Listen up! Your weeds are trying to tell you something.
Like all varieties of plants, individual weeds thrive in particular conditions. Some like it dry, others moist. Some prefer acidic soil, others thrive in more alkaline environments. Some will even tell you that your soil is perfect.
So before you pluck and pull, take note. You can learn a lot about the growing conditions in your yard, based on which weeds are growing where. These 10 common weeds will reveal secrets about your soil:
Used in traditional medicine to make a poultice against stings, rashes, and insect bites, plantains are nonetheless unsightly in the lawn and garden. Their presence indicates low fertility and high acidity. They also thrive in poorly drained, compacted soil.
The cure: To prevent plantains, correct the soil imbalance, aerate soil, and raise the level of your lawn mower so tall grass blades can shade plantain’s leaves.
Crabgrass
Above: Digitaria sanguinalis (crabgrass). Photograph by Rasbak via Wikimedia.
Ever the opportunist, crabgrass thrives in both poor or very fertile soils, and will spring up in times of drought or excessive watering.
The cure: To combat, raise the height of your mower to encourage “good” grass. Seed control also works with this annual: discourage germination by spreading cornmeal in the early spring.
Ground ivy (Glechoma hederacea), also known as “Creeping Charlie,” is an aggressive weed that can quickly consume an unhealthy lawn. It thrives in areas with poor drainage, low fertility and lots of shade.
The cure: Ground ivy will take advantage of bald spots, so make sure your lawn and garden have a lush canopy (or mulch), and fertile, well-drained soil. A higher mowing height (from 2.5 to 3 inches) will also help.
Annual Bluegrass
Above: Poa annua(bluegrass) photograph by Rasbak via Wikimedia.
An abundance of annual bluegrass is an indication that your soil is fertile, but most likely compacted and over-watered and poorly drained.
The cure: To combat, aerate and water less, raise your mower height, and prevent seeds from spreading by spreading a cornmeal gluten in spring.
Chickweed
Above: Common Chickweed (Stellaria media); photograph by Hugo via Wikipedia Commons.
Got chickweed in your garden? Goods news. That means it’s highly fertile. But this spreading annual can also indicate poor drainage and too much watering as well as compacted soil. (Good thing they’re delicious to eat.)
There is a wonderful product to give your plants a growing boost. It takes time to work—about two to three months—but it doesn’t require too much effort, nor does it cost very much. For a small garden, you could spend less than 10 dollars. This easy and affordable way to improve your garden’s growth? Green manure. Sadly, it doesn’t come from green cows. In fact, it doesn’t come from any animal at all.
What is green manure?
Above: Red clover, valued for its ability to fix nitrogen, is a good candidate for green manure. Photograph by R.R. Smith via USDA.gov on Flickr.
Green manure is essentially a cover crop, planted in late summer or early fall, that gets tilled back into the soil in spring. It generally consists of plants in the legume family (peas and beans) that improve soil nutrition and structure by fixing nitrogen and adding organic matter. When they are incorporated into the soil, they become an effective amendment.
What are the advantages of using green manure?
Above: At the one-acre rooftop Farm at the Javits Center, clover is grown as a cover crop to create a self-perpetuating food forest. Photograph by Valery Rizzo for Gardenista, from Garden Visit: Farming on the Roof in Hell’s Kitchen.
Andrew Bunting, VP of Horticulture at the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society explains: “Benefits include nutrient upcycling, weed suppression, adding organic matter, erosion control, help with soil fertility, and soil structure.” All of which, he says, “contributes to better water filtration, more pollinator habitats, and improved biodiversity. Certain legumes such as hairy vetch, field peas, white, red, and crimson clovers are also able to fix atmospheric nitrogen and make it available in the soil.”
Why not just use compost?
While compost certainly has its place in the garden, Bunting says green manure has an advantage. “Compost does not help with soil structure or weed suppression and bringing pollinators to the garden.”
How to integrate green manure into your home garden?
Above: Hairy vetch, a common cover crop used for green manure. Photograph by Harry Rose via Flickr.
Your local cooperative extension office can help you find the right plant for your use and your climate. Generally, green manure is sown off-season, in the late summer and early fall, with crops that can either overwinter or are winter-killed. Crops such as winter rye and hairy vetch are winter-hardy, whereas buckwheat and field peas are killed by the cold. The plants are allowed to grow for two to three months, then cut down before they go to seed, chopped up, and tilled back into the soil in early spring in time for growing season. Something to keep in mind, particularly if you live in a warmer climate with mild winters: the bed will be out of use for sowing plants until spring and at least one month after tilling.
