Native plants, which evolved in this climate, in general need less maintenance than introduced plants. But any yard will quickly revert to weeds without some care. Here are some general maintenance principles for keeping your yard beautiful while supporting the wildlife that inhabit it. Institutions should create a written maintenance plan - see below for suggestions.

 

Support wildlife all winter

Seed heads feed the birds, stalks provide nesting sites for bees and shelter for birds, and dead leaves provide shelter for turtles, caterpillars, and other creatures. Therefore the ideal cleanup routine would be to leave everything alone over the winter. In the early spring, cut back the dead perennial stalks if you like, but for the sake of the bees, leave 12-18 inches of any stalks that have hollow or pithy cores. (Bees burrow into the ends of last year's dead stalks after they have broken off or been bitten off by deer. The eggs then stay there over the following winter and emerge the next spring.) Unless you have a major aesthetic objection, it is good to leave the leaves and stalks in place. Every thing will get covered up by growing plants in the spring - the perennials will poke their way right up through them, assuming you have not piled on too thick a layer of extra leaves.

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A thin layer of dead leaves will not hurt the lawn. In fact, many of them will shrivel up and disappear surprisingly fast. Examples include Maple, Cherry, Ash, Willow and Elm species. (Oak and beech leaves are very slow to decompose and are more likely to smother the grass if not chopped up.) If the leaves are too thick in one area, you have several choices:

• Add them to garden beds

• Spread them under shrub beds

• Spread them in the woods (but not too much! Piling them high will kill the ground layer of plants.)

• Put them in a compost heap

• Chop them up and leave them on the lawn by running over them a couple times with the lawnmower. (This of course risks chopping up the butterfly larvae, eggs and pupae which floated down with the leaves from the trees.)

Do the world a favor and avoid leaf blowers. The  carbon emissions are considerable, and the noise is horrific. Noise pollution is bad for humans and for songbirds and other critters which have trouble communicating over the din.

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General inspection

Visiting the garden frequently will allow you to appreciate the garden as it unfolds and as birds and other wildlife move in. But, to check for problems, a monthly inspection by someone who is familiar with the plants is a good idea.

 

Water deeply until established, then stop

You should water thoroughly when planting - one way to do that is to put the plant in the hole and fill it with water, allowing it to drain before replacing the soil. Water again the next day, then twice a week for a couple weeks. After that, plan to do a deep watering once a week whenever it is needed. Over watering is problematic, so ideally you want to wait until the soil down at the roots is dry and the plant is starting to droop just a little (plants can droop from too much water, too). For perennials, keep this up until the following winter. For shrubs, give it a year.

 

For large trees, water with one gallon of water per inch of trunk caliper every other day for at least a month, then twice a week until established. Large nursery stock trees have crowns larger than the root system can support, so they need extra water until the roots catch up. Water around the edge of the planting hole to encourage roots to reach for the water. Trees become established in a year for every 1.5 inches of tree caliper. In other words, a tree with a two inch trunk will take 3 years to establish. Each year reduce the amount of water per inch by 1/n gallons, where n is the number of years to establishment.  For example a 1.5 inch caliper tree takes 3 years to establish, so in the first year it gets 1 gallon per inch, the second year it get 2/3 (1-1/3)gallons per inch, the third year it gets 1/3 (1-1/3-1/3) gallons per inch. The reduction in supplemental watering reflects the growing root system’s greater ability to absorb natural soil moisture.

 

For seedling trees, water with 1 gallon of water when planting if the soil is dry.  Then water with 1 gallon after 2 weeks without measurable rain. Water around the edge of the planting hole.  This will force the seedling to develop a good root system. Over watering will make the plant less drought tolerant.

 

Do not fertilize

Most commercial fertilizer is not only unnecessary, but at times is harmful to native plants. Adding organic matter in the form of compost or mulch will improve the soil and provide nutrients to the plants.  One simple thing to do is to keep a can in the kitchen. Put coffee grounds (including the filter paper), egg shells and vegetable parings in the can. When the can is full carefully bury the contents in your garden.  This will feed the soil microbes and release nutrients into the soil. Or make compost in a pile or a bin. Not only will you be feeding your soil, you will be reducing a substantial fraction of our waste stream.

 

Do not use insecticides

Keep in mind that native plant gardening is about creating a balanced ecosystem and so is as much about growing insects as growing plants.  Native plants and the predators of plant-eating insects have evolved mechanisms to work together to control pests. For example, some birds can smell leaves that are being fed upon by caterpillars.  You should not need any insecticides in an established native plant garden, as it would completely defeat the purpose. New gardens sometimes have an outbreak of aphids, scale or other small sucking insects.  These can be treated with a non-toxic horticultural oil that smothers the small suckers and does not harm other insects. Aphids can be washed off with a sharp squirt of water. Remember to leave some of the sucking insects to attract their predators.

 

Shade the soil

In nature, fallen leaves help hold in moisture, cool the roots, provide organic material to the soil, and provide essential shelter for insects such as overwintering caterpillars. Multiple layers of plants also perform these functions. Where leaves are absent or plants are sparse, applying an inch or so of organic mulch can be helpful. Too much mulch will prevent seeds from sprouting from your native plants and will add more organic material than these plants need. Do not let mulch touch the base of the plants! The “mulch volcanoes” that we see piled around trees kill rather than help trees.

 

Weeding

As in any garden, weeds need to be kept down. But every time you disturb the soil, more weed seeds germinate, which has led to the latest suggestion that can work for some weeds: instead of pulling up the weeds by their roots, cut them down at ground level until they give up. As the desirable plants grow, their shade will start to reduce weed growth - this is called “Green Mulch.” Note that in a native plant garden, just because you didn’t plant it doesn’t mean it doesn’t belong. Nature will sometimes add desirable and hard-to-find native plants to your garden if you let it. Ideally you want to know what a plant is before you remove it. Having said that, just because a volunteer plant is native, doesn't mean you have to keep it - it's your garden, after all, and aesthetics are important! (See this page on native garden design.)

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The majority of garden weeds are non-native. The Seek app can give you a quick tentative identification and does not require you to set up an account. It relies on the iNaturalist database - the iNaturalist app will give you a more accurate list of possible identifications.

 

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