4 Easy Ways to Prepare Your Backyard for Winter
While it’s still warm prepare your backyard for the long winter to come with some of these helpful tips!
Winter. You know when it rolls around, you feel that slight change in the air, the cooler breeze making you shiver and add another layer, and pretty soon summer has signalled its exit and autumn is setting the tone for the end of the year.
Right now is the ideal time to get out into your yard, deal with all of the summer fun you’ve been having, and pack it all away so you’re not greeted with a hot mess come April and a massive clean-up job to get your yard ready to use again for the next summer.
Check out how you can prepare your yard for winter with ease to tick off your to-do list.
Clear The Leftovers
You want to start with anything that is dying, drooping, or beyond saving. Get rid of it now, before things get any worse. This is your old annuals, spent blooms, and tangled vines. They all need to go now. Pull up whatever you can and compost it; don’t just leave them to rot in place over the winter. Rake any leaves as well and give any pots or planters a good scrub when they’ve been emptied and store them upside down somewhere dry, especially ceramic ones, as water can freeze inside and crack the pots.
Protection Matters
Anything in your yard you want to keep and that cannot be stored somewhere away from the elements needs to be protected. Whether it’s via adding a layer of mulch to the roots of perennials or using a winter fleece to protect plants, get the protection where it’s needed sooner, not later.
Don’t forget any furniture you have that needs to stay out, too, ie, pool covers, furniture covers, etc. Get them out and cover whatever needs covering before the weather changes, so everything has the extra protection it needs to survive the cold weather.
Clean the Pool
Now is the perfect time to have your pool cleaned before you retire it for the year. In most places, pools are already being closed off due to dropping temperatures, but taking the time to scoop any bugs or leaves out or cleaning the water with a vacuum can be massively beneficial. You can hire pool cleaning services to give your pool a good, deep clean prior to it being closed off for the winter, so you know everything has been taken care of before you cover it. You’ll be grateful you did come next pool season.
Secure It All
Ideally, you want to be putting as much away as possible to protect it over the winter. But if that’s not possible, look at what might need securing during the colder months. For example, if you live in an area that experiences high winds through winter or massive amounts of snowfall, can you secure items in place by tying them down, attaching them to something else, or tethering them? If they have covers or protective layers over them, are these secure so they can withstand the winds and not blow against the house or cause damage to the neighboring properties? Take a minute to check everything is safe and secure, and nothing is at risk.
