasingly difficult for hedgehogs. Fences and walls prevent them from walking from one garden to another. A hedgehog gate ensures that they can still get in and out of your garden. Untidy corners are essential for hedgehogs and other animals. They find food and a warm shelter there. Make sure you really leave such a spot alone, especially in the winter. You can also put out a hedgehog house. You can easily make one yourself using recycled materials with this instructions for a hedgehog house. You can find more ways to help hedgehogs in our article about hedgehogs in the garden.
Also interesting: We paid a visit to the hedgehog sanctuary.
A hedgehog in the garden and places in the garden where birds can find some extra food in winter. You can make the bird food in the right picture yourself.
Trees in the garden
Don't you have a tree in the garden yet? Then check if there is room for one. Fallen leaves make free ground cover, nourish the soil, provide a hiding place for animals and help keep weeds at bay. In increasingly hotter summers, a tree also provides welcome shade and cooling. If a tree is not an option, but you still want to benefit from the advantages of leaves? Then ask around in the neighbourhood. There's a good chance someone will be happy if you come and collect a few bags.
Don't throw away garden waste!
You usually prune trees and shrubs once or twice a year, depending on the species. But what do you do with the cut branches afterwards? Take them to the recycling centre or put them in the green bin? What a waste, as you can easily reuse this material in your garden. In a large garden, you can shred the branches with a garden shredder and spread the woodchips over the borders. In a smaller garden, you can cut thin branches down by hand and lay them between the plants. You can also spread mown grass in a thin layer over the soil.
Make your own dead hedge
Another great destination for pruned branches is a dead hedge. Place a few posts in the ground and stack the branches between them. Birds find shelter there in the winter and sometimes even build a nest there in the spring. Insects and caterpillars also live among the branches, which in turn are food for birds. In addition, a dead hedge provides a place for hedgehogs and amphibians. You can make it as large or small as suits your garden. A larger dead hedge can even serve as a natural garden boundary.
Make a compost heap
Still got pruning or garden waste left over? Then consider a compost heap. This is how you turn kitchen and garden waste into food for the soil. A healthy soil helps plants stay strong and makes them less susceptible to diseases. Furthermore, you do not need to buy as much bagged compost. That saves money, packaging and transport.
A bee hotel, a branch ledge and a bin to compost your own GFT waste: all good ideas for a strong garden in winter! Photo branch ledge, courtesy of Anke Grunefeld.
Additional tips for more life in your garden
- Use larger pieces of wood for a bug hotel or leave them in a messy corner. Under a tree or shrub, animals can enjoy them without you constantly having to look at them.
- In addition to food and shelter, animals also need water in the winter. A shallow drinking dish is quite enough. Change the water regularly and keep the dish clean.
- A pile of stones offers all kinds of animals a place to hibernate. Stones are often free to collect via Marktplaats.
- Autumn is a good time to clean out empty nest boxes and put up new ones. Before cleaning, always check first that the box is no longer in use.
In a green winter garden almost nothing is waste. Leaves, branches, grass and other garden waste can be used to nourish the soil and provide a place for animals. Whoever clears away less, therefore, has more life left.
You might also find this interesting!
- Also see: Read all about native plants!
- Also see: how does light pollution affect nature?
- Also see: plant organic flower bulbs (best time to plant is autumn!)
Photo credits: main image: Patrick Droog (bird) (Pexels), Jara (leaves) (Pexels), Melanie de Oliviera, other: Anke Grunefeld, Pixel2013 (Pixabay), Eva Bronzini (Pexels), Amanda Sniekers and Melanie de Oliveira.
