When you buy through our links, Insider may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more. Amazon With a plan and the right tools, preparing your yard for the winter doesn’t have to be a headache.
Completing these tasks can protect your plants and prepare your garden for the spring. Two professional landscapers explain the most important tasks for your fall cleanup to-do list. In a nutshell, fall yard cleanup entails preparing your yard, garden, and landscaping for the upcoming winter.
By ensuring that your property is squared away and protected from low temperatures and inclement weather, your plants will be primed for productive growth once spring rolls around. This project might seem intimidating, but there are products out there that make this project much easier to accomplish than you might think. In addition to calling upon my own personal experience as part of a landscaping crew, we also interviewed two professional landscapers to help assemble this list of tasks, as well as identify the best products to get the job done quickly and easily.
These experts are Douglas Dedrick, founder of Natural Landscape Designs, a Woodstock, NY-based professional lawn care and landscaping service, and David Angelov, master gardener and founder of Plant Parenthood, a Massachusetts-based garden design and maintenance company. Prepare for hungry deerAmazonAccording to Dedrick, “One of the fastest ways to have your landscaping destroyed in the winter is deer. ” As the temperature drops, hungry deer can munch away at your trees and shrubs, as well as rub their antlers on young trees, which can kill or scar them for life.
Dedrick explains that although liquid fence products are a great way to repel deer most of the time, “the ultimate solution is to put up deer fencing around your plants once your beds are prepared for the winter. ” To combat rubbing damage, Dedrick also recommends wrapping burlap or plastic around trees under 4-inches in diameter. What we recommend:Clean up fallen leaves and acornsAmazonRemoving accumulated leaves on your lawn is essential.
If left in place over the winter, they can become a heavy, wet barrier that promotes rot and prevents your grass from breathing properly. Fallen acorns can pose similar problems, and large quantities can hinder grass growth as well as result in unwanted seedlings. Dedrick adds that accumulated leaves at the edge of your house can not only attract rodents but can also draw moisture into your home.
According to Angelov, you can rake your leaves into garden beds, “creating a biosphere for animals and insects to live out the winter. ” He adds that this creates a layer of insulation on the ground, and “even a factor of a few degrees is enough to prevent the ground from freezing over. “Both experts recommended blowers for easy cleanup, and Dedrick recommends blowing them into a tarp, so you can drag them across the yard instead of trying to blow them the whole distance.
Acorns are notoriously difficult to rake or sweep up, and if you have a large quantity, we recommend using a wet-dry vac on a dry day. What we recommend:Prune dead tree branchesAmazon”Pruning dead branches saves you a headache in the winter so that they don’t fall on your property in the event of extreme weather or wind,” said Angelov. We’ve personally had great success using both manual pruning saws and electric chainsaws for quickly removing dead branches.
It’s important to note that only dead branches should be pruned in the fall, and pruning live branches during this time can potentially damage your plant. If you’re dealing with especially large branches or those near power lines, or you’re just not comfortable climbing a ladder, don’t hesitate to call a professional landscaper or arborist. What we recommend:Aerate, fertilize, and overseed your lawnAmazonDedrick explains that “aerating will decompact your soil, allowing nutrients to reach the roots of your lawn more easily.
” Once this step is complete, he then recommends overseeding your lawn, followed by fertilization with a nitrogen- and potassium-rich fertilizer. This process is a great way to effectively and efficiently introduce new seeds and fertilizer deep into your grass. This way, once winter passes, your lawn will have grown a rich, strong root system primed for upcoming spring growth.
We’ve had good experiences using either handheld or tow-behind aerators, but if your lawn is especially large, it might be worth the money to rent a gas-powered machine from your local hardware store. What we recommend:Apply a thick layer of mulchAnnie Otzen/Getty ImagesA healthy layer of mulch on your garden beds is an essential fall task and one that your garden plants will certainly appreciate. Dedrick explains that it “will help your plants stay a few degrees warmer in the winter months and protect them from getting too cold.
” He also warns not to pile mulch around the trunks of your shrubs or trees since this can end up killing the bark and, ultimately, the tree itself. To determine how much mulch you need, multiply the length and width of your garden bed to find the square footage. You can then use that number to work with a garden center or hardware store expert to figure out the ideal number of bags.
What we recommend:Clean out your guttersAmazonWhile maintaining clean gutters is necessary year-round, it’s especially important in the fall. Heavy rains can combine with fall leaves to create clogs, causing gutter overflow and increasing the chances of expensive water damage to your walls, siding, and foundation. Freezing temperatures can turn this trapped precipitation into ice, preventing melting snow from draining and causing roof damage.
We’ve used a variety of tools and techniques to clean out gutters, and if you’re not comfortable climbing a ladder, make sure to choose an option that allows you to stay safely on the ground. If you plan on using a pressure washer, make sure you’re able to properly adjust the nozzle. Too much pressure and you can damage the gutters themselves, causing an even bigger hassle.
What we recommend:Turn logs and tree limbs into firewoodAmazonIf you’re clearing any felled trees or large branches on your property, do yourself a favor and turn them into firewood. This isn’t exactly the easiest task and will require a decent amount of elbow grease, but you’ll be thanking yourself when you have a supply of fuel for your home fireplace. (It’s worth noting that firewood will need to season (dry out) for about 6 months, so you won’t be able to use it immediately.
)Although using a splitting axe or maul is a perfectly fine approach, it’s not the most efficient method, especially if you have a lot of wood to process. In my time as a landscaper at a large state park, we spent a significant amount of time splitting logs using a hydraulic splitter. These machines aren’t cheap, but they work extremely quickly and do most of the work for you.
What we recommend:Turn leaves into valuable mulchThe Home DepotIf you don’t feel like using a rake or blower to dispose of the leaves covering your yard, you can easily transform them into mulch with a lawn mower. By shredding leaves into tiny pieces — 3/4-inch is a good size — they won’t smother your yard like full leaves and still allow the airflow necessary to prevent fungal outbreaks. Plus, you won’t need to spend money on yard waste bags.
This leaf mulch can be left on the yard by simply removing the bagger from your mower, or leave it on if you want to transport that valuable mulch to a compost pile. Keep in mind that, depending on your mower, you might need to make several passes to cut your leaves down to size. What we recommend:Compost your yard wasteGeobinChances are, these cleanup tasks will yield a large amount of organic material, and composting is a great way to reduce waste and create a supply of nutrient-rich fertilizer for the spring.
Take those leaves, garden debris, fallen fruit, and grass clippings and toss them into a store-bought composter, or you can create your own with chicken wire or even an old trash can. It’s worth noting that depending on your climate, your composter won’t work as quickly as the warmer months, but once it warms up, it will be primed to start back up again. We’ve had great success using rotating composters that use a handle to easily aerate the contents, but you can also just use a pitchfork or shovel to achieve the same result with a stationary bin.
Unless you’re using a “hot composter” that can reach the high temperatures needed to kill harmful pathogens, don’t include any diseased plant material in your compost pile. What we recommend:Sharpen and store your tools properlyMelinda Black/Getty ImagesFall yard cleanup can extend to your garage and toolshed as well. Gather any gardening or yardwork tools that have been scattered around your property, and give them a good cleaning to remove dirt, sap, or other contaminants.
We also recommend sharpening any dull or dinged-up tool edges with a mill file and giving the moving mechanism of your hinged tools a few drops of machine oil to keep them working smoothly. Keeping your tools maintained and organized in the fall will not only prevent them from getting left out or damaged during the winter, but you’ll be thanking yourself in the spring when everything is where it should be. It will be easy to locate winter tools when you need them too, like snow shovels and ice pellets.
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