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What to do with dead perennial foliage?

sunshinetrooper87sunshinetrooper87 Posts: 1
in Wildlife gardening
So traditionally one would just remove the old dead foliage from plants such as nasturtiums and viper bugloss  and then put in for composting. However, i'm trying to garden with wildlife in mind, so I'm thinking of leaving the plants in situ, so insects can hibernate in them and/or the plant matter mulches down itself.

Is this the best thing to do? Or perhaps I should leave foliage until say march and remove it then?

Posts

  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    One way is to "cut and drop". Cut and don't clear, just leave the matter where it falls. Or make twig piles.
  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    I pulled out my dead nasturtiums the other day. They were nothing but dead straw. If somebody wants to use it to shelter in or use as nesting material, they can find it on the compost heap just as easily.
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • cornellycornelly Posts: 970
    When I can get onto the garden the dead vegetation will be removed to the compost heap, we have a pile of small tree branches up the top of the garden for wildlife, next to the compost heaps.
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