Does neatness matter in a wildlife garden?
The Waiting Bench Garden from The Susans Bed
That’s what I’ve been pondering as I stare out the patio door to the wilderness known as my Garden of Benign Neglect. It’s more spring garden that overflows with native ephemerals, wildflowers and bulbs. During the summer it’s quieter with monardas, grasses and phlox; come fall the color ratchets up when liatris, goldenrods and salvias start blooming. It’s always been a little wild and flowers have been allowed to romp about; but, after a summer of gardener absence and a serious drought, it’s looking more than rough!
Goldenrod in the Susans Garden
There’s a similar issue in the Susans Garden. Some of the plants have gotten a little too pushy! Goldenrod, one of my favorite rough and tumble wildflowers has gotten a strong foothold and has encroached on the monarda, Liatris aspera, Rudbeckia submentosa ‘Henry Eiler’ and several autumn blooming sages. It’s even trampled over the Little Bluestems.
The Susans have more seedheads than any birds can consume. So, this fall, when the rains return and the soil is workable, I’ll transplant and restructure the garden. This will be a good time to add more native plants. A garden filled with just two species doesn’t provide a diversity of flowering crops or a long period of bloom that’s necessary to support resident pollinators and other wildlife critters.
green bees visiting an aster
To answer the question~“Does neatness matter in a wildlife garden? To us, maybe, to the beautiful wildlife that visit, absolutely not! As long as we provide food, water and shelter/cover, we’ll have a beautiful garden for them.
Monarch nectaring on Aster
Gail Eichelberger of Clay and Limestone has a beautiful wildlife garden in Middle Tennessee.
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About Gail Eichelberger
I was just pondering this as I was doing some bean harvesting and clean-up amid my front yard *wild* garden! Goodness ~ what the neighbors must think!
rose recently posted..My Way
Rose, I wondered what my neighbors thought and finally asked the woman across the street~She said she loved to sit on her porch and see what was blooming. gail
Gail recently posted..Still Taking care Of Bzzness
I agree, neatness is vastly overrated.
Mr. McGregor’s Daughter recently posted..A Toad- Some Bulbs- and Lots of Roots
Barbara, My opinion most of the time regarding the garden and house cleaning!
Gail recently posted..Still Taking care Of Bzzness
Just enough neatness to get to the front door, and along the paths, yes? And to see the mountain!
Elephant’s Eye recently posted..Ten for Ellada
Diana, What a wonderful view you have of your beautiful mountains.
Gail recently posted..Still Taking care Of Bzzness
Weeding and staking and grooming might disturb little nests.
I like the ‘wild side’ of the bench.
The wildlife doesn’t seem to care about neatness. Good thing
As one of my favorite garden writers once said, “The chief goal of a garden is to delight the gardener.” Since most of us here are probably delighted by wildlife in the garden more than by rigidly structured rows of blooms, a messy garden can still be a wildly successful one.
…that said, yes, I still feel a twinge that my main garden bed is all rags and tatters at the moment–late summer is brutal in the South–even if we’re surrounded by woods so that the neighbors can’t see a thing.
UrsulaV recently posted..And another one!
If you maintain neat edges you can get away with anything inside the beds. I was delighted to learn wildlife gardens shouldn’t be “cleaned up” in the fall, as I never could get around to it until spring anyways.
Sally, Edges do help and sometimes the more formal an edge on a naturalistic garden the better.
Gail recently posted..Still Taking care Of Bzzness
Gail, If neatness mattered in the garden in general I would get a D- . . . You are right that the lovely flutterbyes and bees could care less, as long as the nectar is sweet. Lovely post. I look forward to seeing your overhaul.
Carolflowerhill recently posted..September Garden Walkabout Part Two
I try to keep my front garden tidy, but the back garden is all about the birds, butterflies, bees, and other critters who make their homes there. This garden is specifically for them, and here neatness does NOT matter.
Carole recently posted..Migrant Warblers in the Wildlife Garden