When the fall season starts to turn, and the leaves are beginning to fall, you know it’s time to start getting your yard and garden ready. Preparing your lawn and garden in the autumn helps you to enjoy your lawn in the spring and summer. The grass will be greener and healthier with a little fall-time assistance. You’ll not only want to prepare your grass for the cold, but you’ll also want to prepare the rest of your yard. Here are some fall landscaping ideas and tips to get your property ready for this fall
Gutter Cleaning
Just like when you're washing your car, start from the top of your property and work your way down. When you’re getting ready for winter, you’ll want to make sure you don’t miss the roof area of your house. Leaves and other debris can build up and cause clogging. If your gutters clog you may run into more expensive repairs down the road. Make sure to check chimney caps/vents as we
ll. Some invasive plants such as vines may grow be growing excessive and blocking proper smoke ventilation
Trying using a blower to clean off roof and gutters/ may require hand removal of some debris.
If you do not have a blower you can try using a spatula or some sort of object around the house that fits down into the gutter allowing you to push the leaves out.
Cut Back Plants
Not all plants need to
be cut back during the fall. Annuals should be removed from the garden, and evergreen trees and shrubs will flourish on their own. But during the fall, your perennial plants will be preparing to go dormant for the winter. These are the plants you’ll want to trim and prep for winter. Here are some tips for cutting back plants to prepare for the next spring:
Wait to trim until after a few hard frosts. When you trim plants before they’re dormant, it’ll encourage new growth. If you trim the plants before it’s cold, this new growth is then killed by winter cold. But if you wait until after a few hard frosts, you’ll be able to cut your plants back and keep them neat and healthy.
Try pruning shears or garden scissors. These tools can help you cut through perennial branches or thin stalks of certain grasses. Cut plants to 3 inches above the ground.
If your yard is prone to disease, don’t compost the foliage. For most plants, it can be beneficial to compost what you cut off, but if the plants are prone to disease, you should discard it. Composting it will only spread the disease to more plants.
Plant Bulbs
A fall landscape is never complete with a pop of color to look forward to. Autumn is an ideal time to plant bulbs before the ground freezes. Flowers like daffodils, tulips, crocuses, and other similar blooms flourish when you plant them in the fall. Then they’ll bloom in the spring and provide your yard and garden with a pop of color. Here are some tips for your bulbs in the autumn:
Plant bulbs while it’s cool but before the ground freezes. You don’t want to have to dig through the frozen ground, so make sure you plant bulbs before the frosts.
Use your tender bulbs for another year. Instead of treating these tender bulb flowers as annuals, collect the bulbs once the tops freeze and save them for the next year. Put the bulbs in containers and into cool storage and water once a month. They’ll be ready to plant again in the spring.
Check where you live to find the best times to plant and the best flowers to plant. Find the flowers that grow well in your area and plant them in the fall for the next spring. Watch for the season to plant the bulbs during as well.
Drain Garden Hoses
Garden hoses aren’t often the highest priority when prepping your yard during the fall. Very often, people leave a little water inside their hoses. To prevent a freezing and expanding. disconnect water hose and drain to ones best ability's. You can also purchase an insulation boot for your house spicket gong into the house to prevent freezing.
Seed and Fertilize
As you are preparing your fall landscape it is important to Seed and fertilize accordingly. If Over seeding with a cool season grass: Aeration, seeding, and fertilizing should be done. If you have warm-season grasses like bermudagrass, centipedegrass, or bahiagrass, and do plan to let go dormant, you will want to apply the right premergent and weed prevention from next season
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