#Harming

[wordsoftheheartandsoul]

If you want to start growing, healing, and thriving you must stop what is distracting, harming, and hindering you. Stop helping people hurt you by allowing them access where you know they will only bring drama, confusion, or strain. Stop excusing your inexcusable patterns and rid yourself of your own toxicity. Stop compromising your inner peace, spiritual wellness, and personal trajectory merely because that person is your family, that's how you've always done something, or that's how you are. For freshness and blooming to begin, all that is rotting and burdening your journey must end.

Morgan Richard Olivier - the strength that stays

[johnapacheco]

Saving Others……4/27/25

Saving people doesn’t work!  There’s a well-known “Karpman’s Triangle.” The three points of the triangle are labeled: Victim, Persecutor, Rescuer. The triangle, in itself, is UNHEALTHY.  Someone can’t play the victim role unless there’s someone there to persecute them. If there’s no one playing the persecutor, then there can’t be a victim. Most times when there is a victim and a persecutor,…

[vamptits]

I can't keep having the same conversations about love languages, mbti, iq, bmi, "brain fully formed at 25" and shit over and over again...

[carniekisses]

Your dislike or phobia for certain animals never outweights the animal's right to exist and live, i keep running into this behavior and i don't know why some folks never got to learn that. Who do you think you are

[golyadkin]

you'll get the urge as an artist or a writer to say out loud the things you're worried about "the proportions are off" "kind of out of character" "i'm not good at summaries" "didn't get as much detail as i wanted" "i made a mistake and here's how" and that's the self-conscious part of your brain telling you "it's bad and if you don't tell them you know it's bad then they'll think you're stupid" but you've got to ignore that little voice and pretend you think it's good or else that little voice is going to ruin your life

[hinamie]

newest issue of first years fashion just dropped

[matthewzkrause]

6 Popular Health Trends That May Be Harming Women’s Bodies.

We’re living in the age of green juices, fasting apps, boutique workouts, and wellness influencers shouting “just do this!” from every corner of the internet.

And as women, we’re constantly told how to eat, move, and live—mostly in the name of being “healthy,” “fit,” or “clean.”

But here’s the hard truth: Some of the most popular health trends out there are quietly harming women’s bodies.

No, not because we’re doing something wrong—because we’re following advice that was never designed for our biology in the first place.

So let’s break it down. These 6 health fads might look shiny on the outside… but behind the scenes? They could be wrecking your hormones, energy, mood, and more.

Let’s get real:

💧 1. Intermittent Fasting — Great for Some, Tough on Women’s Hormones Yes, skipping breakfast is trendy. But for many women, intermittent fasting can backfire fast.

👉 Feeling extra anxious, shaky, or irritable? 👉 Losing your period or sleeping poorly?

That might be your body screaming for regular fuel.

Women’s hormones thrive on rhythm and nourishment—not extreme calorie gaps. Fasting isn’t bad, but doing it without understanding your cycle can leave your hormones in chaos.

Bottom line: Your body needs consistent care, not deprivation in disguise.

🔥 2. Working Out Hard Every Day? Your Body Might Be Over It You’ve seen it: “No days off!” “Sweat is fat crying!” “Strong is the new skinny!”

But here’s the truth���your nervous system doesn’t care how inspirational your spin class caption is.

If you’re constantly exhausted, craving sugar, or snapping at people for no reason, you might be in burnout, not beast mode.

Women need rest and recovery. Too much high-intensity exercise without enough fuel or downtime can wreck your metabolism, gut, and hormones.

Rest days are productive. Say it louder.

🥑 3. Going Keto or Low-Carb Can Hijack Your Hormones You cut carbs. You lose weight. You feel… okay?

Then boom: mood swings, brain fog, irregular periods, maybe even hair loss.

Sound familiar?

Many women need moderate carbs to support estrogen, thyroid function, and cortisol balance. Without them, your body may think it’s in a famine—and start shutting things down to conserve energy.

Health tip: Don’t fear carbs. Fear diet culture convincing you they’re the enemy.

🍵 4. “Detox” Teas & Juice Cleanses = Expensive Dehydration Spoiler alert: your liver and kidneys are already detoxing 24/7. You don’t need a $40 tea that keeps you in the bathroom all day.

These so-called cleanses?

Strip your body of water weight

Disrupt digestion

Can lead to serious electrolyte imbalances

And for what? A flatter stomach for two hours?

Real health doesn’t involve punishing your body. Ever.

🥗 5. Obsessive “Clean Eating” Can Turn Into a Silent Eating Disorder It starts innocently: no sugar, no gluten, no dairy. Then it’s no processed food, no grains, no restaurant meals. Before you know it, food becomes stressful—not nourishing.

This mindset has a name: orthorexia—an obsession with eating “perfectly.”

Food is fuel and joy. You deserve to eat without fear or guilt.

Reminder: A cookie isn’t toxic. Shame around food is.

📲 6. Listening to Influencers Instead of Your Body “I take these 15 supplements daily…” “This is how I lost 20 pounds in 2 weeks!” “Here’s what I eat in a day: kale and vibes.”

Listen—some wellness creators mean well. But many are not doctors, nutritionists, or even honest.

Your health journey isn’t a one-size-fits-all Instagram post.

What works for her body might wreck yours

Her 6-pack might come at the cost of a healthy cycle

And her glowing skin? Filters. Let’s be real.

Trust your body over the algorithm. Always.

❤️‍🔥 Real Talk: You Deserve Better Than Health Fads That Break You Down You don’t need to hustle harder, shrink smaller, or try harder to be “healthy.”

What you need is this:

A body that feels good to live in

A mind that isn’t obsessed with food rules

A heart that’s free to enjoy life again

Being healthy isn’t about following the latest trend. It’s about unlearning the pressure to perform wellness and learning to live in partnership with your body.

