How To Manage Your Property For The Winter
Before winter hits, there are a few things you should do to prepare your yard. While it might be tempting to ignore your yard for the entire winter, you have to perform regular maintenance. Otherwise, you’ll end up with serious issues in your yard that might take a long time to repair.
Prior to Winter
Rake and Mow Leaves
You should always rake leaves from the yard before they’re covered by snow. Heavy, wet leaves can cause the grass to suffocate. When there are only a few leaves, you could mow them into smaller pieces, which can be used by the yard for extra nutrients through the winter.
Put Furniture and Toys Up for the Winter
Before the first snowfall, you should remove all the outdoor furniture and kid’s toys. The snow will cause the items to become heavy, which will put pressure on the lawn. By the time the snow melts, you’ll have a permanent indent in the grass as well as dead spots.
Clean Gutters
You might wonder how cleaning your gutters will protect your yard in the winter. During the winter, snow will fall as well as melt. A clogged gutter will cause water to fall into the yard in places that aren’t prepared for that much standing water. It’ll ruin the grass, shrubs or plants that are bombarded with melting snow.
Prevent Damage
In order to prevent damage to soft shrubs and small trees that might not be able to take the weight of the snow, you should tie them into a cone shape. Snow will be deflected to the sides, and the branches won’t get weighted down with heavy snow.
The First Snowfall
Snow Removal
For the most part, snow is a great insulator. It’ll protect your shrubs, plants and grass, and when it melts, it provides the yard with plenty of water. Heavy snow can become a problem especially if it’s snow cover that is made from snow removal in other parts of the yard. When you remove snow from your driveway, you want to be incredibly careful about where the snow is thrown. Much of the damage caused by snow is done by snow that’s been displaced from somewhere else. It becomes dense and takes longer to melt.
Ice and Snow on Shrubs
While it might be tempting to remove ice from shrubs, you shouldn’t because it could break the branches. If there’s a light dusting of snow, you can remove it with a broom. Sweep upward to avoid putting pressure on bent branches. Every few inches should be removed before it accumulates.
Salt and Your Yard
When you use salt on your driveway, it runs off into the yard. It can cause serious damage to grass or plants that have been exposed, and as soon as the snow is gone, you should run water over them. It’s better to use sand on the driveway to remove ice.
Long before the first snowfall, you can prevent much of the damage that the snow and cold climate can cause to your yard. Throughout the winter, you’ll have to decide whether it’s worth trying to remove snow from the shrubs and plants in your yard or wait until winter is over. As soon as the snow melts, you can assess the damage and often fix it before it becomes a serious issue too.
Tulsa Property Managers is a Jenks property management company offering professional property and real estate management, consulting and sales services throughout the Jenks and Broken Arrow, Oklahoma area.