Insect behavior does not change just because we label them pests. I know gardeners don’t want to protect pests, but some pest insects have been studied much better than pollinators. They would be unaffected by garden cleanup. The vast majority that overwinter in gardens tend to be the non-native cabbage white butterfly, Pieris rapae, which overwinters in bark and crevices above the soil. Some butterflies overwinter in leaf piles and can’t really fly until the temperature stay above 15 C (60 F), but there have been few studies. Garden practices are clearly affecting bee diversity.Ī study done in Ontario looking at emergence of cavity nesting bees and wasps in a lab setting and found a 30 day difference between early and late emergence. There are several potential explanations for this pattern including less availability of spring-blooming trees and other plants in gardens, and a lack of nest site availability for soil-nesting bees. Gardens have fewer spring-flying bees and fewer soil nesters compared to non-garden sites. Illinois Extension suggest we shouldn’t clean up until “ temperatures are consistently over 50 F degrees overnight.” In zone 5 that doesn’t happen until summer.īees flight season, from Gardeners and Native Bees. If the temperature hits 10 C for 15 minutes and then drops below 10, does it count as a positive day? Is that consistent enough? This is more precise, but not precise enough. On Savvy Gardening they suggest not cleaning the garden until ” the daytime temperatures are consistently above 10 C (50 F) for at least 7 consecutive days”. The above meme is not the only one making this suggestion and some websites also promote this idea. In fact, you don’t even know how to follow it. Until you can answer the above questions, you really don’t know if you should follow this advice. If you have been on the internet for more than a year, you probably know that most of these memes mean well, they may contain an ounce of reality but they are rarely correct. What does “cleanup” mean? Is there a way to cleanup that does not harm the insects?.How long does the temperature have have to stay above this critical value?.What surprises me is that only a very small number of people question the actual contents of the meme. A different group are skeptics and don’t believe it, or maybe they just want to keep doing what they’re doing. A number of people post to support the idea and comment on how important it is. When this gets posted on social media it quickly splits people into two camps. When Should You Do Spring Garden Cleanup?
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