Fall leaves making a mess of your landscape?
Here in the Northwest we have one of the largest tree canopies of any mid-sized city in the nation. Portland boasts a 30% tree canopy covering our city. While this makes our air cleaner, our city more attractive and our fall colors absolutely gorgeous it also makes for one big mess come fall. If leaves are left unattended they clog the rain drains causing flooding, as well as causing dead lawns, clogged rain gutters, damaged roofs and slimy decks and walk-ways.
Though it's not always fun, and it will take more than once, it's advisable to rake or blow your leaves into piles for disposal. The City offers pick-up in some neighborhoods and everyone in the Portland area has a FREE lawn debris can. Additionally this is the time of year that you’ll want to cut back your perennials, as well as trimming your trees, shrubs and rose bushes. Fall is a great time to really see the branch structure of your trees and shrubs so they can be shaped and manicured to your tastes and the size of your landscape.
You’ll also want to aerate and thatch your lawn this time of year. Over seeding is best done during the fall as well. Make sure to finish up winterizing your lawn with a Fall fertilizer, this will ensure stronger, deeper roots for winter so that you’ll see a thicker, greener lawn next spring. Most of the winterizing fertilizers sold in our area will contain lime or another ph balancing chemical to help combat our acidic soils, however, the addition of lime to your fall lawn regimen is also a good idea.
The addition of mulch or bark dust to your bed areas is also a good idea in fall. Not only does it brighten your landscape but it offers protection from freezing for tender perennials and shrubs as well as deterring unwanted plant and weed growth.
Don’t forget to turn off your irrigation system for the winter as well as blowing out your system. This is an absolute must, to prevent costly winter freezing breakage and possible flooding. Lastly, turning off outside faucets and hose bibs from the inside of the home can help to prevent freezing of the pipes as well as unwanted winter usage of outdoor faucets. The installation of inexpensive bib covers, that can be purchased at any hardware store and even some grocery stores is a good idea to prevent freezing as well.
Now that your yard is winterized and the hatches are battened down it’s time to enjoy the blustery Northwest Winter and plan for your spring landscaping!