Maintaining a natural garden throughout the year is a challenge, but at the same time a very fulfilling hobby. Autumn has now arrived with all its splendor of colors. Anyone who wants to protect their green oasis from the frost started weeks agoMake your balcony, terrace and garden winter-proof. But that doesn't mean that the green spaces around the house have to fall into a deep sleep until spring. Natural gardens in particular offer enormous potential in autumn and can make a valuable contribution to getting native plants and animals through the cold season.
More than unbridled wild growth
Natural gardens are becoming increasingly popular. They convey a feeling of originality and support biodiversity in a completely natural way. A natural garden is much more than an area in which all kinds of plants and animals spread unbridled. Natural gardens create space for life and growth in the rhythm of nature. They are a habitat for many animal and plant species and are therefore particularly impressive because of their splendid colors.
A natural garden should contain a particularly large number of native plant species.The greatest possible diversity of species attracts beneficial insectssuch as insects, birds, small mammals and reptiles. However, many of them specialize in native plants for their food sources. A natural garden should offer this to you all year round, if possible.
The more diverse the structures of the garden are, the more extensive the habitats offered to animals and plants. Trees and bushes and natural hedges, wet biotopes, watering holes, grassy areas, flowering plants, a compost heap, all of these are nesting places, food sources and retreats for many animal species. Perennials, beds and deadwood hedges give the garden structure and create completely natural divisions that also have a visual appeal.
The natural garden develops in the rhythm of nature. Any intervention should be carried out to the minimum possible extent and taking into account the natural conditions and requirements. Anyone who takes part in the natural garden experiment and leaves room for natural growth and development will be rewarded by an impressive biodiversity, can observe the coming and going of the seasons right outside the window and also provides living space for a variety of native animals and plants. “Environmental and species protection doesn’t take place just anywhere – but on our own doorstep,” says biologist Uwe Westphalin conversation with GEO. “And a natural garden is a species-appropriate habitat not only for many wild animals, but also for humans.”
When gardening in the natural garden, the principle applies: less is more. This means, for example, that garden waste such as leaves, brushwood or dead wood is not disposed of, but rather piled up in a suitable place to provide various animal species with a place to retreat. Restraint is also important when it comes to lawn care. The lawn mower is used less often in natural gardens and the cutting height is also set a few centimeters higher. A variety of microorganisms have a habitat in the deeper grass, which is destroyed by mowing the lawn too often. Natural gardeners should avoid fertilizing and scarifying if possible. Many native plant species prefer nutrient-poor soil, which can be created naturally in this way.
While many ornamental gardens are prepared with great care for hibernation in autumn, very special potential awakens in the natural garden. With just a few simple steps, the oasis can now be transformed into a winter quarters for many animal and plant species and at the same time prepares the restart of nature in spring.
This is how the natural garden becomes a winter quarters
When temperatures drop, many native animal species need a place to overwinter. A natural garden offers many possibilities for this. The gardener doesn't have to do much work. In many places it is enough to hold back and let nature take its course.
Falling leaves and dead wood from hedges, bushes and trees are the ideal winter quarters for insects, worms and small mammals. Especially under hedges and bushes, the layer of leaves should simply remain lying so that it can form a protective cover. The soil beneath the leaf layer remains moist, providing the ideal habitat for worms and insects. Leaves that fall on beds and grassy areas can be swept up and piled up in a pile. Leaf piles are a favorite winter quarters for small mammals such as hedgehogs and mice. A pile of leaves should ideally be piled up in a sheltered spot in the garden. To protect microorganisms, it is best to rake the leaves carefully and not to use a leaf blower.
As soon as the first frost arrives, feeding stations for birds and squirrels can be set up. Small wooden houses that are accessible from several sides and are set up or hung in a protected but easy-to-reach place are suitable. The feeding places in the branches of trees or in hedges are protected from the weather and can also be reached by climbing squirrels. TheNature Conservation Association Germany eV (NABU)has provided simple instructions on how to build bird feeders on its website and also gives useful tips on feeding birds and small mammals in the winter. Watering holes or birdbaths are also important in winter. They should be placed in a sheltered spot, especially in winter, so that the water does not freeze over so easily.
Looking forward to the awakening of spring
Already in autumn and winter, nature makes preparations for a new start in spring. Natural gardeners can support you with this. Exercise caution when cutting back plants. Gardening experts recommend leaving the fruit heads on perennials and in beds in the fall. In winter they serve as a food source for birds through dry seed heads and a habitat for many microorganisms that can overwinter in the dry plant stems. Wild bees prefer to lay their offspring in the remains of perennial plants. Moderate pruning not only makes the gardener's work easier, but also makes an important contribution to preserving biodiversity.
If you want to provide birds and worms with additional food for the barren winter months, you can plant cold germinators and bare-rooted bushes in the fall. Depending on the garden structure and space available, ground-covering variants or tall-growing and climbing cold germinators can be chosen. Individual perennials can also be planted well in autumn before frost comes. There is a large selection here with different flowering times, which offer many local microorganisms a source of food all year round.
Autumn is also the timeto get early bloomers into the ground. Bulb flowers should be planted before the first frost. Popular native species include snowdrops, tulips, squills, hyacinths, crocuses and winter aconites. The ideal place is the perennial beds that are empty in the cold season. Plant bulbs should always be planted twice as deep in the ground as they are high. This means they are protected from frost and can unfold their splendor in spring. This preparation for the awakening of spring is important because the first bloomers are not only beautiful to the eye, they also serve as an important source of food for bees, bumblebees and butterflies after the long winter break.
If you want to grow vegetable plants in spring, you should start green manure in autumn. This means sowing suitable plants that cover the empty soil and bind the last nutrients that would otherwise be washed out in winter. In this way, the soil can be enriched with new nutrients in autumn for spring. Green manure primarily enriches the soil with nitrogen. In addition, the roots of the sown plants loosen the soil throughout the winter months. Suitable green manure plants are oil radish, sunflowers, broad beans, winter rye, lupins, phacelia, summer vetch or yellow clover. The green manure is worked flat into the soil in the spring about four weeks before the new sowing and prepares it optimally for the more demanding crops.
Image sources: pixabay.com
