Wildlife-Friendly Gardening: What I Don't Tidy Up (And Why)

The UK has 23 million gardens which are collectively over four times larger than the country's National Nature Reserves. This presents an opportunity to do something positive for our biodiversity, especially as the UK is one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world. But we're all under pressure to keep our gardens looking neat, whether through seeing perfect gardens on television, social media or nosy neighbours peering over the fence.

Tidiness is often a seasonal habit; leaves fall from the trees, plants die back and we're left with varying shades of brown for several long months. The nights draw in and we spend less time in the garden so the idea that we must "put the garden to bed" prevails. For many this means clearing away fallen leaves and chopping back plants, stems and seed heads that look "messy", leaving the garden to look "tidy" until we venture out there again in spring.

But when we retreat indoors to our central heating and winter duvets, the wildlife that we've seen in the garden over the summer is still out there and is in more need of help than at any other time of year. The best part is that providing that helping hand needs very little effort, only a little willpower to put the leaf blower and secateurs down, and ignore what the neighbours may think.

Snow-capped echinacea seed heads providing winter interest on a cold January morning (and food for the birds!)

Seed Heads & Standing Stems

Seed heads are a good place to start as it's very clear to see the benefits they have, providing food for hungry birds in the colder months. I started to leave all my spent echinacea standing until spring, mainly to leave the seed to drop naturally as I was having no luck germinating them in the greenhouse. They also provide great winter interest in the borders, but it's the views of goldfinches and blue tits feeding on them that brings me the most joy.

Hollow stems also provide insects with somewhere to overwinter, in turn also providing food for birds and small mammals, and this goes for many different types of plants.

Fallen Leaves

Too many people are desperate to clear away fallen leaves and I'm sure we've all got that one neighbour who's out with the leaf blower at 8am every weekend. I'm here to plead with you not to clear them up entirely and in fact one of the best things you can do is just move them onto your beds and borders. They provide excellent insulation for your plants over the winter, protecting the soil from strong winds, and give all those insects somewhere to hide, as well as the birds somewhere to feed. Then, as the season progresses, they naturally break down and decompose, adding nutrients and improving the soil structure, something that's particularly important if you have heavy clay soil like me. So by all means, clear them off your paths and driveways, but move them somewhere where they can do some good. It's free mulch!

Another thing I love to do is collect leaves in bags, leave them for a year to break down and form leaf mould which is a wonderful addition to your compost or veg beds. You can use old compost bags or hessian sacks, just make sure the leaves are nice and damp (you can also shred them to speed up the process), punch some holes in the bags and let nature do the rest.

Spent Plants

Similar to fallen leaves, you can also leave any annuals or perennials to die back and decompose naturally through the season, providing more habitat for insects to overwinter, and returning nutrients to the soil. Anything left in spring such as thick stems, I then clear away to make way for new growth, letting light and air into the base of the plant.

For annuals, I leave them standing through the winter and come spring I chop them down at ground level rather than pulling them out, leaving the roots in the soil to break down naturally, further improving the soil structure and feeding beneficial microbes, whilst reducing soil disturbance and erosion. I've found when improving clay soil it's worth allowing nature to do as much of the work as possible and roots are excellent at aerating the soil, so why undo all that good work?

When I Do Tidy

There are times when some things do need tidying up, but it's about being selective for the greater good of the garden. Sometimes I have too much of a particular plant and I don't want it self-seeding and spreading further, so I'll remove any seed heads before they start to drop. Similarly, if I've had a problem with disease or pests I'll remove that foliage and dispose of it in the bin, rather than composting it.

Over the five years I've been here I've been turning my previous monoculture of a front lawn into a wildflower meadow and wildflowers need low nutrient soil to thrive. The last thing they needs is a thick layer of leaves fertilising the soil, but we have a very large oak tree nearby so I do have to collect them from this area. I don't let them go to waste though, and distribute them around the borders or bag them up to make leaf mould.

What I've Learnt From "Untidiness"

Primroses, celandine and forget-me-nots all appeared when I left this area to do its own thing

We're all pushed for time these days and even when you enjoy gardening, "putting the garden to bed" can be a trying task. But untidiness = less work. Less work = more wildlife. More wildlife = less guilt.

I challenge you to embrace untidiness and leave one thing over winter. Put down the secateurs, put away the leaf blower and watch the birds foraging in your borders from the kitchen window.

Perhaps you've got a corner that you could leave to nature, you might be surprised what appears. I inherited an old, gnarled pear tree behind my greenhouse that's on sloping ground and is difficult to work with. I wondered what on earth I was going to do with this area, but in my period of indecision the most wonderful carpet of flowers appeared. Now I leave it to do its own thing and this area of imperfection has become a little habitat that the bees and ladybirds absolutely adore in early spring when there's little flowering in the borders..

For me it's a no-brainer. Not tidying isn't neglect, it's a way of paying attention to the garden and recognising how it interacts with the wider environment.