[rabid-transcendentalist]

let's go for a swim with mama

[sweetdreamspootypie]

Do not quit alcohol cold turkey

Do not suddenly stop drinking alcohol as a new years resolution if you have been consistently using alcohol most days

Your body gets used to the presence of the alcohol as a sedative in your system

Suddenly removing the sedative you are chemically accustomed to is like suddenly removing the wall you are leaning on - you will topple over

You brain electricity gets overexcited

This causes seizures

This causes sudden onset dementia (Wernicke's encephalopathy)

This causes brain damage

If you use alcohol often (even in moderate amounts)

Or in large amounts

Or you have ever noticed you get shakey tremors and anxious when you stop drinking

Then your body is chemically dependant and you need to be very careful coming off alcohol otherwise you will cause brain damage

Slowly wean down the amount you drink over days or weeks

Talk to a doctor about your goals to quit and ask about support options

Medically supported withdrawal is a lot safer

If alcohol withdrawal goes badly there is a 15% chance it will kill you.

Do not go this alone

You deserve to be safe

[thelovebudllc]

How to Clean Up the Garden Without Harming Beneficial Insects

Traditionally in our region, gardens were cleaned up in fall for practical and aesthetic reasons. By spring, with weeding, watering, sowing, and dividing all begging for attention, time can be short. Leaving beds covered in leaves—especially those that rely on self-sowing or are filled with early-season plants—can also reduce their vigor. More recently, the surge of interest in native plants,…

[tameblog]

Traditionally in our region, gardens were cleaned up in fall for practical and aesthetic reasons. By spring, with weeding, watering, sowing, and dividing all begging for attention, time can be short. Leaving beds covered in leaves—especially those that rely on self-sowing or are filled with early-season plants—can also reduce their vigor. More recently, the surge of interest in native plants, naturalistic design, and ecological gardening has increased awareness regarding how and where our gardens fit into the landscapes around them. Gardeners are increasingly asking themselves, How can I incorporate care for insects, especially pollinating and beneficial insects, into my garden-care practices? The answer may be to reconsider our traditional garden cleanup routines. Insects Are Diverse—and So Are Their Needs Though they are easily overlooked, insects are the most numerous and diverse inhabitants of our gardens. Colorado alone boasts more than 900 species of native bees, each with a preferred range of forage plants and nesting needs. Some overwinter in the ground, others in plant stems, and a third group prefers cavities in rocks and other tight, protected spaces. This diversity means it is important to provide a range of habitat types and ground coverings. Similarly, there is no one-size-fits-all approach to spring cleanup. Claims that “waiting for temperatures to reach 50°F allows insects to leave their winter homes” are an overgeneralization. While it may be true in some places, the mountain west’s day–night temperature swings mean an average of 50°F could represent extremes of much hotter days and colder nights than other areas. Some evidence suggests this number may not be based on studies examining garden insects, anyway. A more reliable method would be to use a phenological indicator. For example, current evidence supports waiting until apple trees have passed their peak bloom as a more successful indicator of the emergence of most beneficial garden insects. This sphinx moth probably spent the winter as a pupae shallowly buried in garden topsoil nearby, where it completed metamorphosis. Develop a “Bug Bed”: A Practical Compromise If this sounds problematic for aesthetic or practical reasons in your garden, consider creating a dedicated “bug bed” and continue to clean up the rest of your garden. This relatively easy approach also contains the sense of messiness that tends to be associated with wildlife-friendly gardens. When concentrated to one area, a couple of tidy shrubs can screen the bed. How to Plant a “Bug Bed” Plant or seed a garden bed with natives. Be sure to provide bare ground, gravel mulch, and leaf mulch. Each fall, cut plant stems in half in a few places in the bed to allow easier entry by native bees. In spring, wait until apple trees have passed the peak of bloom to complete annual garden cleanup, then cut one-third to half of the bed back to the ground. This ensures that most insects overwintering in plant stems will have time to make their exit and that the rest of the bed is useful to a variety of types of insects. The idea is for each portion of the bed to present differing compositions of ground coverings and plant materials; crucially, including a loose—not packed —pile of sticks, plant stems, and leaves all mixed together to provide lots of nooks and crannies. This makes a top-notch overwintering spot for many native bees and butterflies alike. It also makes a good destination or holding spot for “messy”-looking materials moved from other garden beds. Move, Don’t Remove, Leaves Elsewhere in the yard, tweaking a few existing garden practices can do a lot of good for our overwintering pollinators. Rather than entirely removing or lawnmower-mulching leaves to clear beds with early-blooming or self-seeding plants in need of late-winter and early-spring sun exposure, simply rake these leaves out and use them as a mulch in shrub beds or add them to your “bug apartment” pile. This should be done by late winter in spots where you rely on self-sown annuals or perennials like I often do, and by early spring in the case of early-season perennials. Moving rather than removing leaves better balances the needs of your plants and insects alike; keeping leaves where they