Winter-Early Spring

• Walk around your yard periodically to check for any rabbit damage to young trees and shrubs.  

• Also check for young plants heaving out of the ground due to frost/thaw cycles. Gently press them back into the ground.

• Start planning for spring clean up of your native area. If you have a prairie or savanna area, can you burn?  If you have a prairie garden and cannot burn, you must remove last year's dried up perennials to expose the soil surface as if it was burned.  Rake away the cut dried material and compost. If you can burn, please make sure you are thoroughly trained, prepared, knowledgeable, have help and get the proper permits/permission.  Failure to do so may jeopardize the prescribed burn program for everyone in your area. See resource page for more information on burning and its benefits. If you have a woodland garden, you can cut back some of the dried plant material and compost, or leave as is. Also rake the leaf litter in small areas of your woodland garden if you have oaks, to allow some seeds to germinate more quickly but leave the majority of leaves.

• Visit your local forest preserves, wetlands, prairie restorations to view the wildlife, beauty and importance of our natural areas during winter, especially after a snowfall.  Bring your camera!

• Call Good-Natured Landscapes early!

Spring-Early Summer

• Your native plants love the spring rains but so do the weeds. Don't forget to do a little daily or weekly weeding of your native plant garden, especially around young plants or seedlings during the first few years. Be careful not to disturb the roots of your native plants while weeding. Do not till the soil around your plants since this will just bring up weed seeds to the surface.  If you have a lot of weeds, prioritize by attacking the aggressive and dominant weeds first, before they go to flower or to seed. It is not necessary to remove every weed in your garden. A good weed reference book is handy to help you identify, prioritize and learn how to control different weeds (See my Resources page). As your native plant garden fills in, less weeding will be needed BUT there will always be some weeds . Many weed seeds already exist in the soil or are carried by the wind or wildlife. 
• Consider volunteering for weed management at a local natural area. Many areas depend on volunteers for help and you can learn a lot about weeds and their control from the experts. 
• Be wary of those rabbits! They may crave a native plant or two especially native Asters, Grasses, Clovers, Wild Indigos, Leadplants, and several others. 
• Relocate or give away young native plants by digging them up if they have seeded or spread into areas you do not want them to grow in. 
• Call Good-Natured Landscapes now to design a landscape for late summer or fall installation. 

Summer - Early Fall

• A native garden is dynamic. Plants change from year to year, month to month, week to week. The same species may vary from each other in flower color, height, bloom time, etc. They reseed and spread into places we may not expect them to. This is natural. Enjoy the changes and surprises. 

• Young prairie plants may not bloom the first year or two because they are spending their energy making a good root system.  So if your young plants are green but not growing very much or not flowering right away - don't worry! During the 2005 drought, many native plants conserved water and energy by not growing as tall or not flowering, but they were still lush and green (unlike our lawns), and they did great the following year!

• Native plant landscapes are host to an array of insects, birds and other wildlife, providing food and shelter. During this time you may see a few imperfect leaves and flowers. This is normal and also natural. Repeat! This is normal and natural. Please do not spray pesticide unless you have a serious problem, and then spray only a non-toxic pesticide specifically targeted for the type of insect causing the problem at the proper time. When you spray pesticides or other similar chemicals, you might be harming the beneficial wildlife (other insects, birds, pollinators) that will most likely keep the pests in check while destroying their food source. 

"So important are insects and other land-dwelling arthropods that if all were to disappear, humanity probably could not last more than a few months." - Edward Wilson

• Call Good-Natured Landscapes now to design a landscape for a fall or spring installation. 

 Fall-Early Winter

• Wildlife are taking advantage of the remaining nectar, leaves and seeds before preparing for winter. Do not cut back or dead-head plants at this time. Many plants will provide food and shelter to the wildlife that over-winter here. The rustling of leaves, textures of leftover seed pods, and sparkle of frost covering your garden, all add winter interest.

• Empty your rain barrel(s) by opening the drain. Then flip them over and put a brick or something heavy on top so they aren't knocked over by the wind.  Put an extension to your downspout or close your gutter diverter so that the water flows into your yard and not into your barrel.  Freezing water inside your barrel may cause your barrel to crack.  

•  Rake leaves around your shrubs, trees and woodland plants a couple of inches and add more if available after the ground freezes. This leaf layer (Nature's mulch) will protect your plants from frost heaving and add organic matter to the soil. In addition, birds like to forage through the leaves for insects and use the leaves for nesting material. Also put extra leaves into a compost pile. If you have oak leaves, you can chop them up first with your lawn mower to speed up decomposition.  Compost makes great compost tea and soil amendment for annuals, vegetables, and lawn. 

• Now might be the time to rabbit proof your young trees and shrubs if you know you have a rabbit problem. Rabbits munch on tender young trees and shrubs during winter when other plant material is scarce or covered in snow. Encircle plants with 2’ high chicken wire and place a few garden stakes/staples along the bottom to secure. 

• Collect some of the seeds from your native plants and spread them into other parts of your garden or share them with friends. Leave the rest for wildlife. 

• Plan ahead: Call Good-Natured Landscapes now and you'll be ready to plant in spring!