What plants make good green manure?
Some good suggestions are legumes like crown vetch, hairy vetch, and clovers; grasses like winter rye and sorghum; and buckwheat—all of which germinate quickly. Want to wait a bit and sneak in another harvest? Plant some clover, which can germinate in temperatures as low as the 40s. Whichever you choose, make sure you read the instructions specifically for sowing as a cover crop. Seeds sown for cover crops are sown at a much higher rate than seeds sown for harvest. You want a thick carpet of plants.
That moment when you’re winding your way up to The Penny Bun inn in the picturesque village of Askwith in Wharfedale, England, car window down, breathing in all the beauty of the wild hedgerows, drystone walls, and patchworks of lush greens, and you are obliged to stop in your tracks for a carefree pheasant out on a very leisurely stroll? It’s a reminder to slow down, to reconnect with nature, the heart of everything at Denton Reserve.
Set within 2,500 acres of spectacular Yorkshire countryside, this estate has embarked on an ambitious journey to re-imagine, re-wild, and regenerate the land in a bid to tackle the climate crisis, improve biodiversity, and restore balance for generations to come. Rooted in the local, its intent is global. And armed with long-term vision and a profound sense of purpose, the entire Reserve team, supported by members of the neighboring communities, are rolling up their sleeves and pitching in—because the future starts today.
We visited two of the five main properties on the Denton estate in May: the recently opened Denton Hall, a Grade-1 listed Georgian Manor, and The Penny Bun, a 150-year old inn—both redesigned by architecture practice BOX9. We were greatly impressed by both the scale of the undertaking and the thoughtful attention to detail. (For a tour, read our story over on Remodelista.)
Here, we take a closer look at the land recovery project, as the Reserve celebrates some exciting milestones, including the creation of a beaver enclosure, the appearance of nightjars, and the promise of honey from black bees…
Above: Focusing on three key interrelated areas of action—carbon reduction, food production and nature—Denton Reserve has decided to “rethink everything” in order to create a new flagship model for land management and rural hospitality that will benefit both people and the planet. Above: By prioritizing nature, adopting soil-friendly farming methods, regenerating its woodlands, moorland, upland pastures, and arable land, and re-inventing agricultural properties, the Reserve aims to restore balance and harmony.
If you have prying neighbors or an HOA to worry about, move leaves to less visible areas, for example from front to rear, suggests Fell. “Make a pile in the corner of your yard, let it rot, and use the leaf compost later to feed your flowers,” says Camu. “Leaf compost is absolute gold, and it’s literally that easy to make: Just let it rot in a pile.”
4. Mulch some of the leaves into your lawn.
You’ll see a lot of advice to just mow leaves right into the lawn, but Chris Hardy, a senior associate at Sasaki, an interdisciplinary design firm based in Boston, cautions against doing this. “When fall leaf drop happens, the density of the leaves is more than lawns can handle,” he says. “If you have a lot of leaves in your lawn, I would capture that in a bag and then spread it in your perennial areas instead.” Hardy also notes that he skips mowing even a light layer of leaves into grass because he likes to let grass grow long in the fall so it can maximize its storage of sugars over the winter. In other seasons, go ahead and mow right over a light leaf litter, but be sure you have a mulching mower (sometimes you need to buy a special blade.)
5. Rake selectively.
Above: Paths should be cleared of leaves, which turn slick and slippery in wet weather.
To ensure your yard looks cared for, rake the leaves from the most visible or used lawn areas, like the front yard, says Fell, adding. “It’s also important to move leaves from entryways and paths for safety as the weather worsens.”
6. Then put the leaves into garden beds.
You can use the whole leaves in some of your beds as mulch. Hardy suggests, “Any place where you’re putting down mulch as a weed suppressant is a great candidate to leave your leaves whole in place; for instance, under hedges, underneath shrubby landscapes, or in tree pits.” That said, do not lay whole leaves over places where you’re trying to get a perennial understory going.
7. Use caution when covering perennial beds.
In spring, Fell says she tries to remember where new plants or spring ephemerals are and moves leaves aside, so as not to inhibit their growth. Further north, Hardy says he avoids using whole leaves in perennial beds altogether, because when snow presses down on leaves, it can create a tightly-knit layer that can smother smaller perennials and groundcovers. Instead, he shreds leaves and scatters them amongst perennials.
