Autumn Gold
The visual highlight of autumn is the transformation of our green canopied landscape into a saturated canvas of yellow, red, and gold. However, before this season’s climax there’s still plenty to see and do in our gardens. Not least tracking down the birds that are missing from my feeders.
After a long summer and busy breeding season, most garden birds are left shabby and exhausted. For them, a moult is required, the replacement of dead and damaged feathers for a new coat, fit to keep them warm all winter. While they do maintain the ability to fly throughout, they are compromised and more vulnerable.to predation. For this reason, moulting birds tend to skulk and hide away in bushes avoiding open spaces like our gardens and bird feeders. Luckily the hedgerows are packed with berries, seeds and nuts at this time of year, to keep them well fed.
Another cause of absence of birds is summer migrants heading south. Some common garden birds like starlings also disappear to form huge winter flocks numbering tens of thousands in open countryside in preference to gardens. Another favourite, blackbirds often travel county by county, even heading with other species such a wagtails, tits and finches, into cities. Towns and cities are hotter than the surrounding countryside and attract many species in winter months. From nature’s perspective towns and cities in wintertime are like tropical islands for us. They are warm and offer lots of dry shelter, therefore tens of thousands of birds seek this extra protection during cold snaps.
All this movement and moulting can leave our gardens barren of birds for weeks at a time, and all happens around the autumn equinox, when night takes over from day as the dominant force. You can see this for yourself when the lengthening cooler nights, trigger great changes across the landscape, farms as well as in our gardens.
Birds are not the only ones preparing for longer nights. Watch out for large bumblebee queens scoffing down nectar before finding burrows in which to hibernate. Butterflies such as small tortoiseshell and peacock will feed on the last flowers before seeking shelter in sheds and garages. And the inevitable September swarm of wasps. With the queen dead and no larvae to tend, the remaining workers are left to their own devices, buzzing around anything sweet, getting drunk and generally ending their days buzzing about grumpily!
I’m out under the harvest full moon, often called a blue moon because it’s so big and bright in the night sky. It’s stimulated the most amazing number of moths, which in turn has attracted bats, who zig zag as they hunt on the wing, needing as much protein as they can catch before they hibernate. There are five foxes on the lawn who are jumpy because a badger is also feeding there on the peanuts I put out for him.
Hedgehogs are equally busy and appreciate the longer nights affording them longer feeding spells, as they too, pack on the pounds required for hibernation. All in all, the garden is incredibly busy in the birds’ absence if you know where and when to look.
The changes taking place during September can be subtle (and not so subtle). Many mammals including foxes, badgers, deer, and hedgehogs reach adulthood and independence during autumn, and strike out to find new territories, sadly often ending up as casualties on our roads. Cars are a major contributory factor on our dwindling wildlife populations, and autumn is peak time, so please drive warily and think wildlife as you drive.
Another September spectacle are our spiders. While spiders are with us all year round, they reach adult size in autumn and therefore become more visible. Additionally, dewy webs shimmer and dazzle in autumn sunshine and male house spiders become amorous and adventurous seeking receptive females. All too often fall foul of our slippery ceramic sinks and baths, becoming trapped.
How to make your garden wildlife friendly in autumn
The key thing to remember is not to be overly tidy. Wildlife wastes nothing and therefore removing anything from the garden will be working against nature. Dead plants, fallen leaves, rotting fruit should all be utilised, or appreciated for their value at least. Let’s take a look at a few things we can do or shouldn’t do during autumn in a wildlife friendly garden.
Best plants for autumn wildlife
Bees, butterflies, hoverflies and others will all remain on the wing until the hard frosts really set in. Late flowering plants are the best plants for autumn pollinators in the UK. Ivy should ideally be present, flowering later than most plants and then offering berries into the New Year. Border plants like sedum, Japanese anemone, and asters, all flower until frost knocks them back, while hellebores flower throughout. Shrubs such as mahonia and winter honeysuckle, along with camelia and witch hazel are other plants which are wonderful for wildlife, while making great, colourful additions to any garden border.
