With temperatures dropping and gardens beginning to lose their colors, you might be asking what you need to do before next season

Pollinator gardens and habitat play a critical role during Fall and Winter, providing shelter and food. While the garden might not look active, bees, birds, and other pollinators rely on these plants to get them to next spring

There are many ways to support pollinators throughout Fall and Winter, more information can be found at the Xerces Society: Nest and Overwintering habitat for Pollinators and Other Beneficial Insects

Leave the Leaves: Winter Habitat Protection

Leaves are not litter. They are food and shelter for butterflies, beetles, bees, moths, and more. Leaves, hollow and pithy stems, brush piles, dead wood, soil, and flower heads all provide important winter shelter for many invertebrates, including native bees.

There is no “right” way to participate in leave the leaves. You can:

• Encourage your community to let leaves rest where they fall,
• Make piles in the back corner of a yard or park, or
• Use them to mulch garden beds.
• Just avoid shredding the leaves, and keep in mind: if they wait too long to move leaves around, that good habitat may become occupied by their winter residents!

For more information visit the Xerces Society Leave the Leaves