June 5th, 20206 ways to improve your yard before the winter

Watching the snow melt when spring begins is always exciting. Not only does it indicate that the cold days are behind you, but grass, plants, and outdoor features in your yard are revealed again. While the beginning of spring is exciting, it also signifies the cleaning, repairing, and maintaining season.

During the spring, we tend to undergo a massive cleaning. We go through everything we have, clean up our yards, and declutter our properties. It’s such a significant time for everyone that the first part of spring has been dubbed ‘spring cleaning season’ by most. 

But do we really need to leave most of the work for the spring or can we simply do more in autumn?

1. Clean and declutter

In the fall, not only should you be raking leaves, trimming hedges, and cleaning gutters before the snow comes, but it’s also an opportunity to maintain your fence, wash the exterior of your house, and declutter your belongings.

Go through all of your outdoor furniture, garden tools, garage, and sheds. Find things you never use and begin the decluttering process. When spring cleaning season comes around, you won’t have nearly as much to go through and you can simply organize anything that you accumulated throughout the winter.

2. Winterize your lawn

By adding fertilizer or seeding your lawn, you can accomplish most lawn care tasks before winter comes instead of playing catch up in the spring. Just be sure to finish the job by October — depending on how cold of a fall we have of course.

As the weather becomes colder, grass and plants become dormant, only using their stored energy to stay alive. This means that you should give them plenty of nutrients beforehand so each blade of grass is nice and healthy going into the winter months. Winterizing your lawn keeps your grass and plants healthy through the winter until they are no longer dormant in the spring. 

3. Repair your outdoor features

Before you tuck away your outdoor furniture for the winter, take the time to go through all of your outdoor features and make repairs where necessary. It could be a coat of paint to protect any metal from rusting, replacing a part that is broken, or simply doing a few dump runs if they’re beyond repair. There’s no use in storing broken furniture or equipment just to get rid of it in the spring.

For those looking to install or make repairs to a fence in the near future, here’s a myth that you may be relieved to know is not true. Many believe that the winter season is not a good time to install or repair a fence. On the contrary, there are quite a few benefits to installing or repairing a fence in the winter so be sure to check your fence in the fall and contact us to book an appointment for any fence repair, maintenance, or installation services you may need year-round.

4. Prep your garden for winter

If you have plans to develop and grow a garden in the following spring and summer, you should actually begin the process in the autumn. For gardens, this is a season of preparation. If there is any pruning, clearing, transplanting, fertilizing, or digging up delicate plants to bring indoors, now is the time to create your fall gardening checklist and set your garden up for the spring.

Autumn is also an opportunity to go through your gardening tools and organize them. Not only does this further clean up your garden sheds and other storage spaces, but you can create a list of items you will need to sharpen, repair, or replace before spring begins so you can dive right in when the time is right.

5. Build a swale

For those that suffer from consistent flooding or irrigation problems on their property in the spring, then building a swale or ditch may be the solution. These are shallow indentations that can be built to allow water to flow in one direction.

By dispersing water more effectively, you can protect your home’s structural integrity as well as your fencing and any additional outdoor features. If you’re lucky and already have a convenient indentation that protects your home, then be sure to clean it out in the fall in preparation for the spring thaw.

6. Make a plan for the future

No matter what you would like to do with your yard, creating a plan for the future is key. 

By splitting spring cleaning into two seasons, you will have much more time to spend on outdoor projects to improve your yard such as installing a pergola, trellis, or arbour. Also, if you completed your fencing repairs, installations, and maintenance before the winter, then you shouldn’t have any big surprises in the spring. 

If you need any installation, repair, or maintenance services for your fence, pergola, trellis, or arbour, then don’t hesitate to contact our team of experts at any time of the year and let us know how we can help you improve your yard.