Cleanups
Softscaping
Softscaping
Softscaping
Softscaping
Softscaping
Hardscaping
Softscaping
Hardscaping
December 2024
Fall Leaf Cleanup
Fall leaf cleanups are important to prepare your lawn for the winter months and provide it with the nutrients it needs to grow back strong and full in spring. A proper fall yard cleanup removes leaves from your yard, makes space for new growth in the spring, and rids your yard of dangerous pests and diseases.
Aeration and Seed
Aeration helps to reduce compaction, improve soil structure and aeration of the lawn for better water infiltration, nutrient uptake and fostering growth of beneficial microorganisms. Overseeding introduces new grass varieties that can better tolerate drought or disease than existing turfgrass species.
Plan around the Pollen
Even if you don’t need air conditioning yet, you might want to run the fan to filter out pollen. If you’re allergic and have must-do outdoor chores, tackle them when trigger plants aren’t at peak bloom. To check whether it’s a good time, consider signing up for emails or web access to local pollen counts from the National Allergy Bureau. Wearing a disposable respirator while working also helps.
Spring is Approaching
As the temperatures are low during winter, there may not be much to do to the lawn itself. However there are a few minor things you can do to help keep your lawn healthy during this time. As often as you can manage, during less wet days, walk the lawn and pick up debris that may have fallen during the last rainfall or windy event.
This is a good time to prune and remove dead stems off of plants while the plants are dormant.
Fall Cleanup Time is Here
As the final months of the year creep in and temperatures finally start to drop, leaves on trees and shrubs turn beautiful colors and drop to the ground.
However, those beautiful leaves don’t need to stay on your lawn. They’re nice to admire but may cause fungal problems or even suffocate your lawn, and you don’t want to deal with the aftermath in the spring.
Cooling temperatures slow aboveground growth, and moist soil encourages strong root development. Removing spent stems, dead branches, and heavy leaf cover protects plants' overall health.
Tips for Seasonal Lawn Care & Prepping for Next Season
A little work now results in healthier spring beds: Evict tired annuals, as well as the snails and slugs that feed on them, which breed in fall. Trim spent perennial foliage down to the ground; this sends energy to the roots, for next season.
Trim any dead branches and cut back overgrown trees and bushes during your fall clean up routine. If you have spring-blooming perennials like lilac or forsythia, now is the time to prune without risking blooms.
If your perennials really took off this year, go ahead and spread the love. Divide plants and add them to other beds where they will also do well. This saves money and time in the spring. Fall-blooming perennials like chrysanthemums shouldn’t be divided now—wait and divide them in the spring.