Rewilding My Lot

In this first full year on the property, I let annual plants take the lead as I considered what more long-term plans could be for the garden. Annual plants fill space to capture water and reduce soil erosion, and encourage wildlife visitors (birds and insects). When they are finished and cut down, their decaying roots and shredded above-ground parts add organic matter to the soil. They also leave seeds on the ground for birds to eat or to generate new plants in future years.

I had a fair diversity of plants in the back yard this year, and I am hoping for an even greater variety of plants in future years. The two most abundant in 2024 were Firewheel aka Indian Blanket (Gaillardia pulchella) in the spring from seed that I introduced, and volunteer Sunflowers (Common and Beach types) in the summer.

The Firewheels were cut down and shredded in June.

The photo at the top of this post was taken in July, when the sunflowers were in full glory.

Most of the sunflowers were cut down in October. Some were cut down to the ground, but where possible, I left a foot or so of stem standing. This is in case any wintering insects want to made a home in the hollow stems. Ideally, I would have left the entire plants standing over the winter to provide more winter habitat and food, and to preserve anything that might already have made a home on leaves or branches. However, I don’t have the space to do that and cutting the stems long is my compromise. Also, shredding the plants and returning them to the area at least preserves the seeds as potential food.

Once the plants were cut down, then the pile of cut stems was shredded. This huge pile was reduced to several buckets of coarse “green mulch” that was returned to the same area where the plants had grown.