We often think of saving seeds of flowers we’ve grown over the years. As a gardener we often rejoice when flowers self-seed when we leave on the ground hoping for a return the following year. Of course, the birds and many beneficial insects are happy we didn’t cut all the stems back and rake the leaves and debris up and carted off to be recycled. I need to do more saving seeds, but I don’t have that much room left unless I dig up all my grass… but then that certainly remains an option.
We are forever told to leave the leaves on the grass which I have always considered as impractical and never have done so. I mulch the leaves back into the grass or rake them into the flower beds. Although there are no size fits all. If you have a large quantity of leaves you cannot leave on the grass or rake all of them into your flowerbeds. Sorry generalizations don’t work when not all yards and trees and leaves are the same.
But its saving seeds from plants in our yard that I need to get better at doing. I encourage people who stop by knowing there are lots of perennial seed for the taking to help themselves. My front yard is basically full of perennials that come back every year. But I still have a lot to do in the yard this fall. Primarily I need to remove some plants because my small trees are getting bigger, and they should be moved past the drip line (the furthest edge of the foliage around the perimeter of the tree). I have two Jane Magnolias and a Japanese maple that have perennials growing too close and I need to move them. I’ll either dig up more grass for larger flower beds or move to beds in the back yard with my chickens. I know that’s a problem… But that’s another story.
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