Leaf It Alone: Your Soil Will Thank You
Autumn in Westport brings crisp salt air, cooler temperatures, and brilliant foliage along our stone walls and farm fields. As you prepare your yard for winter, a few simple choices can make a big difference for the wildlife that shares our coastal community.
Leave the Leaves
Raking seems like a New England tradition, but leaving some leaves in place benefits our local ecosystem. As they break down, leaves return nutrients to Westport’s sandy soils and provide essential cover for overwintering insects like fireflies and caterpillars of local moths and butterflies, including species found near the Westport River salt marshes. Leaves also form a natural mulch layer that helps retain soil moisture and insulates the ground from extreme temperatures. This makes extra leaves in your yard the perfect mulch in vegetable gardens, flower beds, they can be added to compost bins, or just left on the lawn.
Build Brush Piles for Shelter
As you clean up fallen leaves, branches or trim shrubs, stack small brush piles along a stone wall or woodland edge. In Westport’s rural neighborhoods, these piles provide vital winter shelter for pollinators, songbirds, box turtles, frogs, salamanders, and small mammals. It's a great place for birds to find food in the winter too!
Hold Off on Cutting Back Perennials
Many birds like chickadees, goldfinches, and cardinals depend on natural seed sources. Dried flower heads provide these food sources for birds and hollow stems in your gardens provide overwintering sites for bees, butterflies and other insects. In Westport, this simple step supports the same pollinators that keep our farm fields and salt marshes thriving.
Plan for Native Plants
As you dream up next year’s garden projects, consider adding Massachusetts-native plants that thrive in Westport’s coastal climate and provide year-round food and shelter for wildlife. Shrubs like winterberry holly, beach plum, and highbush blueberry are excellent choices for supporting birds, bees, and butterflies. Need a native plant provider? Support our education partner, Butterfly Effect Farm.
| 
