Fall Cleanup Improves Monarch Waystation's Blooming the Following Year
In the beautiful autumn season, as leaves fall and cover our gardens, there's more to these natural wonders than meets the eye. They can be transformed into a valuable resource for creating a butterfly garden, particularly for the dwindling population of monarch butterflies during their migration.
Heather Andrews, a published author, astute photographer, and avid expert gardener, focuses on attracting wildlife, supporting pollinators, and increasing vegetable yield using native plants. She emphasises the importance of creating a monarch waystation, an area of plants suitable for a monarch butterfly to use as a stopover during these long migrations.
Fall cleanup in most yards and gardens includes raking and doing something with all the fallen leaves. But instead of discarding them, consider using them to create black gold, a nutrient-rich mulch. To make black gold, gather leaves during fall cleanup and leave them in a pile where they can stay until spring. Letting leaves sit and decompose all winter will produce an earthy, nutrient-rich mulch called black gold or leaf mold.
Earthworms continue to break down the organic material in leaves, accessing the nutrients. Covering a pile or bin of leaves with a layer of cardboard can help create nutritious leaf mold for a butterfly garden by spring. Another way to use leaf mold is as the soil itself for a new flower garden, with a layer of cardboard and 6 inches (15 cm.) of leaf mold beneath the plants.
Monarch butterfly migration takes place in the fall from the U.S. and Canada to Mexico, and in the spring they return. This incredible journey requires fuel for the long journey and plants they use to reproduce and create the next generation of monarchs. Milkweed is essential for laying monarch butterfly eggs. By incorporating milkweed and other native plants into your monarch waystation, you can provide a vital habitat for these magnificent creatures.
For more information on providing habitat for monarchs and other butterflies, consider enrolling in the Creating a Butterfly Garden course. Heather Andrews' articles on gardens, wildlife, pollinator support, and native plant cultivation are also a great resource for anyone looking to create a sustainable garden that benefits both people and the environment.
Read also:
- discovery of substantial 'white gold' reserves worth $540 billion beneath California's Salton Sea, potential game-changer for U.S. energy self-sufficiency confirmed by scientists
- Organic Avocado Mattress for sleep: Essential for a Healthy Rest
- Increase in Green Jobs by 48% in India, primarily fueled by Generation Z and secondary cities: Study reveals
- Lünen's Family Fair, labeled #Hello_Family, receives positive feedback from attendees
