To cut back or not. That is the question. “Depends on how tidy you want your garden,” says Tom.
It was common practice to prepare your garden for winter by cutting back every plant, with a few exceptions. Leaves were raked up and carried away from the garden, too. But there are some benefits, both visually and to wildlife, of not cleaning up your garden in the fall.
Native bees and other beneficial insects need places to overwinter, some overwinter in the hollow stems of your Echinacea or Monarda, if left standing.
Birds will eat the seeds and berries they can collect from some perennials and shrubs in winter, that is, if they are not cut back.
Last, but not least, there is beauty in a winter garden when snow rests on the dried hydrangea flowers or seed pods, that you miss if you cut back your gardens in the fall.
A Garden Renovation