As we approach the autumn season, many homeowners will embrace the crispy days, rakes or blowers in hand to “clean up” their landscape for the winter slumber. But our yard is one of the best tools we have to help the environment, and the way we landscape impacts the natural world in more ways than almost all other lifestyle choices we will make.

 

Everyone wants the benefits of nature, clean water, food and pollination, but not everyone is willing to steward nature. If environmental stewardship is a top priority, follow these tips to improve the yard’s ecological value.

 

Leave the leaves: Leaves provide critical overwintering habitat for many species of wildlife, many of which are responsible for the pollination of our food! In the flower beds/natural areas, leaves provide a protective blanket for plants and the wildlife that benefit them; in the lawn, leaves can “mowed in” for free fertilizer.

 

Recycle old stalks: Rather than deadheading flowers in the fall, allow them to go to seed and remain standing through the winter. Aside from adding a warm and festive appeal to the property, seed heads provide food for wildlife and stalks provide nesting habitat for valuable species. Old stalks should be cut back the following April, around the time when the apple trees are blooming (mid-April).

 

Maintain brush piles: Enormous piles of organic debris (leaves, sticks and landscape debris) sitting at landfills increases methane levels. Instead of sending it out with the trash, take fall debris and build brush piles. There is nothing more exciting than a winter brush pile in a snowstorm for birds, bunnies and squirrels. It’s like a cozy lodge for wildlife out in the cold.

 

Tony Campisi is the owner of Campisi Property Service, a sustainable landscaping company serving York and surrounding counties since 2009. For more information, call 717-586-5522, email [email protected] or visit Facebook.com/CampisiPropertyServiceLlc.