While spring may seem like a long way away—summer doesn’t even technically end until September 22—there are things you can do over the next month or so to prepare your garden for a successful spring.
Fall is a great time to amend the soil and put down compost (better, some argue, than spring). This is particularly helpful if your soil is heavy and compacted. Work it into the soil with a garden or broad fork, gently. This is best done while plants are still standing and you can identify where they are to avoid damaging them. For more on soil amendments in autumn, see Fall Fertilizing: How to Prepare Your Lawn, Shrubs, Trees, and Perennials for a Restorative Winter Sleep.
2. Plant, plant, plant.
Now’s the time to revamp your garden or just fill in the holes. The cooler temperatures mean less evaporation. Transplant shock happens when the fine, hair-like feeder roots are damaged during the transplant process. Less transpiration means less need for water from the roots and less stress for the plants. You will still need to water your new plants, just less than if you planted them in the heat of summer. Additionally, the cooler air temperatures and warmer soil support new root growth. See Fall Gardening 101: Autumn Can Be an Ideal Time to Plant for more on this topic.
Seed saving is all about prepping your garden for spring. By saving seeds you are helping your garden grow for next year. Literally. While seed saving can be specific to the plant, in general you should wait until the seed heads and pods are completely dry. Some will rattle like baptisia, others will fly away on the slightest of breezes, like milkweed. Some seeds—many native plants—may need cold stratification and stored in the refrigerator for a period of time. Do your research and store your seed properly. Mark your calendar now for when to sow in the spring.
6. Plan for support.
Everyone knows that a peony will flop over with its massive blooms unless you surround the plant with a peony ring before it gets too big. But they are not the only ones in need of support. Joe pye weed, Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’, any number of taller perennials that bloom profusely, need support. Find those splayed perennials now and make a list with locations for next year so you’ll be ready to prop them up before they get too large.
Take away and trash any diseased plant material. Do not compost them because home compost piles may not reach the proper temperature to kill pathogens. Leave the leaves, though. They provide food for your plants, keep moisture in the soil, and provide shelter for pollinators and insects that help with pest control. And resist the urge to “tidy” up perennials and grasses by cutting them back. Leave at least some of them intact (including the seed heads) for overwintering creatures in need of food and shelter. For more on this topic, see 6 Nature-Based Garden Tasks for Fall.
What if I told you that you have unlimited access to one of nature’s best fertilizers? And best of all, it’s easy to make and free? Read on to learn all about pee-cycling.
What is ‘pee-cycling’?
Above: A composting toilet in a stylish outhouse by Commune Design. These days, one can buy composting toilets that divert urine for use as a fertilizer. Urine diverting attachments are also available. Photograph by Stephen Kent Johnson, courtesy of Commune Design, from A Hollywood Director’s Refined Off-the-Grid Cabin by Commune Design.
Pee-cycling is essentially upcycling your urine into a fertilizer for your plants. Human urine, which is typically free of harmful bacteria, can be used as fertilizer because it has nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium—the “NPK” that’s on the label of your store-bought fertilizer.
This isn’t a new idea. Urine has been used as a fertilizer for millennia. The ancient Chinese, Romans, Egyptian, and Incas, to list a few, all used liquid gold as a fertilizer. Pee-cycling is making a comeback in eco-conscious circles because of its appeal as a natural, renewable resource. The manufacturing of petroleum-based chemical fertilizers is adding to the climate crisis, not to mention runoff from synthetic fertilizers can lead to algae blooms that can kill animals and plants.
Pee-cycling creates a circular model of production and consumption, where waste (urine) is reused instead of discarded. It saves water, since you’re not using water to flush your urine down the toilet. It saves money since it’s a free, renewable resource you can make yourself. And replacing your reliance on store-bought chemical fertilizers with a sustainable, all-natural version means less fossil fuels pulled from the earth and less carbon released into the atmosphere.
And plants seem to love it. In a recent study, farmers in souther Niger found that urine, either used in conjunction with animal manure or alone, increased harvest of pearl millet crop by about 30 percent.
