Winter Prep
Many business owners choose to ignore landscaping through the winter months only to pick it up during the springtime. If you want your landscape to be as vital and robust as it was last year, you need to prep your landscape for winter.
Cut Perennials
As the temperatures drop and plants begin to die back, it’s important to cut back on the plant’s length. In particular, you should cut back the stems of perennials one to two inches off the ground. You may also want to add a light mulch such as straw, pine needles, or hay around the plants. You should also consider renewing the top few inches of mulch in your flowerbeds to protect the plants from hard freezes. This includes adding mulch around trees in an effort to discourage critters from digging in and feasting on the tree and flowerbeds.
Winterize Sprinklers
Like your pipes, you need to winterize your sprinklers too. Before the first freeze, you can use compressed air to remove water from your sprinkler system. If your system freezes with moisture inside, it could cause cracking and bursting, which will lead to major damage to both your sprinkler and piping system.
Trim and Maintain Trees
Some plants need to be pruned during their dormant season. When not pruned, some species can develop diseases. To prevent plants from dying, pruning overgrown plants and trees in the winter months will be extremely helpful.
In addition to trimming, you should consider fertilizing in the fall. When you fertilize, you increase the nutrient availability for root growth. When your trees and hedges have a productive root system, they will have fewer dead branches and look fuller and greener in the spring.
Aerate Soil
Before winter settles in, aerate your turf. If you allow your turf to breathe as the weather transitions to winter, your landscape will thrive better in the spring. The idea is to break up the compacted and dry soil to allow water and nutrients into the roots. To ensure green plants, hand water them during the dry months for faster growth when the frost melts. Once you aerate the soil, you can also oversee to fill in any noticeably bare areas with more soil.
At Diaz Group, we pride ourselves in being a leader in retail, industrial, and commercial grounds management. Contact us today to find out more about our landscape health and beautification services!
