It’s here! The cool, crisp air, the stunning color show of trees, kids dressed in costumes, pumpkin everything… and while fall typically makes people turn their attention away from landscape maintenance, there are 5 essential landscaping services to prepare for winter in Lincolnshire and Glencoe, IL, areas that will ensure your landscape emerges healthy and looking its best come the warmer days of spring.
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Hardscape and Deck Maintenance
You’ve spent a lot of fun times on your patio or deck. Fall is the ideal time to give your hard surfaces a good cleaning to remove any fallen leaves, dirt, or other debris that could trap water. Trapped water will lead to mold and mildew growth; and it can also wreak havoc on your wood or paver surfaces during the freeze-thaw cycles of winter.
After cleaning, inspect the jointing sand and reapply as needed. Replace broken pavers or stones. Seal any cracks or, if it’s beyond repair, replace asphalt or poured concrete surfaces.
Water infiltration will quickly degrade your patio, deck, pool surround, walkway, and driveway. No material - whether it’s natural stone, poured concrete, concrete pavers, asphalt, wood, or composite - is completely impervious to Mother Nature’s might. One of the easiest and most effective ways to extend the lifespan of your outdoor living areas is to scrub or power-wash them, and if necessary, apply sealant while the days are still warm enough for the sealant to soak in nice and deep.
Damage Control and Planning Ahead
This time of the year, your landscape’s challenges are still fresh in your mind. Any areas of the landscape that were more work than they should have been, or areas that are just not thriving, now is the time to reassess and fix them. Was your summer plagued with drainage issues? Are these areas in need of a makeover, with plants perfectly suited to that spot? Is it time to replace a section of struggling lawn with sod, or replace that part of the lawn with hardy native plants? Do you have trees or shrubs that are constantly plagued with pests or disease?
The point of planning is to remove these obstacles to a beautiful and low-maintenance landscape now - before the busy spring season is upon you.
Gutter Cleaning
Clean out your gutters once the leaves have dropped, to prevent water damage to your home and surrounding landscaping.
Plant Care
After a hot, dry summer, your trees, shrubs, lawn, and plant beds may be stressed, which makes them less resistant to weather, pests, and disease. Feed your entire landscape with a slow-release fertilizer that will replace depleted nutrients. Water the landscape deeply throughout the fall to help plants retain moisture beneath the frozen surface soil.
Prune or remove any dead, rotten, broken, or diseased limbs or entire trees or shrubs if necessary since weakened plants won’t be strong enough to support the extra weight of ice and snow.
Trim boxwoods and other hedges now, to shape them and divert energy to the root systems. Clean up planting beds, cutting away spent sections of perennials and planting bulbs for next spring’s flower show.
Refresh the mulch in your plant beds to insulate plants over the winter, ensure that roots retain moisture, and add nutrients to the soil.
Weed and Pest Control
Weeds and pests never sleep. Give yourself a head start with weed and pest management in fall to take care of late-germinating weeds and any pests that have survived earlier control methods.
Related: A Lawn Service Checklist For The Fall In Lake Forest And Glenview IL Areas
