Home And Garden Tips and Info

The days are growing shorter, the temperatures are going down and the trees are beginning to dress in a colorful array.  Yep, autumn is on the way!  The busy yard care season is winding down. However, just because autumn is knocking on the door and landscape design ideas season is over, yard care season is not over yet.  There are still things to do.  Proper maintenance is just as important in the autumn and includes more than just raking leaves.  


What would you say is the most often overlooked chore while getting your lawn and garden plans ready for winter?  Believe it or not, it  bringing in the garden hoses.  Where winter temperatures drop real low, garden hoses can be severely damaged.  However, this is not near as serious a problem as what can occur if you keep the hose attached to the faucet during the cold months.  When garden hoses remain attached to the faucets in cold weather, there is the possibility it can cause your water pipes to freeze.  Not a good thing!  So, disconnect all hoses and bring them in for the winter, then turn off the outside water supply.  

Okay, you have the hoses inside and out of the way.  Now, grab the rakes and let  take care of the leaves.  How long can you wait prior to raking?  It  best not to allow leaves to remain on the landscaping and lawn for more than three or four days.  However, in some cases, that may be too long.  Answer these questions - How thick is the layer of leaves?  Has it rained since the leaves fell?  If there is a large quantity of leaves on the ground, or if there is a small quantity but there has been a good bit of rain, then you need to clean them up very soon.  Otherwise, the weight of the leaves can smother your grass.  

Is there a particular way to rake leaves?  Actually, there is if you want to protect the health of your lawn.  Besides removing pine needles and leaves, there is also thatch to consider.  Thatch is composed of dead grass tissue which has accumulated between the grass blades and the soil  surface.  If your lawn is not  dethatched on a regular basis, it can provide an environment for disease and pests which can damage your lawn.  As you rake your lawn, be sure to rake deeply enough to remove as much of the thatch as possible.  Also, liquid dethatchers are available from your local gardening center.  These products contain enzymes which will break down the thatch and turn it into nutritious food for your lawn.  

Another autumn task is putting the lawn mower to bed for the winter.  Your mower has worked hard for you all season to help keep your lawn looking good.  Be good to it at the end of the mowing season and it will be ready to work for you again in the spring.  Here is a list of tasks you should perform before putting it away for the winter:

- Begin by draining out all the oil from the engine and replace it with clean fresh oil.  Over the season, the old oil has accumulated acids and moisture.  Left in place, this can grind on bearings and other engine parts.
 
- After the oil is changed, stabilize the fuel.  Adding stabilizer to the fuel will keep the fuel from oxidizing, as well as forming gum and varnish that can clog the fuel lines, injectors and the filter.  After the stabilizer is added, run the mower for a few minutes to circulate the stabilizer.
 
- The air filter is next.  If you mower  filter is foam, it can be washed in soap and water for reuse.  Paper air filters need to be replaced with new ones.

- Check the belts.  Tight lose belts and replace worn or cracked ones.
 
- Lubricate according to the instructions in your owner  manual.  

With these tasks out of the way, it is now time to enjoy beauty of the autumn season with family and friends, knowing that when spring rolls around again, you’ll be ready to go.

Tags: winter gardening | winter gardening | lawn maintenance | lawn maintenance | landscape design | landscape design | fall gardening | fall gardening | garden design | garden design | landscaping | landscaping

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This entry was posted on Friday, October 10th, 2008 at 3:31 pm and is filed under Yardcare. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.