are well into May, as some guides suggest, can be detrimental to many of our water-wise and early-growing perennial plants. At the same time, many native insects will emerge from moved leaves and stems without issue. As pointed out by Whitney Cranshaw, professor emeritus with Colorado State University, a very large percentage of the butterflies we consider local actually migrate out of our region for the winter rather than overwintering in leaf litter as they do in other parts of the world. Insects that do overwinter in leaf litter, like ladybugs, are generally not harmed by simply being moved. Moths, many of which overwinter as pupae in loose earth, benefit from soft, exposed, or lightly leaf-covered garden soils, especially those not disturbed from fall to late spring. Stems Provide a Home for Native Bees Native bees benefit from several different garden-cleanup practices. For those that overwinter in plant stems, you can easily check for bees present in the stems before cutting, making early cleanup possible for those that want to begin tidying up sooner rather than later. Cut the stem in half; stems with a tunnel down their center are likely to be occupied, while those with pith remaining are unoccupied. Check a handful of stems, at several places on the stem and on each kind of plant before beginning. This can give a general sense as to which may need to wait until later in the season so that the bees can wake up from winter dormancy and make a graceful exit. Plants used by bees for such purpose usually have a moderate or large diameter stem with a center that can be hollowed out by the bee itself—think Echinacea, Vernonia, and many larger members of the aster family, as well as similarly pith-filled stems in other groups, like Rosa. Thankfully, prickle-covered rose stems are best cleaned up at the very end of spring in our region, anyway, so they don’t need to be moved into and out of a holding pile for those tailoring their practices for insects. Many native insects require bare dirt to complete their life cycles. Here, a colony of native bees has taken up residence in soft, bare soil not subject to frequent disturbance. Take a Balanced Approach to Garden Cleanup Waiting to perform garden cleanups until apple trees in your area are past peak bloom will provide the greatest spread of insects the opportunity to use your garden as overwintering habitat. Some folks may choose to do no cleanup until this time, opting to minimize disturbance of insects as much as possible. Others might remove leaves early, if time or space doesn’t allow keeping them, knowing that fewer of our local butterflies and moths use leaves as an overwintering space when compared to other regions in the country. This may still affect other insects, like ladybugs and lacewing larvae that overwinter in leaf beds. If you’re like me, cleanup is a mix of both; I stage many of my cutbacks at times that are best for the specific plant but at the same time do so in a manner that considers insect well-being. This means keeping stems of species likely to be occupied piled with leaves, but moved from around species that wake up early, until the end of spring when most insects have emerged. At that time, leaves and stems can be kept in their “bug apartment” pile, composted, tilled into a vegetable garden, used as mulch across the yard, or sent to a commercial composter. When working with stems that are likely occupied, I keep them as intact as possible, making a single cut at their base and doing my best to move them without breaking them into pieces. You can also “chop-and-drop” such stems as mulch, but don’t cut them into small pieces or mulch them if helping insects is the goal. And, as I like to remind myself, gardening is a practice. Each year offers new opportunities and lessons. Almost any habitat your garden creates will be an improvement over the current norm—a bluegrass lawn—so enjoy the process and experience rather than fretting about whether you might be doing it “right.” To anyone that would tell you otherwise, I just say, “Garden a few more years.”   See more Mountain West regional reports here. To discuss these garden concepts or ask other gardening questions, chat with gardeners from your area on the Gardening Answers forum.   Bryan Fischer lives and gardens at the intersection of the Great Plains and the Rockies. He is a horticulturist and the curator of plant collections for a local botanic garden. All photos unless otherwise noted: Bryan Fischer       Fine Gardening Recommended Products A.M. Leonard Deluxe Soil Knife & Leather Sheath Combo Fine Gardening receives a commission for items purchased through links on this site, including Amazon Associates and other affiliate advertising programs. MULTITASKING DUAL EDGES: a deep serrated edge and a tapered slicing edge ideal for tough or delicate cuts. DURABLE 6-inch stainless steel blade withstands 300 lbs of pressure. TWINE CUTTING NOTCH, DEPTH GAUGE MARKINGS & spear point - no need to switch tools when using this garden knife. LEATHER SHEATH: heavy duty, protective, clip on sheath to keep your knife convenient and secure. LIFETIME WARRANTY. DeWit Spring Tine Cultivator Fine Gardening receives a commission for items purchased through links on this site, including Amazon Associates and other affiliate advertising programs. Dimensions: 12" L x 2.5" W x 3" H; 0.25 lbs. Ideal for cultivating soil with rocks and roots. Strong, flexible, lightweight and well-balanced! Also known as a "scratch" cultivator. Corona AG 4930 Long Straight Snip, Tempered Steel Fine Gardening receives a commission for items purchased through links on this site, including Amazon Associates and other affiliate advertising programs. Long, straight, pointed blade for a wide range of applications. Fully heat-treated steel blades for strength. Blades, spring, and handle coated to prevent rust. Unobtrusive leather strap lock. Source link

