Fall is a truly beautiful season here in the Midland, Bay City and Saginaw area. Make sure you get out and enjoy it!
However, the flip side of this beautiful time of year is that the harsh weather of winter will be here soon. To help you be sure that your yard will be able to survive the winter and come back healthy in the spring, we’ve come up with a Winterization Checklist of a few things that you’ll want to do for your landscape.
This checklist can help the do-it-yourselfer, but if you’d rather just enjoy the fall season and not worry about these things, contact Reder Landscaping and let us take of everything for you.
LAWN CARE
- Mow your grass short the last two mowings of the season.
- Remove all leaves and debris from your lawn before the snow flies to prevent snow mold damage in the spring.
- Apply your last application of “winterizer” fertilizer to your lawn. This allows your grass to store nutrients in the roots over the winter so your lawn will bounce back healthy in the spring.
- Have your sprinkler system blown out and winterized by an irrigation company to prevent freezing and costly damage.
PLANT CARE
- Prune your ornamental trees and shrubs to improve airflow, control size, maintain structure, encourage flowering, and remove weak or crossing branches.
- Cut down your perennials after 3-4 hard frosts, or any time in November before the ground freezes, to prevent disease and rodent problems.
- Fertilize your trees and shrubs so they can better handle harsh winter weather, and so they’ll bounce back healthier in the spring.
- Remove all leaves and debris from your planting beds to prevent mice and rodents from nesting near your home over the winter.
- If you live in an area with a lot of deer and want to protect your plants from winter deer damage, apply deer repellant sprays and/ or physical barriers.
- Apply antidessicant sprays or construct burlap fencing to protect broadleaf evergreens, like rhododendrons and hollies, from winter burn.
AROUND THE YARD
- Get all the leaves out of your egress windows. This is so the drainage stone in your window wells won’t clog up, which can cause water issues in your basement come spring.
- Clean out all your gutters and bubbler drains.
- If you have problems with mice and rodents, late fall is a good time set bait away from your house to control them.
- If you have a water feature or pond, be sure to pull the pump and winterize your system.
- If you have a swimming pool, be sure to have it winterized.
- Put away all ornamental planting pots and containers.
- Mark out your driveway and walks if you use a snow removal service.
So give us a call and let Reder Landscaping get your yard ready for winter while you relax and enjoy the fall!