Fall Clean-Up Checklist for Your Yard

Get your property ready for winter with our easy fall clean-up guide!

Leaves are dropping and so is the temperature. Pretty soon snow will replace your green lawns and when that happens, we want to make sure you’re prepared! Long winter seasons can be hard on our homes, lawns, and gardens. Fortunately, a little extra work in the fall goes a long way come spring. Make sure your lawn is prepared for winter so that when spring comes, all you see is green.

Lawn

• Remove dead leaves from the lawn
  • Dead leaves on your lawn can kill the grass underneath, cause decay, become unwelcome homes to rodents and pests, or all of the above. For a lush green lawn in the spring, make sure to consistently remove the leaves from your lawn when they fall.
• Mow grass until early November
  • Most people stop mowing their lawn when the cold weather starts but ideally, lawns should be mowed until the grass stops growing. Usually, this occurs around early November in Minnesota.
• Seed bare spots
  • Fall is a great time to seed bare spots on your lawn. Typically, laying seed is recommended up until September but can be pushed out later for unseasonably warm falls.
• Aerate and dethatch
  • Aeration and dethatch services are great to get done in the fall! Aeration loosens compacted soils and provides extra air, water, and nutrients to your grasses’ root system. Dethatching removes the decaying layer of grass and debris on top of your soil and also helps make watering and fertilizing more effective. Too much thatch creates a diseased lawn so it’s important to remove it occasionally.
• Apply fertilizer and weed control
  • According to the University of Minnesota’s lawn care calendar, early August through mid-October is the best time to fertilize your lawn. Weed control is best to apply September through October.

Plants

• Move outdoor pots inside or cover them
  • Save your pots from cracking over the winter by covering them or bringing them inside for the winter!
• Plant spring bulbs and pull weeds
  • For better-looking lawns and garden beds, plant your spring bulbs now. Pulling weeds up until the snow hits will also save you time and effort later on. You’ll be thanking yourself in the spring when your weeds aren’t as thick!
• Clean up garden beds and remove annuals and perennials – add extra mulch to the garden beds
  • Decaying annuals in your garden beds cause the same issues that decaying leaves have on your lawn. When these plants get a wet, freeze, and thaw multiple times over the season, your garden beds are more likely to acquire mold, disease, or become the home to an unwanted pest. Any plants that are extra sensitive should have extra mulch added to them so they last through the winter.
• Cover shrubs, trees, and evergreens that require extra care
  • Young, thin-barked trees should be wrapped with commercial tree wrap to prevent sunscald on the trunk of the tree. Burlap can be used to wrap shrubs and evergreens to prevent winter burn.

Water & Irrigation

• Water newly planted shrubs, trees, and perennials until late fall
  • Like your lawn, your plants and trees need to be watered well into fall – especially newly planted plants! An easy rule of thumb to follow is to keep watering your plants until right before the ground freezes. In Minnesota, this usually means early November.
• Turn off outdoor water
  • Empty garden hoses of excess water before you store them for the winter and don’t forget to turn off the water to your outside water lines!
• Winterize sprinkler systems
  • Water left in your sprinkler systems expands as it freezes potentially damaging expensive parts to your irrigation system. Prevent unwanted damage by having a professional blow out your irrigation system so no water is left behind.

Home and Patio

• Clean gutters
  • We get it. It’s cold and the last thing you want to do is climb up a ladder to clean your gutters. But leaving debris and dirt in your gutters over the winter can actually cause more damage than you’d think. When water gets stuck and freezes and thaws over and over, ice dams and other damage can occur to your roofline and home. (Don’t forget that All Metro cleans gutters too!)
• Winterize lawnmowers and garden tools
  • For the dedicated property owner, we recommend cleaning your mower and removing the gas to store it for the winter. Garden tools should be lubricated and wiped clean before storing them for the winter so they don’t rust.
• Cover patio furniture or bring it inside
  • Keep your patio furniture looking good for the spring by covering your furniture or bringing under a covered area to protect it from the elements.

Want your yard cleaned up for the fall but don’t want to spend your time doing it yourself? Check out our fall services page or fill out this form for a free, no-hassle estimate!