[ramestoryworld]

Traditionally in our region, gardens were cleaned up in fall for practical and aesthetic reasons. By spring, with weeding, watering, sowing, and dividing all begging for attention, time can be short. Leaving beds covered in leaves—especially those that rely on self-sowing or are filled with early-season plants—can also reduce their vigor. More recently, the surge of interest in native plants, naturalistic design, and ecological gardening has increased awareness regarding how and where our gardens fit into the landscapes around them. Gardeners are increasingly asking themselves, How can I incorporate care for insects, especially pollinating and beneficial insects, into my garden-care practices? The answer may be to reconsider our traditional garden cleanup routines. Insects Are Diverse—and So Are Their Needs Though they are easily overlooked, insects are the most numerous and diverse inhabitants of our gardens. Colorado alone boasts more than 900 species of native bees, each with a preferred range of forage plants and nesting needs. Some overwinter in the ground, others in plant stems, and a third group prefers cavities in rocks and other tight, protected spaces. This diversity means it is important to provide a range of habitat types and ground coverings. Similarly, there is no one-size-fits-all approach to spring cleanup. Claims that “waiting for temperatures to reach 50°F allows insects to leave their winter homes” are an overgeneralization. While it may be true in some places, the mountain west’s day–night temperature swings mean an average of 50°F could represent extremes of much hotter days and colder nights than other areas. Some evidence suggests this number may not be based on studies examining garden insects, anyway. A more reliable method would be to use a phenological indicator. For example, current evidence supports waiting until apple trees have passed their peak bloom as a more successful indicator of the emergence of most beneficial garden insects. This sphinx moth probably spent the winter as a pupae shallowly buried in garden topsoil nearby, where it completed metamorphosis. Develop a “Bug Bed”: A Practical Compromise If this sounds problematic for aesthetic or practical reasons in your garden, consider creating a dedicated “bug bed” and continue to clean up the rest of your garden. This relatively easy approach also contains the sense of messiness that tends to be associated with wildlife-friendly gardens. When concentrated to one area, a couple of tidy shrubs can screen the bed. How to Plant a “Bug Bed” Plant or seed a garden bed with natives. Be sure to provide bare ground, gravel mulch, and leaf mulch. Each fall, cut plant stems in half in a few places in the bed to allow easier entry by native bees. In spring, wait until apple trees have passed the peak of bloom to complete annual garden cleanup, then cut one-third to half of the bed back to the ground. This ensures that most insects overwintering in plant stems will have time to make their exit and that the rest of the bed is useful to a variety of types of insects. The idea is for each portion of the bed to present differing compositions of ground coverings and plant materials; crucially, including a loose—not packed —pile of sticks, plant stems, and leaves all mixed together to provide lots of nooks and crannies. This makes a top-notch overwintering spot for many native bees and butterflies alike. It also makes a good destination or holding spot for “messy”-looking materials moved from other garden beds. Move, Don’t Remove, Leaves Elsewhere in the yard, tweaking a few existing garden practices can do a lot of good for our overwintering pollinators. Rather than entirely removing or lawnmower-mulching leaves to clear beds with early-blooming or self-seeding plants in need of late-winter and early-spring sun exposure, simply rake these leaves out and use them as a mulch in shrub beds or add them to your “bug apartment” pile. This should be done by late winter in spots where you rely on self-sown annuals or perennials like I often do, and by early spring in the case of early-season perennials. Moving rather than removing leaves better balances the needs of your plants and insects alike; keeping leaves where they are well into May, as some guides suggest, can be detrimental to many of our water-wise and early-growing perennial plants. At the same time, many native insects will emerge from moved leaves and stems without issue. As pointed out by Whitney Cranshaw, professor emeritus with Colorado State University, a very large percentage of the butterflies we consider local actually migrate out of our region for the winter rather than overwintering in leaf litter as they do in other parts of the world. Insects that do overwinter in leaf litter, like ladybugs, are generally not harmed by simply being moved. Moths, many of which overwinter as pupae in loose earth, benefit from soft, exposed, or lightly leaf-covered garden soils, especially those not disturbed from fall to late spring. Stems Provide a Home for Native Bees Native bees benefit