If you’ve gotten this far, and you’re intrigued and want to learn how to do it yourself, here are your next steps. Humans produce one to two liters of urine a day, and collecting is the hardest part of pee-cycling. Those who are committed to pee-cycling may want to purchase a urine-diverting toilet, like the Eco-Flush, which separates solid waste from liquid. Those who are curious but not ready to commit may want to purchase a funnel and container (to create what is essentially a portable potty) from Rich Earth Institute, a Vermont-based nonprofit that advocates for the use of human waste as a resource. The group recommends adding one to two cups of white vinegar or one tablespoon of citric acid per five gallons of urine.
And even more low-commitment option: DIY a collection container by simply reusing an empty, washed milk jug, laundry detergent container, or bucket.
What about bacteria and viruses? Human pee can be pasteurized. Don’t have a pasteurizer handy? Well-aged pee is the answer. Store urine for six months in a cool dark space to kill anything living in the pee, according to the World Health Organization.
How do you use urine in the garden?
If you have a dog, you know that pee can burn grass. The same thing can happen to your garden with human pee. Most plants can use a 1:10 dilution, one part pee to 10 parts water; however heavier feeders, like tomatoes, prefer a 1:5 ratio. Water the diluted mixture at the base of the plants and not the leaves. For more details, check out Rich Earth Institute’s guide on how to use urine fertilizer in the home garden.
Too bad soil isn’t dazzling like dahlias or sweetly fragrant like freesias, because gardeners then would be gushing over this dirty stuff instead of overlooking its importance. A successful garden starts with healthy soil. Good news is that you can easily buy quality soil at your local nursery or home improvement store; bad news is that even though it comes pre-mixed and bagged, you may find it difficult to figure out exactly which type your garden needs.
To determine which soil is best for your garden, you need to first understand that different plants thrive with different types of soil. Another factor to consider is how you plan to grow the plants—say, in a raised bed versus in a pot. Below, we walk you through some common growing scenarios and the type of soil most appropriate for each:
Use potting soil. This light and airy mix is specifically formulated for container gardening to ensure adequate drainage and space for roots to grow. Simply add potting soil to pots and then plant your annuals, flowers, small trees and shrubs directly into it. Tip: ideally, replace potting soil annually.
Use a soilless mix. These super light blends are perfect for starting delicate seeds and are usually a combination of peat moss, perlite, and vermiculite, and like the name implies, does not contain organic matter (soil) that could harm tender seedlings. A great peat-free option is Plentiful Organic Potting Mix, made from recycled paper, by PittMoss.
So you’re finally ready to plant up an area of your garden. How do you ensure you’re giving your plants the best possible start? In part 5 of my series on making A Garden from Scratch (scroll to the bottom for the other installments), I look at one border in my own garden and explain how I prepared it and put it together.
1. Get the timing right.
Above: What I started with. This was a tired lavender walk that needed a lot of plants replaced and was interspersed with climbing roses. I wanted a more substantial border as this was also a key view through the garden, so I removed everything except for the established ‘Blush Noisette’ rose on the right-hand side of the border.
Autumn and spring are perfect times to get a border planted, giving plants a chance to settle and send out roots when soil is likely to be warm and moist. Because I am nearly always running behind, the new border here would eventually go into the ground in early May. It’s not ideal timing as they need a lot more attention and irrigation if there is prolonged hot weather, but in reality it’s feasible to plant perennials at any time the ground is not frozen—just be prepared to keep an eye on them in summer.
Make sure you have all your plants gathered, ready for planting. If you are buying plants and want to keep costs down, know that 9-cm plants will be the most economical, while 1-liter or 2-liter plants will provide more instant impact. That said, those small plants will have caught up with the larger plants within one season and definitely within two seasons. If you’ve got time, growing some of the plants from seeds or cuttings will be the most economical of all. You can also divide plants from elsewhere in the garden, too, creating more plants for free. (See Your First Garden: How to Start a Garden for Practically Free for other ideas.)
2. Enrich the soil.
Above: Preparing the planting area.
I widened the existing border as much as I could while still leaving a path through the middle. At this point it can feel like there’s a lot of space, but once plants mature and grow over the edges this central path will narrow considerably. As this area has poor very free-draining soil, I dug in well-rotted manure through the whole border to prepare it for planting; whatever your soil type, the most beneficial thing you can do at the outset is to add as much compost as you can to enrich the soil.
3. Lay out the plants.
Above: Laying out the plants.
Place all of your plants along the border where you think you’ll want to plant them. Then spend some time considering how the plants will look as they grow. Think about how wide they will spread and allow enough space for plants to grow (check the plant label for approximate dimensions). Group perennials together in threes or loose triangles which will create more impact with blocks and color. What you are trying to create is a naturalistic feeling rather than regimented order. (See A Garden from Scratch: How to Choose Plants and Put Them Together for my tips on plant composition.)
