Many gardeners choose to cut their plants down in the autumn months, but there are important benefits to allowing plants and flowers to remain in place during the winter.
One benefit is that dried seed heads provide food for birds during the cold weather months. In addition, dead plants provide a habitat for beneficial insects to hibernate and lay eggs throughout the winter, which is called overwintering. Gardeners who help beneficial insects during the winter will then be helped by those insects during the summer and enjoy a healthier garden.
Gardeners who choose to remove the plant growth in the spring should wait until after several 50-degree days have passed before clearing their garden to prepare for planting. This will allow overwintering beneficial insects to survive and safely leave the plants.
For more tips about preparing your garden for the winter so that it will be more successful next summer, call Andrew Fritz at the Hamilton County Soil & Water Conservation District office at (317) 773-2181 or visit HamiltonSWCD.org.