from several different garden-cleanup practices. For those that overwinter in plant stems, you can easily check for bees present in the stems before cutting, making early cleanup possible for those that want to begin tidying up sooner rather than later. Cut the stem in half; stems with a tunnel down their center are likely to be occupied, while those with pith remaining are unoccupied. Check a handful of stems, at several places on the stem and on each kind of plant before beginning. This can give a general sense as to which may need to wait until later in the season so that the bees can wake up from winter dormancy and make a graceful exit. Plants used by bees for such purpose usually have a moderate or large diameter stem with a center that can be hollowed out by the bee itself—think Echinacea, Vernonia, and many larger members of the aster family, as well as similarly pith-filled stems in other groups, like Rosa. Thankfully, prickle-covered rose stems are best cleaned up at the very end of spring in our region, anyway, so they don’t need to be moved into and out of a holding pile for those tailoring their practices for insects. Many native insects require bare dirt to complete their life cycles. Here, a colony of native bees has taken up residence in soft, bare soil not subject to frequent disturbance. Take a Balanced Approach to Garden Cleanup Waiting to perform garden cleanups until apple trees in your area are past peak bloom will provide the greatest spread of insects the opportunity to use your garden as overwintering habitat. Some folks may choose to do no cleanup until this time, opting to minimize disturbance of insects as much as possible. Others might remove leaves early, if time or space doesn’t allow keeping them, knowing that fewer of our local butterflies and moths use leaves as an overwintering space when compared to other regions in the country. This may still affect other insects, like ladybugs and lacewing larvae that overwinter in leaf beds. If you’re like me, cleanup is a mix of both; I stage many of my cutbacks at times that are best for the specific plant but at the same time do so in a manner that considers insect well-being. This means keeping stems of species likely to be occupied piled with leaves, but moved from around species that wake up early, until the end of spring when most insects have emerged. At that time, leaves and stems can be kept in their “bug apartment” pile, composted, tilled into a vegetable garden, used as mulch across the yard, or sent to a commercial composter. When working with stems that are likely occupied, I keep them as intact as possible, making a single cut at their base and doing my best to move them without breaking them into pieces. You can also “chop-and-drop” such stems as mulch, but don’t cut them into small pieces or mulch them if helping insects is the goal. And, as I like to remind myself, gardening is a practice. Each year offers new opportunities and lessons. Almost any habitat your garden creates will be an improvement over the current norm—a bluegrass lawn—so enjoy the process and experience rather than fretting about whether you might be doing it “right.” To anyone that would tell you otherwise, I just say, “Garden a few more years.”   See more Mountain West regional reports here. To discuss these garden concepts or ask other gardening questions, chat with gardeners from your area on the Gardening Answers forum.   Bryan Fischer lives and gardens at the intersection of the Great Plains and the Rockies. He is a horticulturist and the curator of plant collections for a local botanic garden. All photos unless otherwise noted: Bryan Fischer       Fine Gardening Recommended Products A.M. Leonard Deluxe Soil Knife & Leather Sheath Combo Fine Gardening receives a commission for items purchased through links on this site, including Amazon Associates and other affiliate advertising programs. MULTITASKING DUAL EDGES: a deep serrated edge and a tapered slicing edge ideal for tough or delicate cuts. DURABLE 6-inch stainless steel blade withstands 300 lbs of pressure. TWINE CUTTING NOTCH, DEPTH GAUGE MARKINGS & spear point - no need to switch tools when using this garden knife. LEATHER SHEATH: heavy duty, protective, clip on sheath to keep your knife convenient and secure. LIFETIME WARRANTY. DeWit Spring Tine Cultivator Fine Gardening receives a commission for items purchased through links on this site, including Amazon Associates and other affiliate advertising programs. Dimensions: 12" L x 2.5" W x 3" H; 0.25 lbs. Ideal for cultivating soil with rocks and roots. Strong, flexible, lightweight and well-balanced! Also known as a "scratch" cultivator. Corona AG 4930 Long Straight Snip, Tempered Steel Fine Gardening receives a commission for items purchased through links on this site, including Amazon Associates and other affiliate advertising programs. Long, straight, pointed blade for a wide range of applications. Fully heat-treated steel blades for strength. Blades, spring, and handle coated to prevent rust. Unobtrusive leather strap lock. Source link

[alexha2210]