Repeat some plants through the length of the border to help create rhythm. In this border, Alchemilla mollis, Geranium ‘Rozanne’ and Calamagrostis ‘Karl Foester’ are repeated down the length of the bed. And leave space for self seeders—over time, if you prefer a more naturalistic look and you’re happy to encourage self-seeders, your border will fill out with these volunteer plants. This border has several self-seeders, especially Salvia turkestanica, Digitalis parviflora and D. ferruginea gigantea, and occasionally Baptisia australis and Alchemilla mollis, creating free plants and a more abundant and lush border.
When my friend and colleague Margot Guralnick and I set out to write The Low-Impact Home, we had many discussions with Remodelista founder Julie Carlson about whether our project would be a beautiful coffee table book or a nuts-and-bolts manual for eco-minded homeowners. What we realized was, we needn’t sacrifice one for the other. Our book would be equal parts inspiration and information.
When I opened up Beyond the Meadows: Portrait of a Natural and Biodiverse Garden by Krautkopf, in bookstores now, I immediately recognized in it the same desire to both inspire and edify. That the book is brimming with gorgeous images isn’t all that surprising given its authors, German homesteaders Susann Probst and Yannic Schon, are professional photographers. What is unexpected, and delightful, is how much they’ve chosen to share about their experience as new homesteaders. The two really get into the weeds, if you will, of how they designed their landscape, cared for their plants, welcomed biodiversity, naturally enriched the soil, and, ultimately, became self-sufficient. Diagrams, before and after shots, and plant lists help tell their gardening journey. And they’re blessedly not shy about revealing their mistakes, either.
Above: Susann and Yannic’s homesteading journey started in 2018, when they moved from Berlin to a small cottage with lots of land in a village in northeastern Germany. It was built as a “settler’s house,” one of many that cropped up post-WWII to encourage people to become more self-sufficient. Their new book, now available in English, documents their experience working the land as new gardeners.
“To be honest, we held back from writing a gardening book for a long time,” Susann tells us. “We felt we were only at the very beginning of the learning process and therefore didn’t feel ready. However, at one point we realized that this gardening journey would never end and that we would constantly be learning new things that would be worth writing about. So there would never be the ‘right’ time to start.” The results are less guidebook and more garden memoir. “We wanted a book full of beauty and inspiration, which would nevertheless contain our knowledge and experiences from the past five years,” she says.
Susann and Yannic’s garden appeared in The Low-Impact Home—Margot and I were enchanted by their property and their commitment to ecology-based gardening—so I read their book with great interest. But even if you don’t know a thing about them and don’t harbor any fantasies about growing your own food, Beyond the Meadows is a must-read. It’s for anyone curious about how to be a better gardener or adopt more planet-friendly approaches—and also for those who simply yearn to slow down and smell the earth.
Spring is in the air, and for many gardeners, that means it’s time to start cleaning up the yard. But what if I told you that your garden beds will be better off with a little mess?
Leaving the leaves is not just for fall. Here are seven critical reasons to keep them on your garden beds as winter turns into spring, and spring into summer.
1. Protects good bugs.
Above: Leaf litter provides shelter and nutrients to beneficial insects like centipedes and millipedes. Photograph by Jim Powell for Gardenista, from 10 Essential Insects You Need in the Garden.
Leaves provide a vital habitat for pollinators like butterflies, moths, and native bees as well as other beneficial insects. All of them need a place to overwinter. They all come out of diapause (bug hibernation) at different times between March and May. Removing the leaves too early means you’re throwing out Luna moths, red-banded hairstreak butterflies, and leaf cutter, miner, and mason bees.
2. Provides free mulch.
No need to buy mulch. Leaves keep moisture in and weeds out just as well as wood mulch.
3. Builds healthy soil.
Above: Mulched leaves in a vegetable garden. Photograph by Sheila Brown via Flickr.
Leaves decompose over the course of the year and by doing so, they provide the trees exactly what they need in the way of nutrients…since they came from the tree. And when leaves break down in garden beds, they add to the soil structure that keeps your soil, and by extension, your plants happy.
