How to Spring Clean Your Garden With Pollinators in Mind

Waiting for temperatures to be consistently above 50 degrees before cutting back perennials is good for beneficial insects.

It is safe to remove winter protection, such as mulch, when temperatures begin to hover around freezing or your plants begin to sprout. Keep some frost protection handy just in case you need to protect any tender plants from a hard freeze. Elise V Pearlstine/Dreamstime/TNS

By Melinda Myers From Star Tribune (Minneapolis)

Spring cleaning, indoors and out, is a longstanding tradition for many households. But as we learn more about the important pollinators, insect-eating toads, songbirds and beneficial insects, the more we realize we need to adjust some of our timing and methods.