I’m clearing and cutting in the woods, doing trail maintenance behind my house in the Catskills. Some shoots in the path are three feet high which tells you how long it’s been since I’ve done this. Beech trees grow up from the roots that extend across the path, and some of the original trees may have already died. This is the way beeches prolong their life. They find a patch of sun and the meristem (basically the “stem cells” of plants), dormant for many years can shoot up and create a whole new tree. Or not a new tree but the same tree in a different location. When I’m with 12-year-olds, I call them, “Sons of beeches.” They’ll never forget, and maybe think plants aren’t so boring after all.
What does your home landscape have to do with climate change, species loss and suburban ecology? Plenty. Our home landscapes are mini eco-systems. Ecosystem you say? Yes, that’s the tiny microcosm in your own yard that supports life; the beginning of the food web for insects, bees, and caterpillars up through birds and small mammals.
Fall. The beginning of the end of my gardening season. Time for fall clean up and start preparing my garden for winter. Now days I clean up a lot less and I’m asking you to do the same when preparing your garden for winter (or a lot less where you can). By leaving those perennial and grass seed heads alone, you are providing the birds much needed food in winter.
Why keep bees? Well the more you know about bees and colony life the more amazing you will find them. They get most of their resources from flowers so as a result, the colony follows the life cycle of flowering plants. In spring they build up their work force by hatching babies. In the summer when flowers are most abundant they ramp up resource collection and are most active.
