Emily Griffin talks about waiting before you grab the rakes and lawn mowers.
WATERTOWN, New York (WWNY) – The warmer temperatures make us think about spring cleanup, but disturbing the soil too soon puts many of our pollinators and helpful insects at risk.
As the first signs of life are budding in the trees and poking through the ground, you may be tempted to start spring gardening and lawn care.
But there are some very important gardeners hiding in the leaves and are not ready to be disturbed.
“People should wait to do spring cleaning mainly for the benefit of beneficial insects,” Cooperative Extension horticulture specialist Sue Gwise said. There are a lot of insects that overwinter in the leaf litter on the ground, they overwinter in hollow stems, so there could be eggs, there could be larvae, there could be adult insects that you’re disturbing if you go in and rake that stuff up or begin mowing things.”
Why should you care? Because most insects are beneficial. They eat landskaping pests, pollinate our gardens, and produce our honey.
So put down the rake and leave the leaves — just for a little longer.
“You should wait until temperatures get up around 50 degrees and kind of stay that way,” Gwise said.
Even after those bugs come up from their winter burrows, Gwise encourages gardeners and landscapers to further protect them by not using pesticides.
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