4. Reduces pest issues.
No pesticides necessary when you leave the leaves, thus providing a home for beneficial insects that eat mosquitoes and other garden pests, such as dragonflies and crane flies. Native insects also attract birds and bats that eat mosquitoes. And leaf litter is a draw as well for opossums that love to eat ticks.
5. Decreases your carbon footprint:
Above: Fallen leaves gathered from the yard and placed in a garden bed. Photograph by jacki-dee via Flickr.
The methods by which many homeowners remove leaves from their property are often not very eco-friendly: Using a leaf blower contributes to greenhouse gases and noise pollution, and harms the topsoil as well. And if the leaves are placed in garbage bag and sent to the landfill, the leaves decompose without oxygen, producing methane gas. When you rake the leaves into your garden beds, the only energy you’re using is your own.
6. Contributes to a balanced ecosystem:
Above: Snowdrops love damp-ish conditions, and fallen leaves are great at locking in moisture. Photograph by Britt Willoughby Dyer, from Gardening 101: Snowdrops.
Leaves are not trash. They are an integral part of your ecosystem. They provide food, shelter, and nutrients. Your garden is not just a bunch of plants but an interconnected system in which all parts are equally important for its health. For instance, caterpillars are the only thing most baby songbirds eat. Keeping the leaves helps caterpillars thrive, which in turn helps birds in the spring.
This is part of a series with Perfect Earth Project—Edwina von Gal’s nonprofit dedicated to toxic-free, nature-based gardening—on how you can be more sustainable in your landscapes at home.
According to a recent National Gardening Survey, a third of people are now choosing plants to support wildlife and a quarter of them are specifically seeking out native plants. That’s cause for celebration. But we can do more. Let’s bid adieu to outdated gardening norms and forge a green path to a healthy and sustainable future. Here are seven easy things we can all do:
Set mood lighting . . . for insects and other nocturnal wildlife like fireflies, migrating birds, and moths, that is. These beloved creatures are all negatively impacted by bright artificial lights. Fireflies, in particular, are suffering great declines. According to Xerces’s guidebook Conserving the Jewels of the Night, artificial lights can “obscure natural bioluminescence,” which makes it hard to find mates and avoid predators. (Consider joining a community science project like Firefly Atlas to help protect them.) Instead of lighting up your yard like a sports arena all night long, opt for warm LED lights only (avoid short-waved blue lights) in areas when you need illumination for safety. Make sure bulbs point downward and install a motion sensor so they only go on when needed. Learn more at Dark Sky International.
2. Replace spic and span with natural and wild.
Above: Edwina von Gal adds order to a looser planting style, packed with native varieties, in her home garden by plotting her design into graphic, geometric beds. Photograph by Melissa Ozawa.
Free your garden! Why be a fashion victim when you could be the queen of eco chic? Just because your neighbors have a manicured lawn and tightly clipped hedges, doesn’t mean you should. Nature doesn’t want to be controlled – nor should it be. As landscape designer and Perfect Earth Project’s founder Edwina von Gal says, “Get your garden out of shapewear!” Don’t keep up with the Joneses. Be the Joneses. Do something so fabulous in your yard, everyone wants to emulate you. Plant an abundant biodiverse yard.
While I definitely don’t consider myself a trendsetter—or even a person who follows trends—my interest is always piqued when I learn of new gardening approaches and tricks. Here, I’ve rounded up a few of my favorites that I plan to try this coming year. (And if you’re ahead of the game and have already given these a go, let us know how it went in the Comments.)
Liquid seaweed is a well-known wonderful organic fertilizer, but how about whole seaweed as pest control? Researchers are experimenting with seaweed to fight various plant invaders, and so are gardeners. Some claim that this briny treasure from the sea works as an excellent snail and slug repellent. Plus, it benefits the soil with ready-to-use trace minerals and helps block out weeds—and it’s free if you live near a beach! The theory goes like this: Since seaweed holds a lot of salt, it will repel slugs and snails, which detest salt. Furthermore, when seaweed dries it becomes crackly and crisp, which soft-bodied slugs and snails also dislike.
I plan to gather some fresh seaweed and use it like a wet mulch around vulnerable plants, or place it around the perimeter of a garden bed. The recommendation is to layer it about 4-inches-high because it will shrink as it dries. If you’re planning to give this a try, I’d suggest keeping the seaweed away from stems and leaves (as they don’t enjoy the salt either) and collect only the seaweed you need (as seaweed provides shelter and food for various marine life).
