Why It’s Okay to Leave Your Garden a Little Messy in Fall

As summer winds down, many of us feel the urge to “tidy up” the yard: pulling plants, raking every leaf, and cutting things back until the garden looks neat and bare. But if you can resist the temptation, your backyard birds (and pollinators!) will thank you.

Leaving some of your garden a little wild in September and beyond provides food, shelter, and nesting materials that wildlife rely on during the changing seasons.

American Goldfinch in fall. Photo by Kristen Martyn. 

Here’s why less work in the garden can be a good thing:

🌻 Seeds for Birds
Many native flowers, like coneflowers, sunflowers, and thistle, go to seed in late summer and early fall. Those seeds are a critical food source for finches, sparrows, and other seed-eating birds. American Goldfinches, for example, are still nesting in late August and rely on thistle down and seed to raise their young.

🍂 Leaves as Habitat
Instead of bagging up every leaf, consider leaving some on the ground or tucked into garden beds. Leaf litter provides shelter for overwintering insects (including pollinators like butterflies and moths), which in turn become food for birds in the spring.

Mourning Cloak moths, who overwinter. Photo by Shayna Hartley. 

🌱 Stalks & Stems for Shelter
Hollow stems of plants like milkweed or goldenrod are perfect overwintering spots for native bees. Cut them back in spring, not fall, so wildlife can use them as natural protection.

❄️ Natural Cover
A “messier” garden with seed heads, grasses, and brush provides cover from predators and harsh weather, especially important as winter approaches.

The takeaway:
By leaving parts of your garden a little wild, you’re creating a backyard sanctuary that supports birds, pollinators, and other wildlife all year long. This fall, think of your garden less as something to clean up and more as a habitat to nurture.

And enjoy all the spare time you have as you leave the leaves. 

Warmly, 

Heather