After autumn arrives, you should clean your home’s lawns to prepare for winter. Choose a day when it isn’t raining to complete these outdoor cleaning chores. Here are a few tips for cleaning your backyard and front lawn this autumn.
Tip 1: Have the Proper Equipment for This Chore
Before beginning the cleaning process, make sure to have the right equipment, including rakes, shovels and containers for trash. If you have a lot of debris to get rid of, then using trash bags isn’t enough, but you can rent a dumpster from a local company.
Tip 2: Raking Autumn Leaves
When you keep a compost pile to create fertilizer for your home’s lawns, you can add the autumn leaves. However, if you have too many tree leaves, then you can bag the items for collection by the local trash company, or you can place the bags of leaves in your rental dumpster. Remember that tree branches won’t compost properly unless the items are ground into small pieces.
Tip 3: Mow the Lawn
After raking leaves and removing the fallen branches, you should mow the lawn for the last time, making sure to trim the edges. Dump the collected grass clippings into the rental dumpster for proper disposal.
Tip 4: Aerate the Soil
If you want to have healthier soil in the spring, then you should aerate the lawn’s soil. You can buy equipment for aerating the soil, or you can rent equipment. Aeration helps to bring oxygen into the soil along with releasing the excess moisture that is trapped in the soil.
Tip 5: Mulch Your Lawn
When you have bare areas on your home’s lawns, mulching can enrich the soil. Use the old leaves, plants and tree branches that you have collected for mulching by having the items ground into small particles.
Tip 6: Plant New Shrubs
If you want to improve the landscaping on your property, then autumn is the perfect time for planting shrubs. Determine what types of shrubs grow the best in your region to have the best outcome in the spring from planting these items.
Tip 7: Trim Dangling Tree Branches
You should trim the dangling or dead branches from trees to protect your home from damage during the high winds that occur in the winter. Make sure to avoid any power lines during this chore.
Tip 8: Add Fertilizer to the Soil
To keep your home’s lawns healthy throughout the winter, apply a layer of fertilizer on top of the soil. You can take a sample of your property’s soil to a gardening store for an analysis to determine what mixture of fertilizer is suitable for adding to the current soil.
Tip 9: Prepare the Irrigation System for Winter
If you have an irrigation system for the lawns and gardens on your property, then you should prepare it for the cold temperatures of winter. Make sure to drain the system before turning off the water along with protecting the devices with insulating materials.