As you probably guessed, this is the joining of the words edible and ornamental, the idea being that a plant can be both tasty and decorative at the same time. As someone who loves to multitask, I’m drawn to plants that adopt the same behavior. Edimentals can be annuals, perennials, trees, or shrubs. Looking closer, options include edible leaves, berries, fruits, roots, or flowers.
What I appreciate about edimentals is that harvesting becomes more like foraging as the plants are dispersed around a garden instead of living in a designated patch or bed. The other positive aspect is that most edimentals also attract pollinators. Here are some plants I will add this year: Artichokes for their bold architectural leaves, perennial herbs like chives (which have charming pink flower heads), and Nasturiums whose flowers can be tossed in salads.
This idea came from a client of mine who swears by this technique, an old trick that has been passed down for generations of gardeners. I knew about adding crushed egg shells to compost bins and as a topdressing, but this method—in which you add a whole, unbroken raw egg to the bottom of your planting hole—is new to me. My client found that when she did this in a few pots, she discovered the egg-filled pots looked greener and grew larger than the egg-less pots (her controls).
This form of direct composting theoretically results in boosted soil nutrients, especially calcium and beneficial mycorrhizea. Some other sources say that buried eggs are excellent for tomatoes to prevent blossom end rot. I understand that this technique is not a quick solution as the decomposition process needs time to occur and that I could be encouraging raccoons or other curious creatures to investigate if they detect an odor, but I am willing to try. (Side note: As someone who is mildly allergic to eggs, I don’t feel bad repurposing them for the betterment of plants.)
It’s still important to keep your ratio of “greens” (moist materials, including kitchen scraps) and “browns” (dry materials, leaves, shredded paper and cardboard) during the winter months. Merkleson keeps a separate pile of leaves that he adds to his bin whenever he puts in kitchen scraps.
5. Don’t turn it.
When the temperatures drop, you should stop turning the pile because you’ll be contributing to heat loss. “Once the temperatures in the pile go below 40°F, there is not much microbial activity, so no need to turn,” adds Helen Atthowe, the author of The Ecological Farm. That said, if you hit a warm spell, go ahead and flip the pile to aerate, says Merkelson. Note: If you maintain a hot compost pile (most homeowners have a “cold” pile), the Growit Buildit! blog, in a tutorial about hot composting in winter,recommends continuing to turn your pile once a week.
Covering the pile can also help retain heat. Merkleson says you can cover your pile with leaves, cardboard, or straw to keep it warmer longer, but avoid covering the active pile with a plastic tarp, so it can breathe and receive moisture. Atthow notes that there are felt-like compost covers you can buy that breathe better than plastic tarps, as well. If you’re fortunate enough to have a stash of mature compost, it’s fine to leave it outside to overwinter, but Merkleson recommends you do cover that with a tarp. If not, “rain, sleet, snow washes through the compost and leeches out the nutrients,” he cautions.
“It’s not always necessary to go out in bad weather to keep composting,” says Merkelson, who personally doesn’t like to trek out to his pile in the worst winter weather. Instead, he throws food waste into an indoor Bokashi bin (an anaerobic method of composting). But Merkleson notes you don’t need a Bokashi bucket to avoid trips to your compost pile. Take advantage of the cold temperatures and place a food waste bucket outside, preferably next to the back door. “If it is freezing or close to freezing, you can just leave your food scraps in a sealed container for weeks or even months” until you’re ready to take them out to the pile, he says.
In addition to fall being a great time to get new plants in the ground, it can also be an ideal season to fertilize your lawn, trees, shrubs, and perennials. But you have to do it correctly: During these cooler months, plants are slipping into dormancy and not actively growing. Depending on how severe or mild your winter is, they can be anywhere between completely dormant to growing very, very slowly. If you fertilize right, you’ll be giving them the best send-off to their winter sleep.
Before you start, you may want to get in touch with your local cooperative extension. They can help you get a soil test (you can’t help your plants if you don’t know what they need). And they can tell you the first frost date for your area (for practical purposes, fertilizing should be done before the first frost). They know your climate best and can give you advice specific to your location.
Note: We don’t recommend using synthetic fertilizers because of the large environmental impacts associated with them, including water contamination from run off and decimation of soil microbes. Restoring soil health naturally should always be the first option.
Here’s what you need to know about fertilizing (naturally) in the fall.