Creating wildlife shelters in autumn gardens
Garden wildlife comes in all shapes and sizes and so should their shelters. You can buy purpose-built habitats such as hedgehog houses, bat boxes, bird roosting pouches, and insect houses, but there are plenty of things we can do for free.
Leave all dried perennial plants where they stand or collect them and heap them up in a quiet corner. These make great shelters for a myriad of insects including ladybirds and lacewings. Similarly, simply rake fallen leaves into piles and let them stand. Rake them off the lawn into borders and allow them to much and protect flowering plants beneath. If you can make a dry heap and a wet heap even better, as this provides different habitat for different species. Butterfly and moth caterpillars and pupae frequently use leaf litter as wintering quarters and therefore removing or burning leaves should be avoided.
Larder animals such as hedgehogs and foxes will collect dry materials to make shelters and can often be found hiding under sheds, decking and other structures which create wonderful dry habits.
Autumn garden tidy up for wildlife
As I said above wildlife makes use of all the materials in our gardens and burning and removal should be avoided. Instead, feel free to tidy up, but try to relocate, rather than remove. Rake leaves off the lawn into borders or leaf piles. Chop down perennial plants but stack the cutting in a dry area of the garden. Also, avoid cutting hedges and shrubs until all the berries have been eaten, and keep any tree branches cut to lengths to create log piles.
Composting leaves in autumn
I try to leave the leaves for wildlife and do my composting in spring. I keep the lawn clear by raking leaves into the borders where I leave them to break down and mulch my border flowers. I also try to create a wet heap and a dry hep, I’m always finding mini beasts and multiple caterpillars among the leaf litter and want to do everything I can to preserve them. Earthworms feed on leaves as well and should be encouraged for the health of the garden as well as being great food for birds! So the more leaves you can leave in contact with the soil the better all round. Only once we reach late spring will I bag up the leaf piles ready for composting, after they’ve served their purpose of protecting wildlife throughout winter.
Autumn lawncare for wildlife
I feed my lawn with a natural seaweed feed through the summer and cut frequently allowing the grass cutting to drop on the lawn, adding to soil fertility. In autumn, I will collect cuttings if they are long and sodden but try to leave them when possible. I raise the height of the blades, so the lawn is (at least) 2” long, basically the highest setting on my mower. This protects the lawn during frosts and snow, as well as the mini beasts living in it. I do keep it clear of leaf fall but by raking leaves into the borders, rather than collecting them. I find keeping the grass long during winter keeps it resistant to disease and cold damage.
What to do in a wildlife pond in autumn
y ponds also get a bit of attention from me during autumn. I cover them with nets to prevent any falling leaves getting in as they would eventually choke the pond an make them stagnate. I also hard prune all the vegetation in and around the ponds to prevent to much vegetive decay which also reduces oxygen levels. However, the is all to prevent having to disturb the pond sediment that’s vital to maintaining a healthy living wildlife pond. Only if the pond is beginning to deteriorate do I remove sludge. This should be restricted to every 5-years or so. When I do undertake such drastic action, I only ever to this in late autumn and the lay all the sediment in a thin layer on a canvas sheet and return any living wriggling critters I can find. This is a major project and takes most of a day to complete. Therefore, prevention is better than triage!
Should I leave fallen apples for wildlife in autumn
Autumn is bountiful for wildlife with gardens and hedgerows packing with berries, fruit, seeds and nuts. This glut of food id fantastic but doesn’t last. There is never a reason to remove anything from our gardens which can be food for wildlife. Apples for example make a feast for flying birds, while fallen fruit is enjoyed and chomped up by foxes, badgers, mice, voles and other creatures. I’ve a habit of collecting fruit and nuts when they’re plentiful and storing them in my shed. I keep them until winter arrives and all the surplus has ben eaten. I’ve then got a supply of free food which I can scatter liberally in cold weather and particularly enjoy watching blackbirds and thrushes pecking away at rotten apples.
