Prepare Your Yard for Fall
What you do in the fall will determine how lush your grass is the following year, whether your trees can survive a harsh winter, and how healthy all your plants are down the road.
Most people think only of removing leaves in the fall, but there is far more to do at this time if you want the best yard possible the following year.
Right before fall, is also the time when gardens are in full production and when critters are plentiful. It can be overwhelming to think about next year’s yard when you’re still dealing with this year’s yard.
That’s why homeowners who want to relax in the fall often turn to landscaping companies, like Beyond Landscaping, who excel at preparing yards for the winter.
This gives them more time to plan for next year even as they harvest this year’s produce.
Landscaping Tasks for the Fall
With so much to do in the fall garden, it can be easy to miss some of the most fundamental tasks that prepare your garden for top performance. These include:
Debris Pick-Up
Removing leaves and debris that has accumulated over the growing season and during the fall is a top priority. Raking leaves and removing debris help to reduce the growth of mold and diseases that can attack other plants in your landscape. Leaves on a lawn will also tend to smother future growth. If leaves have accumulated around downspouts, it can affect drainage around your home too.
Lawn Maintenance
By fall, your lawn may have some brown spots from the harsh summer sun. Or, it can just be overgrown with weeds. Fall is the best time to aerate a lawn, fertilize it, and treat it for weeds. You even have time for seeding in bald spots.
Pruning Trees and Bushes
Some trees and bushes are trimmed in spring and others in late summer to early fall due to the way they blossom. If you don’t know the difference, it’s time to call a landscape professional. They will be able to prune the trees at the right time in their cycle, so you’ll have flowers and growth during the following year.
Pruning trees back away from the home can also help when heavy snows appear later in the season, causing some large branches to break and cause damage to the home, too.
Soil Amendment
Once all the debris and dead plants are pulled away, you have an opportunity to amend the soil for the following year through topdressing or tilling. If you haven’t tested the soil, then you may want to rely on your landscaper’s knowledge of the local area to tell you how to properly supplement the soil. They can tell you what nutrients and minerals work best for your area.
Landscaping Projects
If you want to build a retaining wall or stone patio, fall can be the best time to do that due to the cool weather. That way you’ll have that feature ready for next year. If you want to install a perennial bed or a bed of tulips, you’ll want to give them a head start in the fall so that they have time to grow the roots before the following spring.
Some plants need a period of dormancy to perform at their best the following year. Landscaping companies can help you with these types of planting and building projects too.
If you want the best start for next year’s garden, contact BeyondLandscaping.com this year to schedule a consultation.