• Rake leaves out of garden beds
• Clean up the lawn
• Rake the lawn to prevent thatching
• Prune summer-flowering perennials and shrubs
• Remove and compost annual plants
• Uncover sensitive plants
• Prepare vegetables
• Reseed grass
• Aerate compacted grass
• Compost or fertilize flower beds
• Mulch flower beds

Regardless of when you begin, knowing how to spring clean garden material in a way that protects your pollinators will allow you to save even more of them.

When clearing out old stems, look for bee activity such as ends plugged with mud or plant material. Leave those in place for nesting bees. If you pick out old stems that may have bees nesting, move them to a corner of the garden for a few extra weeks so that bees can emerge. You can leave them on the ground or tie them in bundles to hang from trees or fences.

Watch out for chrysalises and cocoons when pruning back shrubs and other woody material. If a branch hosts one of these, leave it in place for now.

Butterflies,ladybugs and other beneficial insects nest in piles of leaf matter. Move leaf piles to a corner of the garden and leave undisturbed for a while.

Don’t smother the soil in beds with mulch until it is generally warm to avoid blocking in-ground nesting bees and other insects.