10 Tips for Preparing Your Yard for Winter
Getting your yard ready for winter should happen during the fall season. We recommend taking advantage of the mild weather to prepare your yard and garden for next spring. Doing an annual clean-up before winter arrives also ensures your yard is ready to deal with snow and colder temperatures.
These yard clean-up tasks are not hard to do, but if you skip them altogether, you could unintentionally damage your lawn when spring arrives. If you don’t have time or need help in getting your yard clean-up done early, then contact landscaping services in Toronto, and they can do everything in one visit.
To get you started for your winter clean-up, the contractors at Peel Exterior Maintenance are ready to assist you in preparing your yard for the following year. To get you started, here are 10 tips for preparing your yard for winter.
1. Perform yard clean-up
Do a walk around your front and back yards, and put away any lawn furniture such as patio tables, chairs, toys, and sports equipment in the garage. Cleaning up your yard will make raking the leaves easier, and when it starts snowing, your lawn furniture will be all stored away. If you have any fire pits, be sure to store away any spare logs.
2. Aerate the lawn
Aerating your lawn during the fall maintains its health and helps it breathe before the grass gets covered with ice and snow during the winter. Aeration is most effective in the fall because the cool weather conditions help freshly seeded and overseeded lawns grow efficiently. If you skip aerating your lawn in the fall, it could get damaged during the winter and produce brown patches in the spring. Contact a professional landscaper to do the aerating for you, as they have the specific tools necessary for digging into your soil.
3. Mow the lawn
Continue to mow your lawn during the fall to maintain the height of your grass to block bacteria, debris, and pests from seeping in. If you let it grow too long throughout the fall, unwanted pests and debris might accumulate when it gets covered by snow, and come springtime, your lawn might develop brown patches. We recommend contacting a professional lawn care provider who can mow your lawn to its ideal height to keep it healthy throughout the winter season.
4. Fertilize the lawn
After your lawn has been mowed, it’s time to fertilize it. A freshly cut lawn is ideal for absorbing fertilizer. The benefit of fertilizing your lawn right after it gets mowed is assisting in eliminating lawn waste, while exposing the soil makes the fertilizer absorb better. We recommend contacting landscaping services in Toronto to use a spreader to apply a layer of fertilizer to maintain the health of your lawn during the winter.
5. Replace mulch
Since winter lasts from December to February, there is no better time than replacing mulch before winter arrives. By replacing the mulch in the fall, the moderate temperature locks in moisture in the soil and prevents weeds from growing in. The main benefit of replacing mulch before winter is to help insulate plant roots and prevent soil erosion.
The cool-to-warm temperatures in the soil keep earthworms and microbes active right through the winter. When the soil starts thawing in March and April, it places stress on your plant roots. The advantage of replacing mulch before the winter arrives assists in regulating temperature changes caused by freezing and thawing.
6. Rake the leaves
Getting your yard winter-ready means you need to rake the leaves in the fall. If you neglect to remove the pile of leaves on your lawn, it could potentially damage your grass. Once winter comes and your grass gets snowed on, your lawn won’t get adequate sunlight, and piles of leaves left on it will prevent it from growing properly.
7. Pull weeds
Weeds continue to grow throughout the winter, and they can be a pest if you leave them alone because they’ll ruin your yard. So, it’s a good idea to contact landscaping services in Toronto who can pull all the weeds in your yard before winter arrives without taking nutrients away from your grass. Try to get your weeds pulled before winter, so when springtime rolls around, your yard will be ready to grow properly.
8. Repair loose wood boards
During the winter, wood surfaces such as wooden steps or your deck could get damaged. Moreover, if you have loose wooden boards on your deck, you could trip or slip on them during the winter. We suggest adding some extra protection by staining the deck and repairing any loose boards. Along with staining the deck, use a penetrating stain that soaks into the wood, let it dry, then secure them properly by drilling or nailing them down. This will ensure that they are protected and you won’t slip on them.
9. Clean up flower beds
Annuals left in flower beds can get rotten and affect the rest of your lawn. In the fall, remove annuals from the bed and toss them to compost. If you want to make way for planting new flowers in the spring, get a professional landscaper to do this job and they will be able to clean up your flower beds properly by turning the soil. By turning the soil, it will prepare your garden soil for spring.
10. Turn off the watering system
Turn off your irrigation system during the fall because once the weather gets cold, your hose or irrigation connected to the water will freeze and suffer damage. In cold weather, blast all the water out with an air compressor. If you need assistance with turning off your irrigation system, contact a professional landscaper who can shut it off properly to prevent it from freezing during the winter.
At Peel Exterior Maintenance, we offer landscaping services in Toronto to get your yard ready for winter. Contact us today to learn more about our winter landscaping services and we’ll give you a free program evaluation. Call us at 1-888-290-1216 or contact us here.