With Fall already here and Winter fast approaching there are some things you should think about doing, regarding your landscape, before the freezing temperatures arrive. These suggestions can help you to save time and money come spring and always saves a lot of the headache. Listed below are some tips to help you get ahead of the game and prepare your landscape for winter.
Wind & Sun Burn Protection
Most Winter injuries to plants are from drying out in cold wind or bright sun when roots are frozen, or a combination of the two. Wrap your plants with burlap to protect them from getting wind or sun burn. Burlap is perfect because air and moisture still get through, so the plant can breathe and stay alive all winter in any conditions.
Mulching
Mulch your beds before freezing weather comes is important. Adding a thin layer of mulch bark chips, straw and even old leaves from your fall clean up allows the plants to have insulation from the cold. Also, mulch will hold water for the plants and trees. This helps with soil consistency and keeps it from the detrimental cycle of freezing, thawing out and freezing again.
Fertilize
Applying fertilizer before the winter is very important. You want to do this so you know your plants and your lawn have the right food and nutrition for the winter to survive. This also helps the plants get ready for spring time by which time they’ve used up all the nutrients to grow. You will want to fertilize before the first freeze, around September or October, so it has time to get absorbed into the plant.
Irrigation
Blowing out your irrigation lines is important. At John Mini, all the jobs with irrigation get blown out before winter. This must be done before the first freeze because any water in the pipes that freezes has no where to go but out and makes the pipes want to crack. So, you will want to get your irrigation company out to do it or you can do it yourself. To do it yourself, you will need an air compressor and a hose attachment. With that you can blow all the water out of your lines.
Dealing with the Snow
Shoveling, plowing and salting is my last recommendation. When shoveling, shovel away from the plants to make piles on the lawn. Same thing goes for blowing snow, make sure your property lines are marked with where your plants or trees are. You can do this with stakes that stick out above a snow fall and add a colorful flag for an easy visual. You don’t want to pile snow around tree trunks or plow snow into bushes. When it comes to salting, you will want to avoid throwing salt near your plants. This will effect the overall health of the plant and could keep them from bouncing back come spring. It’s important to remember that salt can also run off into your landscape when the snow melts or be accidentally shoveled onto your landscape! Therefore, the best method is to only use salt only where necessary.
With these 5 tips, you can get your landscape ready for Winter and have peace of mind that when Spring arrives, your landscape will be in great shape!