While the explosion of color in the spring and the lush green of summer highlight the beauty of your landscaping, fall is also a great time to showcase your property. While spring and summer let your flower gardens shine, fall is the time for your trees and shrubs to take center stage and display vibrant colors. However, to keep your curb appeal high, you can’t allow your landscape maintenance to lapse in the fall. The growing season may be winding down, but there’s still plenty to do to care for your property when the temperature begins to fall.
Mowing, edging, weeding, watering. Just because the temperature has dropped doesn’t mean you can stop your regular property maintenance. Growth may be slower, but if you let your routine slip, those crisp and neat edges of your neatly mowed lawn and healthy and weeded garden beds can become ragged and forlorn quickly. While weed growth may finally be slowing down compared to mid-summer, part of fall maintenance still involves keeping your garden beds neat. Most gardeners find that their fall maintenance routine includes a lot of deadheading and removing old growth, so their gardens still look fresh and polished. To maintain high curb appeal and neat landscaping, make sure you keep up with regular maintenance until the temperature consistently drops to below 50 degrees during the day, typically in late October or early November. A few isolated cold days may tempt you into thinking that your outdoor work is done, but it’s the consistent temperature you need to look for.
A fall clean-up may happen in stages. If you have a landscape maintenance contract, you may find that these jobs are scattered throughout the fall alongside your regular maintenance. If you’re scheduling a fall clean-up as an additional service, you may opt to schedule everything to occur on the same day. In most cases, a fall clean-up will include:
Sticks, twigs, any residual weeds, and other debris will be swept from your lawn and landscape beds.
Timing the leaf removal can be tricky. Do it too early, and you’ll likely need to do it again as more leaves come down. Wait for the last leaves to fall, and you’ll have to endure a whole carpet of leaves for too long. Many landscape maintenance providers offer two sweeps as part of their service to ensure your lawn remains clear throughout the season.
Fall cleanup can include trimming overgrowth to promote healthy growth next season. Additionally, any flowering shrubs will be deadheaded to maintain a neat and healthy appearance.
Your lawn professional will be able to assess the health of your lawn and make recommendations for fall treatments that promote good health. Aerating, fertilizing, and overseeding will all set your lawn up for good growth next season.
You should aim to have your final mow be about a week before the first hard frost, typically in late October/early November. You don’t want your grass to be too long going into the winter. Because some grass will continue growing in cool weather, the general rule is “if it’s still growing, keep mowing.” However, even that grass will eventually become dormant. The final edging will make sure that your lines stay crisp and clean until spring.
If you have an irrigation system, fall clean-up is the right time to have that winterized to avoid any damage.
Even more important than your regular maintenance is the fall clean-up. If you already have an all-inclusive landscaping contract, a fall clean-up should be included. A fall cleanup is more than just leaf removal and a final mow. When you have a comprehensive fall cleanup, your yard will not only be prepared for winter, but also for next spring.The cleanup will remove all debris that can invite a pest infestation or fungal growth, improve air circulation and drainage, which is essential for preventing winter damage, and enhance soil health through aeration and overseeding, encouraging better grass growth in the spring. Cleaning out and mulching the beds will keep perennial roots insulated and protected through the cold months, and performing a winter blowout and shutting down your irrigation system will prevent damage from freezing in the lines. Just like you go through a routine at the end of the day to keep your skin and teeth healthy, going through a routine at the end of the growing season will keep your property healthy.
Your property is a living thing, and like all living things, has ongoing needs that are dependent on the temperature, rainfall, and other variables that may be out of your control. Fall weather, especially in the late fall, is unpredictable. You put off a fall clean-up task because it still feels like summer during the day, only to be taken aback by a hard frost you weren’t expecting. You have plenty on your plate with your career, home, and family. Planning for the ideal time to take care of your fall landscape care adds one more thing to your list. When you have an all-inclusive landscape maintenance contract, this chore is delegated to the professionals who understand the needs of your property, what to expect from the climate, and what to monitor in the forecast, so everything on your fall clean-up to-do list is taken care of before the weather turns.
Make this fall easier and set your property up for a healthy spring. Contact Twin Oaks Landscape today to schedule your complete fall landscape care.