Traditionally in our region, gardens were cleaned up in fall for practical and aesthetic reasons. By spring, with weeding, watering, sowing, and dividing all begging for attention, time can be short. Leaving beds covered in leaves—especially those that rely on self-sowing or are filled with early-season plants—can also reduce their vigor. More recently, the surge of interest in native plants, naturalistic design, and ecological gardening has increased awareness regarding how and where our gardens fit into the landscapes around them. Gardeners are increasingly asking themselves, How can I incorporate care for insects, especially pollinating and beneficial insects, into my garden-care practices? The answer may be to reconsider our traditional garden cleanup routines. Insects Are Diverse—and So Are Their Needs Though they are easily overlooked, insects are the most numerous and diverse inhabitants of our gardens. Colorado alone boasts more than 900 species of native bees, each with a preferred range of forage plants and nesting needs. Some overwinter in the ground, others in plant stems, and a third group prefers cavities in rocks and other tight, protected spaces. This diversity means it is important to provide a range of habitat types and ground coverings. Similarly, there is no one-size-fits-all approach to spring cleanup. Claims that “waiting for temperatures to reach 50°F allows insects to leave their winter homes” are an overgeneralization. While it may be true in some places, the mountain west’s day–night temperature swings mean an average of 50°F could represent extremes of much hotter days and colder nights than other areas. Some evidence suggests this number may not be based on studies examining garden insects, anyway. A more reliable method would be to use a phenological indicator. For example, current evidence supports waiting until apple trees have passed their peak bloom as a more successful indicator of the emergence of most beneficial garden insects. This sphinx moth probably spent the winter as a pupae shallowly buried in garden topsoil nearby, where it completed metamorphosis. Develop a “Bug Bed”: A Practical Compromise If this sounds problematic for aesthetic or practical reasons in your garden, consider creating a dedicated “bug bed” and continue to clean up the rest of your garden. This relatively easy approach also contains the sense of messiness that tends to be associated with wildlife-friendly gardens. When concentrated to one area, a couple of tidy shrubs can screen the bed. How to Plant a “Bug Bed” Plant or seed a garden bed with natives. Be sure to provide bare ground, gravel mulch, and leaf mulch. Each fall, cut plant stems in half in a few places in the bed to allow easier entry by native bees. In spring, wait until apple trees have passed the peak of bloom to complete annual garden cleanup, then cut one-third to half of the bed back to the ground. This ensures that most insects overwintering in plant stems will have time to make their exit and that the rest of the bed is useful to a variety of types of insects. The idea is for each portion of the bed to present differing compositions of ground coverings and plant materials; crucially, including a loose—not packed —pile of sticks, plant stems, and leaves all mixed together to provide lots of nooks and crannies. This makes a top-notch overwintering spot for many native bees and butterflies alike. It also makes a good destination or holding spot for “messy”-looking materials moved from other garden beds. Move, Don’t Remove, Leaves Elsewhere in the yard, tweaking a few existing garden practices can do a lot of good for our overwintering pollinators. Rather than entirely removing or lawnmower-mulching leaves to clear beds with early-blooming or self-seeding plants in need of late-winter and early-spring sun exposure, simply rake these leaves out and use them as a mulch in shrub beds or add them to your “bug apartment” pile. This should be done by late winter in spots where you rely on self-sown annuals or perennials like I often do, and by early spring in the case of early-season perennials. Moving rather than removing leaves better balances the needs of your plants and insects alike; keeping leaves where they are well into May, as some guides suggest, can be detrimental to many of our water-wise and early-growing perennial plants. At the same time, many native insects will emerge from moved leaves and stems without issue. As pointed out by Whitney Cranshaw, professor emeritus with Colorado State University, a very large percentage of the butterflies we consider local actually migrate out of our region for the winter rather than overwintering in leaf litter as they do in other parts of the world. Insects that do overwinter in leaf litter, like ladybugs, are generally not harmed by simply being moved. Moths, many of which overwinter as pupae in loose earth, benefit from soft, exposed, or lightly leaf-covered garden soils, especially those not disturbed from fall to late spring. Stems Provide a Home for Native Bees Native bees benefit from several different garden-cleanup practices. For those that overwinter in plant stems, you can easily check for bees present in the stems before cutting, making early cleanup possible for those that want to begin tidying up sooner rather than later. Cut the stem in half; stems with a tunnel down their center are likely to be occupied, while those with pith remaining are unoccupied. Check a handful of stems, at several places on the stem and on each kind of plant before beginning. This can give a general sense as to which may need to wait until later in the season so that the bees can wake up from winter dormancy and make a graceful exit. Plants used by bees for such purpose usually have a moderate or large diameter stem with a center that can be hollowed out by the bee itself—think Echinacea, Vernonia, and many larger members of the aster family, as well as similarly pith-filled stems in other groups, like Rosa. Thankfully, prickle-covered rose stems are best cleaned up at the very end of spring in our region, anyway, so they don’t need to be moved into and out of a holding pile for those tailoring their practices for insects. Many native insects require bare dirt to complete their life cycles. Here, a colony of native bees has taken up residence in soft, bare soil not subject to frequent disturbance. Take a Balanced Approach to Garden Cleanup Waiting to perform garden cleanups until apple trees in your area are past peak bloom will provide the greatest spread of insects the opportunity to use your garden as overwintering habitat. Some folks may choose to do no cleanup until this time, opting to minimize disturbance of insects as much as possible. Others might remove leaves early, if time or space doesn’t allow keeping them, knowing that fewer of our local butterflies and moths use leaves as an overwintering space when compared to other regions in the country. This may still affect other insects, like ladybugs and lacewing larvae that overwinter in leaf beds. If you’re like me, cleanup is a mix of both; I stage many of my cutbacks at times that are best for the specific plant but at the same time do so in a manner that considers insect well-being. This means keeping stems of species likely to be occupied piled with leaves, but moved from around species that wake up early, until the end of spring when most insects have emerged. At that time, leaves and stems can be kept in their “bug apartment” pile, composted, tilled into a vegetable garden, used as mulch across the yard, or sent to a commercial composter. When working with stems that are likely occupied, I keep them as intact as possible, making a single cut at their base and doing my best to move them without breaking them into pieces. You can also “chop-and-drop” such stems as mulch, but don’t cut them into small pieces or mulch them if helping insects is the goal. And, as I like to remind myself, gardening is a practice. Each year offers new opportunities and lessons. Almost any habitat your garden creates will be an improvement over the current norm—a bluegrass lawn—so enjoy the process and experience rather than fretting about whether you might be doing it “right.” To anyone that would tell you otherwise, I just say, “Garden a few more years.”   See more Mountain West regional reports here. To discuss these garden concepts or ask other gardening questions, chat with gardeners from your area on the Gardening Answers forum.   Bryan Fischer lives and gardens at the intersection of the Great Plains and the Rockies. He is a horticulturist and the curator of plant collections for a local botanic garden. All photos unless otherwise noted: Bryan Fischer       Fine Gardening Recommended Products A.M. Leonard Deluxe Soil Knife & Leather Sheath Combo Fine Gardening receives a commission for items purchased through links on this site, including Amazon Associates and other affiliate advertising programs. MULTITASKING DUAL EDGES: a deep serrated edge and a tapered slicing edge ideal for tough or delicate cuts. DURABLE 6-inch stainless steel blade withstands 300 lbs of pressure. TWINE CUTTING NOTCH, DEPTH GAUGE MARKINGS & spear point - no need to switch tools when using this garden knife. LEATHER SHEATH: heavy duty, protective, clip on sheath to keep your knife convenient and secure. LIFETIME WARRANTY. DeWit Spring Tine Cultivator Fine Gardening receives a commission for items purchased through links on this site, including Amazon Associates and other affiliate advertising programs. Dimensions: 12" L x 2.5" W x 3" H; 0.25 lbs. Ideal for cultivating soil with rocks and roots. Strong, flexible, lightweight and well-balanced! Also known as a "scratch" cultivator. Corona AG 4930 Long Straight Snip, Tempered Steel Fine Gardening receives a commission for items purchased through links on this site, including Amazon Associates and other affiliate advertising programs. Long, straight, pointed blade for a wide range of applications. Fully heat-treated steel blades for strength. Blades, spring, and handle coated to prevent rust. Unobtrusive leather strap lock. Source link

