OPINION – Anytime now, nature will wash our winter doldrums away and the first green shoots will pop up in our gardens to brighten up our spirits. Emerging also will be a plethora of critters, from skunks to groundhogs, foxes to chipmunks, rabbits to field mice, all going on their merry way to feast and proliferate. And of course, the birds and insects.

All of a sudden, too many gardening tasks will be upon us. This is especially true if you are like me and leave the fall clean-up till the spring. Actually, there are many schools of thought about this. I like the one that says that you should wait until spring to give the garden a clean-up.

This is because a large number of its inhabitants profit from the intact garden over the winter months such as native bees which burrow into hollow plant stems, predator insects (our friends) who over-winter in leaf and plant litter, and of course birds who like to feast on these very insects and their larvae. Taking away all the spent plant material in the fall removes insect habitat and it arguably takes longer for them to recolonize in the spring. The experts also say we should wait as long as possible in the spring to trim down our last year’s perennials so that insects can emerge naturally. If the itch to cut and clean gets too much for us too soon, we should just very loosely pile our cuttings on our compost heap to allow the insects to crawl out in their own good time.

The other day, I saw a post in a gardening column that said something to the effect that a garden without insects is a garden which is not part of the ecosystem. Based upon my own trials and errors over the past 25 years here in West Carleton, I can vouch for that. What a garden needs is visits from our insect friends to get our flowers blooming, our fruit trees and shrubs producing and the whole ecosystem chugging along.

To this end, and though I may not have the perfect lawn, I have refrained from applying herbicides and pesticides and rather encourage a diversity of ground covers, not just grass, as my gatekeepers and landscapers of the green expanse in and around our house. This ensures that, especially in spring but at all times during the growing season, there is something natural in bloom in my lawn which attracts insects (e.g., dandelions, violets, creeping thyme, native succulents, clover, ajuga, etc). Because my lawn is not a monoculture but rather a diverse mix of plants, it weathers dry spells quite well and manages to look lush and green most of the time. The lawn purists may gasp and snicker…I don’t care! I do remove anything prickly because of the discomfort, but the rest I leave to flourish and spread. Good regular mowing, not too low, and the occasional top dress grass seeds and compost does help to fill in some of those over-trodden spots. 

I have found native plants (called wildflowers by some, weeds by others) do attract pollinators on a grander scale than even introduced perennials and annuals. Which natives do I tolerate, enjoy and encourage in my garden? We live near the alvar, on limestone with a thin earth cover, giving a wet-spring and often dry-summer-field type of environment. The following natives do really well here: Daisies – they arrive in clumps and add freshness and a happy feeling in the spring- Native Columbine in the summer and Asters, Queen Anne’s Lace and Goldenrod (yes, Goldenrod!) in the fall. 

I just welcome them into my established perennial borders, thinning them out on occasion, and mowing them down in my lawn.  Bees and other flying insects abound around these plants and they also attract many species of butterfly and moth: Red Admiral, Yellow Swallowtail, Hummingbird moth, and now more common a sight again, the majestic Monarch. 

What I don’t encourage of course are any species on the invasive or toxic list. We have a real challenge in keeping the ubiquitous Buckthorn and Prickly Ash at the edge of the property under control. I do leave any patches of Milkweed I find to encourage the Monarchs dropping off their eggs there, and they do. Last year I noticed several Monarchs, from the caterpillar to adult stage around the garden. I would say the best thing to do is to look around to what grows naturally in your area and choose to incorporate some of that, as long as it is not invasive, and it is at a spot you appreciate.

For those interested in pollinators and native plants, the West Carleton Garden Club is hosting a talk called Creating a Garden for Monarch Butterflies with Johanna Cutts, Joan Harvey and Mary Ash from the Monarch Teacher Network, Ottawa Chapter. The meeting will be held at the Carp Memorial Hall, 3739 Carp Rd, Carp, on Tuesday, April 9, starting at 7:30 p.m.. (Members: free of charge, Guests: $5. Refreshments and door prizes.) More info at: www.wcgc.ca.

This will be a great opportunity, ahead of the planting season, to get some fresh ideas about how to encourage butterflies and other pollinators into our gardens come spring.

Anne Gadbois is a long-time member of the West Carleton Garden Club and its past president. Gadbois, who lives in Corkery Woods. Anne writes on the wonders and challenges of gardening in our large, geographically diverse area.