Get Your Yard Ready for Winter

This past weekend, my ambitious parents carefully planted 11, yes 11, arborvitae in their yard, their last big landscaping feat before winter rolls around. Now they're busy getting the rest of their lawn and garden ready for winter before the first major frost hits. Are you in the same boat? Here's what you need to do:

Water. Before the ground freezes, hydrate foundation plants as well as newly planted trees and shrubs so they're not damaged by a lack of moisture by the time spring rolls around.

Control leaves. Large piles of wet leaves can smother your lawn, block sunlight and air, and cause nasty diseases—but certainly you don't want them to go to waste. Rake them and add them to your compost pile or shred them and use them as mulch.

Cut the grass. Continue mowing your lawn until you see no growth for two weeks. Keep it the same height it was during the growing season (if you've got warm-season grasses, increase mower height by a half inch). Leaving grass too long encourages snow mold; leaving it too short can also cause damage.

Care for annuals and perennials. Now's the time to remove spent annuals—if you've already had a frost, yours are likely done for. As for your perennials, clear your garden bed of debris and mulch them after your first hard freeze, since mulch retains heat and moisture. Learn more about preparing perennials for winter here.

Aerate your lawn to promote healthy root growth.

Fill in bare patches in your lawn with patch and fill-in seeding.

Take terra-cotta planters indoors—winter's constant freeze-thaw cycles can cause them to crack.

Sharpen and clean lawn and garden tools.

For more tips on getting your yard into shape before the first frost, check out this MSN Real Estate Article.

Until tomorrow,
The Home Know-it-All

Comments

[Cool Garden Things]

Excellent advice. I also try to turn off the spigot in my house to prevent the water spigots from freezing.
GartenGrl

[SEO Los Angeles]

Great tips. Thanks for sharing these.