[angusstory]

Traditionally in our region, gardens were cleaned up in fall for practical and aesthetic reasons. By spring, with weeding, watering, sowing, and dividing all begging for attention, time can be short. Leaving beds covered in leaves—especially those that rely on self-sowing or are filled with early-season plants—can also reduce their vigor. More recently, the surge of interest in native plants, naturalistic design, and ecological gardening has increased awareness regarding how and where our gardens fit into the landscapes around them. Gardeners are increasingly asking themselves, How can I incorporate care for insects, especially pollinating and beneficial insects, into my garden-care practices? The answer may be to reconsider our traditional garden cleanup routines. Insects Are Diverse—and So Are Their Needs Though they are easily overlooked, insects are the most numerous and diverse inhabitants of our gardens. Colorado alone boasts more than 900 species of native bees, each with a preferred range of forage plants and nesting needs. Some overwinter in the ground, others in plant stems, and a third group prefers cavities in rocks and other tight, protected spaces. This diversity means it is important to provide a range of habitat types and ground coverings. Similarly, there is no one-size-fits-all approach to spring cleanup. Claims that “waiting for temperatures to reach 50°F allows insects to leave their winter homes” are an overgeneralization. While it may be true in some places, the mountain west’s day–night temperature swings mean an average of 50°F could represent extremes of much hotter days and colder nights than other areas. Some evidence suggests this number may not be based on studies examining garden insects, anyway. A more reliable method would be to use a phenological indicator. For example, current evidence supports waiting until apple trees have passed their peak bloom as a more successful indicator of the emergence of most beneficial garden insects. This sphinx moth probably spent the winter as a pupae shallowly buried in garden topsoil nearby, where it completed metamorphosis. Develop a “Bug Bed”: A Practical Compromise If this sounds problematic for aesthetic or practical reasons in your garden, consider creating a dedicated “bug bed” and continue to clean up the rest of your garden. This relatively easy approach also contains the sense of messiness that tends to be associated with wildlife-friendly gardens. When concentrated to one area, a couple of tidy shrubs can screen the bed. How to Plant a “Bug Bed” Plant or seed a garden bed with natives. Be sure to provide bare ground, gravel mulch, and leaf mulch. Each fall, cut plant stems in half in a few places in the bed to allow easier entry by native bees. In spring, wait until apple trees have passed the peak of bloom to complete annual garden cleanup, then cut one-third to half of the bed back to the ground. This ensures that most insects overwintering in plant stems will have time to make their exit and that the rest of the bed is useful to a variety of types of insects. The idea is for each portion of the bed to present differing compositions of ground coverings and plant materials; crucially, including a loose—not packed —pile of sticks, plant stems, and leaves all mixed together to provide lots of nooks and crannies. This makes a top-notch overwintering spot for many native bees and butterflies alike. It also makes a good destination or holding spot for “messy”-looking materials moved from other garden beds. Move, Don’t Remove, Leaves Elsewhere in the yard, tweaking a few existing garden practices can do a lot of good for our overwintering pollinators. Rather than entirely removing or lawnmower-mulching leaves to clear beds with early-blooming or self-seeding plants in need of late-winter and early-spring sun exposure, simply rake these leaves out and use them as a mulch in shrub beds or add them to your “bug apartment” pile. This should be done by late winter in spots where you rely on self-sown annuals or perennials like I often do, and by early spring in the case of early-season perennials. Moving rather than removing leaves better balances the needs of your plants and insects alike; keeping leaves where they are well into May, as some guides suggest, can be detrimental to many of our water-wise and early-growing perennial plants. At the same time, many native insects will emerge from moved leaves and stems without issue. As pointed out by Whitney Cranshaw, professor emeritus with Colorado State University, a very large percentage of the butterflies we consider local actually migrate out of our region for the winter rather than overwintering in leaf litter as they do in other parts of the world. Insects that do overwinter in leaf litter, like ladybugs, are generally not harmed by simply being moved. Moths, many of which overwinter as pupae in loose earth, benefit from soft, exposed, or lightly leaf-covered garden soils, especially those not disturbed from fall to late spring. Stems Provide a Home for Native Bees Native bees benefit from several different garden-cleanup practices. For those that overwinter in plant stems, you can easily check for bees present in the stems before cutting, making early cleanup possible for those that want to begin tidying up sooner rather than later. Cut the stem in half; stems with a tunnel down their center are likely to be occupied, while those with pith remaining are unoccupied. Check a handful of stems, at several places on the stem and on each kind of plant before beginning. This can give a general sense as to which may need to wait until later in the season so that the bees can wake up from winter dormancy and make a graceful exit. Plants used by bees for such purpose usually have a moderate or large diameter stem with a center that can be hollowed out by the bee itself—think Echinacea, Vernonia, and many larger members of the aster family, as well as similarly pith-filled stems in other groups, like Rosa. Thankfully, prickle-covered rose stems are best cleaned up at the very end of spring in our region, anyway, so they don’t need to be moved into and out of a holding pile for those tailoring their practices for insects. Many native insects require bare dirt to complete their life cycles. Here, a colony of native bees has taken up residence in soft, bare soil not subject to frequent disturbance. Take a Balanced Approach to Garden Cleanup Waiting to perform garden cleanups until apple trees in your area are past peak bloom will provide the greatest spread of insects the opportunity to use your garden as overwintering habitat. Some folks may choose to do no cleanup until this time, opting to minimize disturbance of insects as much as possible. Others might remove leaves early, if time or space doesn’t allow keeping them, knowing that fewer of our local butterflies and moths use leaves as an overwintering space when compared to other regions in the country. This may still affect other insects, like ladybugs and lacewing larvae that overwinter in leaf beds. If you’re like me, cleanup is a mix of both; I stage many of my cutbacks at times that are best for the specific plant but at the same time do so in a manner that considers insect well-being. This means keeping stems of species likely to be occupied piled with leaves, but moved from around species that wake up early, until the end of spring when most insects have emerged. At that time, leaves and stems can be kept in their “bug apartment” pile, composted, tilled into a vegetable garden, used as mulch across the yard, or sent to a commercial composter. When working with stems that are likely occupied, I keep them as intact as possible, making a single cut at their base and doing my best to move them without breaking them into pieces. You can also “chop-and-drop” such stems as mulch, but don’t cut them into small pieces or mulch them if helping insects is the goal. And, as I like to remind myself, gardening is a practice. Each year offers new opportunities and lessons. Almost any habitat your garden creates will be an improvement over the current norm—a bluegrass lawn—so enjoy the process and experience rather than fretting about whether you might be doing it “right.” To anyone that would tell you otherwise, I just say, “Garden a few more years.”   See more Mountain West regional reports here. To discuss these garden concepts or ask other gardening questions, chat with gardeners from your area on the Gardening Answers forum.   Bryan Fischer lives and gardens at the intersection of the Great Plains and the Rockies. He is a horticulturist and the curator of plant collections for a local botanic garden. All photos unless otherwise noted: Bryan Fischer       Fine Gardening Recommended Products A.M. Leonard Deluxe Soil Knife & Leather Sheath Combo Fine Gardening receives a commission for items purchased through links on this site, including Amazon Associates and other affiliate advertising programs. MULTITASKING DUAL EDGES: a deep serrated edge and a tapered slicing edge ideal for tough or delicate cuts. DURABLE 6-inch stainless steel blade withstands 300 lbs of pressure. TWINE CUTTING NOTCH, DEPTH GAUGE MARKINGS & spear point - no need to switch tools when using this garden knife. LEATHER SHEATH: heavy duty, protective, clip on sheath to keep your knife convenient and secure. LIFETIME WARRANTY. DeWit Spring Tine Cultivator Fine Gardening receives a commission for items purchased through links on this site, including Amazon Associates and other affiliate advertising programs. Dimensions: 12" L x 2.5" W x 3" H; 0.25 lbs. Ideal for cultivating soil with rocks and roots. Strong, flexible, lightweight and well-balanced! Also known as a "scratch" cultivator. Corona AG 4930 Long Straight Snip, Tempered Steel Fine Gardening receives a commission for items purchased through links on this site, including Amazon Associates and other affiliate advertising programs. Long, straight, pointed blade for a wide range of applications. Fully heat-treated steel blades for strength. Blades, spring, and handle coated to prevent rust. Unobtrusive leather strap lock. Source link

