Essential Fall Landscaping Maintenance Tips: Prepare Your Lawn and Garden for Winter in Pennsylvania
Landscaping maintenance pertains to areas such as your lawn, plants, soil, and mulch. Fall is a great time to focus on your landscaping and ensure you’re planning for spring while preparing for the winter. Here are a few tips to help you transition your landscaping for the colder Pennsylvania months.
Leaf Clean Up & Management
There are a few different ways to deal with falling leaves. You can rake them, collect them, and set them out for pick up, or you can utilize them to fertilize your plants. To use your leaves as fertilizer, start by raking them into a wide layer a few inches thick. Then mow over the pile of leaves a few times to break them down into smaller pieces. Collect the shredded leaves and spread them around your plants about 2 – 4 inches deep. Leave a few inches of space clear at the base of the plants to avoid causing damage.
Seed and Fertilize Your Lawn
Experiencing dead grass from the hot Pennsylvania summer we just experienced? Fall is the best time to repair your lawn from any damage caused in the summer months. Start by aerating your lawn to help the soil breathe. This will create stronger roots, increasing growth in the warmer months. If you’re experiencing areas of dead grass, seed these areas and fertilize regularly to replace dead grass. Not sure where to start? We put together a helpful guide to assist you with aerating and seeding your lawn here.
Prune Trees and Shrubs
Prevent damage to your trees and shrubs in the winter months by pruning and trimming in the fall. Remove dead limbs and overgrown branches to prevent damage from fallen limbs in the winter months. As snow and ice collect, limbs become heavier causing them to break, fall, and cause unexpected damage. If you need help with larger trees, our tree service division is here to help. Visit our services tab for more information.
Weed and Plant
Fall is a great time to plant. With cooler soil temperatures and additional rainfall, plants thrive in Pennsylvania fall weather. We recommend planting perennials this time of year to encourage root growth, allowing them to return in the spring season stronger than ever. It is also important to manage weeds in the fall. Weeds work harder in the fall to store important nutrients that can leave them emerging stronger in the spring. We recommend keeping up with weeds and using herbicide as necessary.
If this sounds like a lot of work, we’re here to help! We have seasonal maintenance packages available that handle these tasks, so you don’t have to worry about them. Visit our services tab for a list of our maintenance packages and landscaping services.
Sources:
https://www.monarchlandscape.com/blog/your-fall-checklist-for-commercial-landscaping
https://www.homedepot.com/c/ai/fall-landscaping-tips/9ba683603be9fa5395fab903862f134
