The Importance of Fall Landscape Maintenance
fall landscape maintenance
As a homeowner, it’s important to consider your landscape’s maintenance in the fall. Fall landscape prep plays a pivotal roll in how well your yard bounces back next spring, and unfortunately for the “time-crunched” folks, this preparation involves much more than sending the kids out to clear the fallen leaves.
Just because the leaves are turning doesn’t mean your lawn is done growing. In fact you’ll want to make sure your lawn and shrubs are getting ample water until it goes dormant. So how do you know when your grass has become dormant. Here’s a handy tip: Set the mower to 2 inches, keep mowing until there are few or no clippings after wards. This is the signal that the grass is done growing for the year.
Treating your yard with a pre-emergent herbicide is important to control weeds come spring. Once the leaves are gone and the trees are bare it’s time to fertilize the lawn. Basically it’s like sending a bear into hibernation with its belly nice and full…so that come spring it will awaken fresh and ready for healthy growth. which will encourage growth and thickness in the spring.
Fall is also the ideal time to take a look at your perennials. October is the ideal month to plant your spring flowering bulbs. If your considering new trees and shrubs, cooler temperatures make an ideal climate to create less strain and allow them to establish over the winter. For any new plantings this fall, it will be important that you cover the root systems with at least a good 2 inches of mulch.
Sprinkler system & irrigation winterization: This is a critical step and many times overlooked. By not winterizing your sprinkler system you’ll probably have a hefty repair bill come spring if w
fall landscape maintenancee have a cold winter. Water in the lines during a freeze will mean cracked sprinkler heads and pipes. Your sprinkler system lines will need to be flushed out and shut down for the winter.
Ponds and water features are another important aspect of fall maintenance. Fish or no fish you’ll want to take this time to clean filters and vacuum all dead and decomposing material in the pond to avoid algae bloom come spring.
Here at Urban Gardens Inc. we specialize in fall landscape maintenance and winter yard preparation. Give us a call!