[tumibaba]

Traditionally in our region, gardens were cleaned up in fall for practical and aesthetic reasons. By spring, with weeding, watering, sowing, and dividing all begging for attention, time can be short. Leaving beds covered in leaves—especially those that rely on self-sowing or are filled with early-season plants—can also reduce their vigor. More recently, the surge of interest in native plants, naturalistic design, and ecological gardening has increased awareness regarding how and where our gardens fit into the landscapes around them. Gardeners are increasingly asking themselves, How can I incorporate care for insects, especially pollinating and beneficial insects, into my garden-care practices? The answer may be to reconsider our traditional garden cleanup routines. Insects Are Diverse—and So Are Their Needs Though they are easily overlooked, insects are the most numerous and diverse inhabitants of our gardens. Colorado alone boasts more than 900 species of native bees, each with a preferred range of forage plants and nesting needs. Some overwinter in the ground, others in plant stems, and a third group prefers cavities in rocks and other tight, protected spaces. This diversity means it is important to provide a range of habitat types and ground coverings. Similarly, there is no one-size-fits-all approach to spring cleanup. Claims that “waiting for temperatures to reach 50°F allows insects to leave their winter homes” are an overgeneralization. While it may be true in some places, the mountain west’s day–night temperature swings mean an average of 50°F could represent extremes of much hotter days and colder nights than other areas. Some evidence suggests this number may not be based on studies examining garden insects, anyway. A more reliable method would be to use a phenological indicator. For example, current evidence supports waiting until apple trees have passed their peak bloom as a more successful indicator of the emergence of most beneficial garden insects. This sphinx moth probably spent the winter as a pupae shallowly buried in garden topsoil nearby, where it completed metamorphosis. Develop a “Bug Bed”: A Practical Compromise If this sounds problematic for aesthetic or practical reasons in your garden, consider creating a dedicated “bug bed” and continue to clean up the rest of your garden. This relatively easy approach also contains the sense of messiness that tends to be associated with wildlife-friendly gardens. When concentrated to one area, a couple of tidy shrubs can screen the bed. How to Plant a “Bug Bed” Plant or seed a garden bed with natives. Be sure to provide bare ground, gravel mulch, and leaf mulch. Each fall, cut plant stems in half in a few places in the bed to allow easier entry by native bees. In spring, wait until apple trees have passed the peak of bloom to complete annual garden cleanup, then cut one-third to half of the bed back to the ground. This ensures that most insects overwintering in plant stems will have time to make their exit and that the rest of the bed is useful to a variety of types of insects. The idea is for each portion of the bed to present differing compositions of ground coverings and plant materials; crucially, including a loose—not packed —pile of sticks, plant stems, and leaves all mixed together to provide lots of nooks and crannies. This makes a top-notch overwintering spot for many native bees and butterflies alike. It also makes a good destination or holding spot for “messy”-looking materials moved from other garden beds. Move, Don’t Remove, Leaves Elsewhere in the yard, tweaking a few existing garden practices can do a lot of good for our overwintering pollinators. Rather than entirely removing or lawnmower-mulching leaves to clear beds with early-blooming or self-seeding plants in need of late-winter and early-spring sun exposure, simply rake these leaves out and use them as a mulch in shrub beds or add them to your “bug apartment” pile. This should be done by late winter in spots where you rely on self-sown annuals or perennials like I often do, and by early spring in the case of early-season perennials. Moving rather than removing leaves better balances the needs of your plants and insects alike; keeping leaves where they are well into May, as some guides suggest, can be detrimental to many of our water-wise and early-growing perennial plants. At the same time, many native insects will emerge from moved leaves and stems without issue. As pointed out by Whitney Cranshaw, professor emeritus with Colorado State University, a very large percentage of the butterflies we consider local actually migrate out of our region for the winter rather than overwintering in leaf litter as they do in other parts of the world. Insects that do overwinter in leaf litter, like ladybugs, are generally not harmed by simply being moved. Moths, many of which overwinter as pupae in loose earth, benefit from soft, exposed, or lightly leaf-covered garden soils, especially those not disturbed from fall to late spring. Stems Provide a Home for Native Bees Native bees benefit from several different garden-cleanup practices. For those that overwinter in plant stems, you can easily check for bees present in the stems before cutting, making early cleanup possible for those that want to begin tidying up sooner rather than later. Cut the stem in half; stems with a tunnel down their center are likely to be occupied, while those with pith remaining are unoccupied. Check a handful of stems, at several places on the stem and on each kind of plant before beginning. This can give a general sense as to which may need to wait until later in the season so that the bees can wake up from winter dormancy and make a graceful exit. Plants used by bees for such purpose usually have a moderate or large diameter stem with a center that can be hollowed out by the bee itself—think Echinacea, Vernonia, and many larger members of the aster family, as well as similarly pith-filled stems in other groups, like Rosa. Thankfully, prickle-covered rose stems are best cleaned up at the very end of spring in our region, anyway, so they don’t need to be moved into and out of a holding pile for those tailoring their practices for insects. Many native insects require bare dirt to complete their life cycles. Here, a colony of native bees has taken up residence in soft, bare soil not subject to frequent disturbance. Take a Balanced Approach to Garden Cleanup Waiting to perform garden cleanups until apple trees in your area are past peak bloom will provide the greatest spread of insects the opportunity to use your garden as overwintering habitat. Some folks may choose to do no cleanup until this time, opting to minimize disturbance of insects as much as possible. Others might remove leaves early, if time or space doesn’t allow keeping them, knowing that fewer of our local butterflies and moths use leaves as an overwintering space when compared to other regions in the country. This may still affect other insects, like ladybugs and lacewing larvae that overwinter in leaf beds. If you’re like me, cleanup is a mix of both; I stage many of my cutbacks at times that are best for the specific plant but at the same time do so in a manner that considers insect well-being. This means keeping stems of species likely to be occupied piled with leaves, but moved from around species that wake up early, until the end of spring when most insects have emerged. At that time, leaves and stems can be kept in their “bug apartment” pile, composted, tilled into a vegetable garden, used as mulch across the yard, or sent to a commercial composter. When working with stems that are likely occupied, I keep them as intact as possible, making a single cut at their base and doing my best to move them without breaking them into pieces. You can also “chop-and-drop” such stems as mulch, but don’t cut them into small pieces or mulch them if helping insects is the goal. And, as I like to remind myself, gardening is a practice. Each year offers new opportunities and lessons. Almost any habitat your garden creates will be an improvement over the current norm—a bluegrass lawn—so enjoy the process and experience rather than fretting about whether you might be doing it “right.” To anyone that would tell you otherwise, I just say, “Garden a few more years.”   See more Mountain West regional reports here. To discuss these garden concepts or ask other gardening questions, chat with gardeners from your area on the Gardening Answers forum.   Bryan Fischer lives and gardens at the intersection of the Great Plains and the Rockies. He is a horticulturist and the curator of plant collections for a local botanic garden. All photos unless otherwise noted: Bryan Fischer       Fine Gardening Recommended Products A.M. Leonard Deluxe Soil Knife & Leather Sheath Combo Fine Gardening receives a commission for items purchased through links on this site, including Amazon Associates and other affiliate advertising programs. MULTITASKING DUAL EDGES: a deep serrated edge and a tapered slicing edge ideal for tough or delicate cuts. DURABLE 6-inch stainless steel blade withstands 300 lbs of pressure. TWINE CUTTING NOTCH, DEPTH GAUGE MARKINGS & spear point - no need to switch tools when using this garden knife. LEATHER SHEATH: heavy duty, protective, clip on sheath to keep your knife convenient and secure. LIFETIME WARRANTY. DeWit Spring Tine Cultivator Fine Gardening receives a commission for items purchased through links on this site, including Amazon Associates and other affiliate advertising programs. Dimensions: 12" L x 2.5" W x 3" H; 0.25 lbs. Ideal for cultivating soil with rocks and roots. Strong, flexible, lightweight and well-balanced! Also known as a "scratch" cultivator. Corona AG 4930 Long Straight Snip, Tempered Steel Fine Gardening receives a commission for items purchased through links on this site, including Amazon Associates and other affiliate advertising programs. Long, straight, pointed blade for a wide range of applications. Fully heat-treated steel blades for strength. Blades, spring, and handle coated to prevent rust. Unobtrusive leather strap lock. Source link