One of the greatest joys of an ecological restoration, whether it be a perennial garden or a natural shoreline, is observing plants as they grow from tiny sprouts to tall, mature flowering plants each year. Our maintenance crews get a front row seat to this yearly transformation in our restorations, working to apply seasonally appropriate management strategies, keep ahead of weed problems, or react to new on-site challenges.
While the snowy months have us anxiously awaiting the retreat of the snow and the beginning of our busy season, restorations in winter provide vital ecological functions. We like to leave as much plant matter as possible in our restoration areas going into winter. The dried stalks and seed heads of native plants are an invaluable resource—birds visit to eat seed throughout the winter, a host of pollinators take refuge inside hollow plant stems, and clumps of native grasses provide insulated hiding places for small mammals. Plant matter packed down by snow over winter will decay in freeze-thaw cycles and in spring, creating wonderful compost for the soil.
