Winterizing Your Landscape with Late-Fall Prep Work

As the last leaves fall, it's obvious that winter is upon us. Before it gets too cold, you must prepare your landscape for the coming season. Winterizing your property will not only protect your turf and plants from harsh weather, but it will also make your job easier in the spring. Proper winterizing will give you a clean slate on which to plant new flowers and shrubs.

Start with the Basics

You don’t want to begin your winterization process too early, warns Justin Carver, grounds maintenance manager for Maxwell Landscape Service Inc., in Chesapeake, Virginia. Instead of going by a date, Carver says, use the falling leaves as a guide. When the leaves consistently fall and plants start to brown, it's time to begin winterizing. He suggests starting with some basics.

“Bring in any patio plants that are in pots,” Carver said. “Next, anything that you’ll be leaving outside, wrap in burlap. That’s a good way to protect those plants from harsh winter weather.”

Jereme Pohill, construction manager for Designs by Sundown of Englewood, Colorado, says burlap is relatively inexpensive and may even be purchased with stakes attached, making it very easy to set up.

“If you have any plantings along a walkway that will get salted, make sure they’re protected,” he added. "Salt can kill your plants."

Late fall is also a good time to do some general cleanup. Get any broken branches off the ground or out of beds. Remove all fallen leaves before the first snowfall.

“Leaves block the sunlight from getting to the ground, and since many people reseed in the fall, you may wind up killing some of that new grass,” Carver warned. “Leaving a lot of leaves on the turf over the winter can also lead to snow mold. The leaves create incubation between the snow and the turf and mold begins to grow.”

Carver also recommends checking mulch levels before winter arrives.

“Mulch in the winter time does a couple of things, including putting a buffer between the cold air and the plants, acting like insulation and protecting them from frost,” he said. “It also helps retain moisture, and that’s something that’s still very important in the winter. A long and dry winter can be just as damaging as a hot summer.”

Pohill notes that many people forget about the importance of watering in winter.

“That’s a big problem in our region, where we often have long dry periods,” he said. “The health of the plants depends on being watered.”

Pest Problems

Although you may not feel particularly threatened by fuzzy creatures like mice and other rodents, such creatures do wreak havoc during winter. Like humans, they’re looking to stay warm, and your plant beds might look like the perfect residence. If they're nesting up against your home, they may even find ways inside.

“Something to keep in mind is that the deer mouse can vector Hantavirus,” said Andrea Slonecker, marketing and communications director for Senske Lawn & Tree Care Inc., which is based in Kennewick, Washington. Hantavirus, a life-threatening disease, can be spread by rodents to humans. That makes it important to keep rodents away from your house. Toward that objective, Justin Carver, grounds maintenance manager of Chesapeake, Virginia-based Maxwell Landscape Service Inc., cautions against the excessive use of mulch.

“Too much mulch can welcome rodents like field mice into your beds,” Carver said. “They burrow in and make a den in the mulch. I’d recommend only using about 2 inches.”

Carver also advises picking up loose sticks. Getting branches and leaves out of your flower beds will discourage rodents from seeing them as a cozy home. Stick removal can also help prevent insect problems.

Finally, do a thorough walk-around on your property and look for any holes that mice or other rodents could use as entry points. Plug holes with steel wool. Mice will gnaw through wood or rubber.

A Few Final Steps

Homeowners living in areas where temperatures drop below freezing must winterize their sprinkler systems. Andrea Slonecker, director of marketing and communications for Kennewick, Washington-headquartered Senske Lawn & Tree Care Inc., said winterizing is very important because water expands when it freezes.

“If you have water left in your irrigation system when it freezes, the expansion can crack and break pipes or valves," she said. "It’s also recommended that homeowners forgo do-it-yourself sprinkler blow-outs and use a professional company who can guarantee their services. If it’s not done properly, and damage happens, you’re going to end up paying more later.”

If you have a property that will be plowed or frequently shoveled, you may also want to consider doing some snow markings that indicate where your beds and plantings are located. This will protect the hardscaping elements and plants from unintended damage caused by snow removal.

“An easy way to do markings for snow removal is to get reflectors from a store like Home Depot or Lowes,” Pohill suggested. “They’re not too expensive and they don’t look terrible to have in your landscape all winter.”

Slonecker also recommends that you check your trees and shrubs for late-season mites and other pests in late fall. They can become problematic over winter.

“It’s also a good time to fertilize your trees and shrubs as well as help them recover from heat and other stresses from the warmer months to help them resist winter damage,” she said.

Even a few small efforts to winterize can go a long way toward getting your yard ready for the coming spring. Carver says that getting beds ready for spring planting also means pulling out dying summer annuals. They could grow a fungus as they die.

“If you’re not going to plant anything else, rake out the bed and have it ready to go for the spring,” he said. “It will make things a lot more stress-free when the time comes to plant again.”