How to get started with soft landings.

Coming up next on Year-Round Gardening.

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The easiest time to begin is when you're planting a tree.

Choose a selection of shade-tolerant, low-growing native perennials to add to the area around your new tree.

Mulch with fallen leaves from the trunk to the drip line to begin building that leaf litter layer that will enrich your soil and provide just what pollinators need.

Be sure to buy the smallest plants possible from cell packs or plugs and use a hand trowel for planting.

To protect your tree's root system, don't use a shovel or dig large holes.

Keep at least 3 feet away from the tree's trunk to avoid damaging primary roots.

Once they're established, your plants will quickly spread to fill this space.

If you've got turfgrass under the tree, no need to dig it out.

Just smother it.

Place a layer of cardboard out to the drip line of the tree, then top with a thick layer of leaves and small branches to weigh it down.

You'll be ready to plant the following spring.

If you have a ring of mulch under the tree, gently rake out the surface, being sure not to go too deeply or to damage roots near the surface, and top with a layer of leaves.

Some common plants, such as violets, are often considered weeds in the lawn, but they make an excellent soft landing under a tree as an essential host plant for butterflies like the great spangled fritillary.

If the caterpillars don't have fallen leaves as a winter blanket, we're much less likely to see them in our gardens in summer.

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