Preparing for a Winter Feast

 

Pine Siskin feeding on Thistle

Gardens can be a source of delight even during the winter months, if created with native plants for wildlife in mind. As the weather turns cold and foraging becomes more challenging, home gardens can be a critical resource for many different species.  Planting layers of vegetation, from ground covers to trees, provides the food and shelter necessary to sustain wildlife. 

Since different species utilize different types of food, it is important to consider the fructivores, nut eaters, granivores, and insectivores.   Native berry producing trees and shrubs that persist into winter are numerous and include yaupon, possumhaw, southern wax myrtle, American beautyberry, flameleaf sumac, roughleaf dogwood, Virginia creeper, Texas persimmon, and rusty blackhaw viburnum.  Trees such as the native Texas Red Oak, Live Oak, Post Oak, pecan, and Arizona walnut provide highly desirable nuts.  

Southern Wax Myrtle Berries

Rusty Blackhaw Viburnum Fruit

Post Oak Acorns

Another valuable practice is to create areas that mimic the forest floor by leaving leaves, which allows animals places to forage for overwintering insects.  Raking, mowing, and blowing is detrimental to many species of moths, butterflies, snails, spiders, beetles, and dozens of arthropods (such as millipedes).  Many moths and butterflies overwinter in the egg, caterpillar, or chrysalis/cocoon stage and use leaf litter as winter cover.  If you must keep your non-native lawn free of leaves, carefully rake them into a pile in the corner or spread them underneath trees and shrubs as a natural mulch.

Just as important is the practice of leaving seedheads and not cutting or pruning back perennials until they begin to break dormancy in late February or early March.  Birds can pluck seeds from spent flowerheads, hollow stems can become nests for solitary bees, and overripe fruits can be left to fall to the ground for animals to find.  Several native plant species that should be left standing throughout the winter include purple coneflower, blazing star, fall aster, common sunflower, tall goldenrod, western ironweed, frostweed, Texas thistle, Turk’s cap, blue mistflower, chile pequin, pigeonberry, and white boneset. 

Tall Goldenrod Seedhead

White Boneset Seedhead

Native grasses left to seed are also very beneficial, with clump-like vegetation at the base providing shelter from the cold and seedheads supplying food.  In early spring, the previous year’s leaf blades also provide necessary nesting material for many birds and small mammals.  The grass species to consider include inland sea oats, sideoats grama, switchgrass, big muhly, big bluestem, little bluestem, bushy bluestem, and indian grass.

Inland Sea-Oats Seeds

The colder months of the year are a good time to evaluate how well your garden provides a winter feast and haven for wildlife.  Helping our native animal species during the more barren months of the year by providing naturally occurring food and shelter helps to prepare them for a healthy and productive spring breeding season.

Leave the Leaves!

Fallen leaves are not 'litter', but are food and shelter for many forms of wildlife.

This time of year, as the days shorten and leaves begin to fall, we can’t seem to help wanting to tidy up our yards and gardens by constantly mowing, blowing, and edging.  However, one of the most valuable things you can do to support pollinators and other beneficial species is to provide them with winter cover in the form of fallen leaves and dead plant material.

The Texas Alligator Lizard breeds in October or November, with females delaying egg
development during hibernation, laying their eggs in leaf litter beginning in February.

Leaves on the ground are not litter, which is unfortunately how most people see them.  Rather, they are food and shelter for many species of bees, beetles, butterflies, moths and other native creatures.  They are also habitat for beneficial snails, spiders, worms, millipedes, mites, and other small species that support the larger species such as birds and mammals that use them for food.

The larva or caterpillar of the Dusky-blue Groundstreak butterfly feeds on decaying leaves.

The vast majority of butterfly and moth species overwinter in the form of an egg, caterpillar, chrysalis, cocoon, or adult.  Some tuck themselves into a pile of leaves for protection from predators or the cold.  Others lay their eggs on fallen oak leaves, which becomes their first meal when they hatch in the spring.  Cocoons and chrysalises are often disguised with dried leaves, keeping them safe by helping to blend in and avoid predation.  Some species of lizard lay their eggs in fallen leaves, and many species of native bees and Sphinx moth larvae burrow into shallow soil for the winter, each attempting to survive the colder months covered in a protective blanket of leaves. 

The pupa (or immature inactive form between larva and adult)
of several species of Sphinx Moths, like this Virginia Creeper Sphinx,  
spend the winter a few inches under the soil, protected by a blanket of leaves. 

So how do you maintain your property while leaving the leaves?  First, if you must keep your lawn free of leaves, use a manual rake (it’s good exercise, too) and make a leaf pile in a corner of your yard or pile them up around your trees, shrubs, and perennials.  Don’t shred the leaves but keep them whole, let the leaf pile break down naturally, and leave the leaves that have already fallen in your beds and yard edges.  This free mulch provides you with valuable organic matter, builds up healthy soil, insulates tender roots, retains moisture, and helps to keep weeds at bay.   You can always decide to remove the leaves in the spring, once you wait late enough in the season so as not to destroy any overwintering species.

An adult Snowberry Clearwing Moth emerges from the leaf-covered ground in spring. 

And if the human side of things is more of a motivator for you, consider that the U.S. Environmental Agency has reported that mowers, edgers, and blowers used to remove leaves emit 27 million tons of air pollutants each year, not to mention the noise pollution that they create.  So do consider leaving the leaves this year, it’ll be less work for you and much better for the wildlife!

The Xerces Society encourages everyone to 
Leave the Leaves!