September 4, 2019

Landscape company cleaning up leaves in Autumn.

If you own or manage a commercial property, then you’ll want to begin taking measures during the fall season to help prepare your landscape for the upcoming winter months. If your landscape isn’t properly taken care of during the fall, it could have issues withstanding the cold temperatures and snowfall that are soon to come.

As a result, you’re going to find your landscape in dire need of help once spring comes along — to the point where your landscape could be in such bad shape that it will hurt your curb appeal. Keeping this in mind, the following are a few commercial landscaping tips to help prepare for winter:

1. Aerate Now

Aerate your soil so that water, oxygen, and fertilizer will reach the roots in your soil more easily. Additionally, aerating your soil will help prevent it from becoming too compact, especially when covered with snow, thereby preventing damage.

2. Fall is For Seeding

The best time to plant cool-season grasses is at the beginning of the fall season. If possible, you should seed your grass 45 days before the first frost. This is because the soil should still be warm at this point as a result of summer, but the moderate temperatures during the day and the cool evenings should combine to encourage quick germination.

3. Keepin’ it Green

The leaves on your trees are going to start dropping during the fall season. Do not let them cover your grass. Keep your lawn green by removing dead leaves. Dead leaves will only block sunlight and cause your grass to thin out.

4. A Great Time to Trim

At the end of fall, cut your grass shorter than you usually do. This will allow more sunlight to reach the grass during the winter and will help prevent the grass from being damaged by frost and snowfall.

5. Fall and Winter Watering

Don’t just stop watering your grass and plants because temperatures have started dropping. Water is still required to keep your landscape healthy. The general rule of thumb is to water your landscape until temperatures drop under 40 degrees Fahrenheit and there’s no snow cover.

6. Time to Fertilize Trees

You want your trees to look as healthy as possible once spring comes around. Adding fertilizer to your trees in the late fall will help increase their resistance to insects and diseases throughout winter and the following spring season.

7. Be Sure to Blow Out

If you don’t blow out your sprinkler system before winter hits, you risk serious damage. This is because the water remaining in your sprinkler system’s pipes and faucets will be more likely to freeze, which can cause the pipes to burst. Blowing out your sprinkler system will help remove any traces of water to avoid damage occurring during freezing temperatures.

8. Cut Back Perennials

Many of your perennials will not do well during the winter. They will have issues with pests and diseases and will no longer be an attractive part of your landscape after the first frost. As such, it’s best that you cut back your perennials before winter arrives. This will also help ensure that they grow back healthy during the spring season.

9. Plant now for later

The late fall is a great time to begin planting shrubs and perennials. By planting them now, you can look forward to seeing them pop up in the spring, which will provide a nice boost in curb appeal once winter finally retreats.

Use these commercial landscaping tips to ensure that your landscape will make it through winter. To schedule landscaping maintenance this fall, be sure to contact us at Twin Oaks Landscaping today.