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winter tidy up

Having order some new plants from a company on mail order this year with these new plants came a booklet for through the year gardening calendar giving a list of jobs to do around your garden each month.In the November part there is a job that say "do not tidy up 'too much' - various wildlife needs it for hibernation and shelter" now in my mind surely it would be better to clear all the leaves and twigs plus any other matter from the beds up and put in compost heap along with other compost through the year to give the wildlife more shelter in that then not clearing it up or am I missing something here?   

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  • nutcutletnutcutlet Posts: 27,445

    you may be Del, sticks and leaves are part of nature and the wildlife is there amongst it. Not everything wants to live on a compost heap, lots of it would be buried too deeply to survive or be reached by birds foraging. I just clear it off the grass so it doesn't go yellow.



    In the sticks near Peterborough
  • We leave the leaves long enough for the hedgehogs to make their hibernation quarters then we bag most of them up, leaving a few piles of leaves and twigs in quiet corners for wood mice, toads and our other little neighbours to use as they wish.  We have a proper tidy up in the spring when the weather is warmer and the animals are lively again. image


    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • Lupin 1Lupin 1 Posts: 8,916

    I tidy certain areas that I see the most. I do have parts that I leave and hope wildlife makes the most of them. I am keen about leaving seedheads and such for the birds, as well as feeding and providing them with fresh water.

    I do remove and destroy any diseased leaves, such as blackspot from roses. I don't have what you would call a decent lawns, just green stuff, I rake from there, but leave leaves in hedge bottoms and some borders.

  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,064

    We keep the grass clear but not the beds as we like to leave a layer of shelter and food for the worms, insects and birds.   We have log piles for hibernating critters and an insect hotel which I replenish every autumn.  Beds get cleared only of as many weeds as possible and collapsed stems of perennials. 

    The rest get left on to take the frosts - and look attractive - and protect the crowns as well as providing food and shelter for tiny critters and birds.   No more hoeing till spring in case we decapitate bulbs and shoots.

    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • Hi, I only tidy up where I have to at this time of year. This means those beds where spring flowers, e.g snowdrops, are expected ; leaves on lawn, because not doing it now means even more work next year helping the lawn recover. Everything else I leave to Spring to do. This helps the wildlife, and I can see where I am when the new growth emerges, where new gaps need plugging etc. It is also the time for new projects which might mean starting over in an existing bed.If I tidy now much of it will need retidying next year… double jeopardy!  imageimageimage

    That's my excuse anyway.

  • nutcutletnutcutlet Posts: 27,445

    I had a bit of a tidy this morning. All the steps cleared of leaves so we don't slide down on our bums. The hips give enough grief without that.

    I was going to take the mower round and pick up the leaves on the grass but the battery is flat and won't take a charge so we'll have to get another one.

    We have been aware that the battery is on the way out for at least 6 monthsimageSo I'm still admiring a golden patch of field maple leaves from one window and wild cherry from the other



    In the sticks near Peterborough
  • del 12del 12 Posts: 21

    It appears this morning I was wrong! having been thinking I was being too tidy today I was giving the shrubs a gentle trim over and forking the boarders up then edging the lawn too for last 5/6 weeks keeping lawns leaf free and just blowing the borders too get leaves out. well as I was saying today I found that when I was blowing the leaves for last few weeks I was not fully getting them all from under the shrubs so today I have left them in there for miss mother natures friends top tip of the day get the leaves clear up while they are damp then u wont chase them around and around yes I know u cant use  leaf suckers or the mower but I found best way is to blow them in one pile and then rake up and barrow or use the trailer pulled by the ride on then do the next section thanks for the replies

        

  • I cut the dahlia foliage and dig up the tubers. Also the dead tomato plants and remove the  runner bean vines. I do quite a lot of cutting  dead foliage so that I can compost it. I also sweep up leaves on the paths for compost . We have too many snails on our allotments despite frogs so I collect as many as I can and relocate them in a nearby waste land around the edges of a car park. If only we had hedgehogs but they would probably  make straight for the main road..  As I plant broad beans at this time I have to clear a plot, dig in compost. I put a fleece over the bean bed this year only to return and find it covered in muddy marks as if there had been a great foxesV cats V rats Vsquirrels brawl.If the beans will actually come up is anyone's guess.

     

      

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