The equinox has come and gone,

Unlike the northern hemisphere (and therefore unfortunately the perspective of Christianity), this is not a time for rebirth, where we all peek out of our shells and get ready for more activity. It is a time for quiet contemplation as we prepare to get through the winter.

For most of us this seems to be in the form of a garden clean up, as everything is so ratty this year from the excessive dryness and heat. But removing all of the dying parts of the plants, at present, feels like a death toll as there isn’t a lot of the plant left at the end of it!

I can’t even with these rengarenga. They don’t even look green anymore.

Staff keep asking how much to remove, when tidying up a plant that is dying back. The repeat goes on and on- do your best. Maybe 75%. Hopefully not much more than 50%. Sometimes cut them down to the ground.

Many gardening circles emphasise that we should only remove from the garden what we absolutely have to, because the fallen debris and dying plant stems provide a safe haven for the bugs overwintering. Look. I have some strong feelings about this.

1- Is this going to be a safe haven until the bug leaves? Or is the bug going to take this on as a permanent residence, does it not emerge until October, and you will cut back the plant (in Spring, too soon) anyway?

2- Is this a bug you even want? If so, can’t you encourage it to live somewhere, say, safe? Somewhere that it will not be disturbed until it chooses to leave? Is everyone on board with this decision?

3- How do you know if your desireable bugs are sticking around? What about the undesireable ones?

A praying mantis which my lovely friend pointed out is the invasive one, which makes our native mantis’ lives significantly harder.

What we do (and this isn’t an ad for our services, but more of a “I have fought with this conundrum a LOT and this is what I have come up with”), is look at the bugs already in the garden, and what we want to attract, and what we want to repel.

Little piles of sticks, especially hollowing ones like flax stems, are great for bugs to nestle down in. Can’t we just leave a couple there? Can we keep a compost bin and a few less manicured parts of the property? And can’t we attract as many bugs as possible so that they will fight, and never rise too high in number as individual species? Can we cover bare ground with bark or chip mulch, which often provides enough cover?

Water is important. The lovely Judith has cute little ceramic poppies which hold water in them so flying insects can take a little drink. Flowers are important- they attract just as many predatory bugs and hoverflies as they do people- if there are aphids around, those predatory insects would always prefer the protein. And yes, shelter is important too! But let’s consider more stable forms of shelter.

So as always my answer is, do you have year round colour in your garden? Is there enough pollen for the bugs to eat? Maybe a good focus is on making sure you have something flowering at all times of the year, instead of letting the garden debris build up around you until you feel like a hot mess.

Winter is a very long time, will you be staring outside and seeing the same mess in the garden while muttering “for the bugs, for the bugs, for the bugs.”