The best and easiest way to fertilize is to do one last mow with a mulching mower and leave the clippings on the lawn. Mulching the clippings back into the lawn can provide up to 50% of the needed nutrients for the grass. To make up the rest of what your lawn needs, there are two low-cost and environmentally sustainable ways to fertilize. First, you can aerate the lawn and top dress with compost. Second, if you have fallen leaves, mulch them into the lawn as well. Just remember to rake them around so they aren’t too thick. It is a smart idea to keep the nutrients created on your property, on your property. (See Ask the Expert: Doug Tallamy Explains Why (and How to) Leave the Leaves.)
A more expensive, less eco-conscious option is to use organic lawn fertilizer. While organic fertilizers are certainly better than chemical fertilizers, there are still manufacturing and transportation costs to the environment. If you go this route, follow the directions exactly. More is not better.
A closed loop is the best type of fertilizer. Keep the leaves from the trees under them. They have everything the trees need—for free. They help on so many levels. They act as mulch and keep the moisture in the soil, which in turn helps the microbes that break down the leaves, making their nutrients available to the trees. The leaves also become winter homes for good bugs. Just be sure to keep the root flare exposed; piling the leaves up the trunk can cause can cause the bark to rot. No trees on your property? Organic compost is your next best choice.
For shrubs that were healthy over the growing season, a leaf well around the base will be enough. If they didn’t do well over the summer, they may need a bit of help. Aerate the soil and add some compost and water well.
If you want to add store-bought organic fertilizer to your tree or shrub, you may want to consider consulting with an arborist first. It’s easy to over-fertilize and cause damage. Leave it to the professionals.
Yes, leaves again. Really. And compost. Both the leaves and the compost break down slowly. Nobody is in a rush here, it’s winter and nothing is growing. The idea is that the nutrients will be ready and in a form the plant can use once it wakes up in the spring. If you’re concerned about burying your plants too deep in leaves, lightly cover what remains of your almost dormant plants, but pack the leaves thickly around them.
There are no other real options. If you use synthetic fertilizer while they are going into dormancy, they could come out of dormancy early during an extended warm spell—and then when a cold snap follows, the new growth may be killed. This can weaken the plant, causing it to fail to thrive in the spring or even die.
Our gardens are part of a larger ecosystem, so it’s important to prioritize soil health and natural methods over synthetic fertilizers. Aeration of compacted soil and addition of organic matter will have a better and a longer-lasting effect on plant health.
As leaves fall and the call to “leave the leaves” rises—from major news outlets to your next door neighbor—you may find yourself scratching your head as to how, exactly, to leave the leaves.
The slogan is a fun way to get people to consider a serious problem. We are in the sixth great extinction event in the history of the earth, which is directly affecting our food web. When one species goes extinct or its population declines severely, it can have a negative ripple effect on other species and the ecosystem as a whole. How does this tie into leaving the leaves in your own backyard? How does it help? And how do you do it?
Doug Tallamy can explain. He is an entomologist, a conservationist, and a professor in the Department of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology at the University of Delaware. He’s even written a book, Nature’s Best Hope, which is a blueprint for saving the earth one backyard at a time. (It’s on Gardenista contributor Melissa Ozawa’s list of favorite gardening books: see In Gratitude: How a Gift from a Boss Led to a Love for Gardening Books.) Below, Doug gives us the low-down on leaving the leaves.
Photography by Joy Yagid.
Q: Why do you think people don’t leave the leaves?
Above: We’ve been conditioned to think that we have to clean up the leaves, but fallen leaves are not only beautiful, they help the soil.
A: We do what we observed when we were kids. It’s been part of our culture to get rid of the leaves. You either burn them or you put them out in the curb for the city to take away, but you have to take them off your lawn and do something with them.
Q: What’s the easiest way to start?
A: Well, there is a conflict between having that perfect lawn and and the leaves that fall on the lawn. So people say “I gotta get the leaves off the lawn.” [The solution is to reduce] the area you have in lawn. The perfect way to start doing that is to create beds under the trees that you have. And you do that by raking the leaves into those beds. And in the beginning when you’re trying to actually smother the grass, [to make the beds] you rake a lot of leaves, you make it pretty thick. My son bought a house and the first fall, he called me up and said, “Dad, I got too many leaves. What should I do with them?’” I said: “Put them in your flower beds.” He said: “I don’t have enough flower beds.” I said: “Exactly.” You increase the amount of flower beds and that’s where the leaves go. The extra ones that just don’t fit in those flower beds can go into a compost heap.
