Here’s How to Prepare Your Yard for Winter

As the days get shorter and cooler it’s time to start thinking about preparing your yard for winter. Fall weather can be unpredictable so be sure to take advantage of every opportunity. A healthy spring yard and garden depends on how well you protect it in the fall.

Protect Your Trees & Shrubs

Some trees and shrubs are more vulnerable than others, especially if they grow in wind-swept spaces or close to roadways that are plowed and salted. Here’s how to protect them.

Snow Fences

If you have a medium to large sized property you should consider installing a snow fence. These purpose-built fences are specifically engineered to control drifting snow. A snow fence provides an effective windbreak for your hedges and can protect your plants from freezing rain and heavy snowfall. Make sure your fence is 30 to 40 feet away from the area you want to protect, and perpendicular to the prevailing winds in your area for optimal drift control.

Winterize Your Lawn

You will have a healthier yard every spring if you spend a little time preparing your lawn for winter.

Cut to Winter Height

Fall lawn care includes cutting your grass to about 2½ inches high. If your grass is too short, snow and cold temperatures can damage the roots. If it’s too long, the grass blades can mat under the snow’s weight and cause snow mould disease, which in turn can create bare spots in your lawn come spring.

What to do with Clippings

Once you have given your grass one final mowing before winter, leave the clippings on your lawn. They will return nitrogen to the soil, moderate the soil temperature, and benefit nutrient-cycling insects, microbes, and earthworms. As grass clippings decompose, the soil also benefits from the resulting organic matter.

End of Season Aeration

Using an aerator on your lawn in the fall helps improve drainage and aids in root growth. Plug aeration gives your lawn more time to benefit from the aeration process and it’s less likely to cause soil compaction. You can also use a garden fork to make holes with the tines, but this method tends to increase soil compaction.

What to do with Your Leaves

Leaves underneath snow can be slippery and dangerous. Rake them into a big pile, taking special care to clear paths and decks. After the kids and the dogs have had fun running and diving into the pile, here’s how to dispose of them:

Make a Compost: After mowing leaves in fall, rake a pile into a corner and keep them contained with chicken wire or flexible mesh. They will decompose faster if shredded with a mulching mower, leaf shredder or chipper. Layer the leaves with other valuable components such as grass clippings, dead plant bits (avoid those treated with pesticides), and even fruit and vegetable scraps from the kitchen. Turn the pile over a few times throughout the winter and come spring you’ll have a great compost mix to treat your garden soil.
Add Directly to Soil: Shred your leaves and mix them directly into your garden soil with some slow-release nitrogen fertilizer to aid decomposition. Come spring, you should notice much improved soil, rich in earthworms and other organisms.
Make Leaf Mould: Collect a big pile of shredded leaves and keep them damp. Before long fungi will develop and the leaves will change into a dark, rich soil conditioner containing calcium and magnesium. The water-retaining mixture can do wonders for your vegetable and flower gardens next spring.

Prepping Your Perennials

Take a close look at your perennials during fall cleanup and cut back any diseased plants down to ground level. Throw the diseased cuttings in the garbage and clean the tools you used with a mixture of bleach and water. Do a little research on your specific perennials: some require fall pruning while others are better left until spring. You can also apply a dormant spray to help protect against pests over the winter.

Get Your Flower Garden Ready

Remove this year’s remains and till the soil in your beds. If you want beautiful flowers next spring, now’s the time to plant flowering bulbs. Winterization includes covering the bulbs with wire barriers to stop animals from digging them up. If you plan to mulch, do it after the first hard frost to help stabilize the soil temperature around the freezing mark. Adding it sooner can delay freezing and encourage heaving and thawing. Here’s a quick list of flower bulb favourites:

Aliums
Crocuses
Daffodils
Freesia
Hyacinth
Irises
Lilies
Tulips

From first planting to final harvest, maintaining a beautiful yard and garden is a lot of work. A little preparation for winter will make the job easier and help ensure a beautiful, bountiful spring.

Here’s How to Prepare Your Yard for Winter

Protect Your Trees & Shrubs

Snow Fences

Winterize Your Lawn

What to do with Your Leaves

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