It’s that time of year again, when leaves start to fall and people get ready to hunker down indoors for a mostly cold winter season. Before the snow flies, though, it’s a good time to do some things to your property’s landscaping, to prepare it for winter. Here’s a Fall landscaping checklist of 10 tips:
1) Rake up those leaves that fall onto your grass and remove them from your property. Compost them if possible. Is raking leaves a chore? Yes. But if there are kids around and you can make it a fun game, with monetary incentives/rewards, that’ll help speed up the process.
2) Dig out your weeds.
3) After summer’s heat, Fall is the time to see and fertilize your lawn. Got any “dead” spots that are bare? Now’s the time to fix those.
4) How tall should you let your grass be for the Fall, after your last mowing? Keep it about 2 inches tall– the ideal height!
5) Water those trees and shrubs. Before you turn your hose off for the season, use it to give some “extra” water to your property’s vegetation so they can use it during their hibernation period.
6) Got perennials? Trim ‘em back, close to the ground.
7) Don’t forget to turn off water lines outside. Blow out your irrigation system with compressed air so water doesn’t freeze in the pipes. Let your spigots “run out of water” before turning them to the closed position for the winter season.
8) Aerate the lawn, putting holes in your turf which will let fertilizer get right to the roots. Compacted soil is bad; aerated is good. If you don’t have a heavy roller to make holes, use soccer cleats and walk all over the lawn.
9) Remove anything on the ground that you wouldn’t want to trip over if it was covered by snow and hidden to the naked eye, like wire/cords near the ground.
10) Put away tools, furniture, lawn decorations and other outdoor items that you don’t want to leave out all year. Fall’s a good time to fill the shed, basement or garage up with “lawn stuff.”
If you need help getting your lawn in order this fall, contact VistaPro Landscape & Design for a FREE landscaping consultation.