Monday, November 8

Pros offer tips on getting yard ready for winter

By Adam Graham

The Detroit News

After the splendor of autumn colors has passed, many parts of the nation have to winterize the yard and garden.

It involves a fair amount of work, from raking what remains of leaves to preparing the lawn and garden for the cold months ahead to swapping the lawnmower for the snow thrower.

Here are a variety of tips from lawn care to water shutoff to help make the work outdoors a little easier.

Leaf raking

Some people choose to rake their leaves, some choose to use a leaf blower. Between the two, it's a matter of personal preference, says landscape tool sales and marketing manager Don Else. Else does note, however, that when raking, you're also pulling loose thatch out of your grass, killing two birds with one stone.

But the important thing is simply to do it, whichever method you choose. ``Some people want to leave (the leaves) until the spring so they can do it once, rather than doing a fall cleanup and having to get the spring's leaves up again, but that's a mistake,'' landscaper Ted Kraus says. Leaving leaves on the lawn over the winter produces an effect similar to leaving a piece of wood on the lawn in summer.

``Come spring when you clean the leaves up, you're going to have yellow grass or patches of yellow underneath,'' he says.

Oak leaves cause the most damage when left on the ground. They have a higher fiber content than maple leaves, which tend to shrivel up and turn powdery, Kraus says. Oaks fall later than maple leaves.

Dan Bywalec, president of a Detroit area landscaping company, says the best thing to do with those leaves is to mulch them - many lawnmowers now come equipped with a mulching feature - and then spread that mulch on shrub or garden beds. The nutrients will help enrich the soil.

Check with your city about regulations regarding leaf disposal.

Prepare lawn for winter

Mowing: If you've already put away your lawnmower for the season, get it back out. You're not finished.

Even up north, you should continue mowing through mid- to late November. Lawns are still growing, slowly but surely, until then.

The danger with leaving grass too long going into winter is snow. Snow can bend the grass and fold over on itself, killing the grass underneath. This process is called snow mold.

To avoid that, cut the grass shorter than usual for its last cut of the season.

Aerating: Bywalec says aerate the lawn before the ground freezes. Aerating - essentially pulling up plugs of lawn - breaks down the thatch layer and offers the added benefit of reducing soil compaction, which frequently occurs when kids spend the summer playing on the lawn. Also, it opens up channels within the soil so water and fertilizer can get in and gases that have been accumulating can get out.

Cut up the plugs plucked from the ground with your lawnmower.

Landscaper Christopher Cieslak, says aerating does more good for the lawn than raking because it gets further into the ground than raking.

Fertilizing: After the final mowing is a good time to fertilize your lawn.

``The application of fertilizer you'll be putting down in late fall is one of the most important applications of the year,'' Bywalec says. The fall application carries your lawn through winter and into spring.

Fertilizers come with three numbers printed on them. Look for a fertilizer that contains a high level of nitrogen and low level of phosphate - the first two numbers - and a mid-range third number. Bywalec recommends a 22-3-14.

Watering: Keep watering the lawn. September was dry in many parts of the country, so ``a lot of lawns took a beating,'' Kraus says. Keep watering the lawn until the first or second hard frost. Even though it's getting cold outside and the lawn's growth has slowed, it still needs water.

Killing weeds: ``Whatever weeds you do not control and eliminate in the fall will be there next spring,'' says Bywalec, and you'll see their offspring, too.

A liquid broadleaf weed control - or a granular formula, applied when the lawn is wet - should do the trick.

From mower to thrower

The snow thrower has been waiting to be called up since March, so give it a test run. Make sure it starts up, see that it's working - before the first snow falls.

Spencer Lyons, owner of a True Value Hardware store, suggests checking or replacing a snow thrower's sparkplug, and making sure its oil levels are correct.

Before putting your lawnmower away for the season:

- Empty the lawnmower's gas tank. If you don't want to do that, Else recommends pouring gas stabilizer into the gas tank. Then turn on the engine and let it run out of gas. Pull the starter cord until it reaches the point of maximum resistance, then release and let the cord recoil. This sets the engine on its compression stroke where both valves are closed and the cylinder chamber is best sealed from the elements.

- Remove the lawnmower's spark plug and spray the area with engine fogger to keep moisture or rust from building up.

- Remove the mower's battery.

- Get your hands on a power washer and give your lawnmower a good once-over.

``You're going to want to get all that grass that's accumulated underneath the lawnmower and wash it all off, because when the grass starts decomposing, it will start to deteriorate and eat through the metal,'' Bywalec says.

- Take your mower into a shop now and have its oil changed and blade sharpened so you're a step ahead of everybody else who, all at once, get the bright idea to do those things come spring.

Spring bulbs

Before planting daffodils or tulips for spring, Else recommends waiting until a consistent frost is on the ground - late November or even early December. Besides, waiting until then will keep chipmunks and squirrels from digging up the bulbs.

Else recommends using amended, or enriched, soil and says after that, it's fairly simple.

``Plant 4 to 6 inches deep with the bud pointing up, and you're all set,'' he says.

Clean the gutters

Clean gutters early and often, says Larry Janes, owner of a window- and gutter-cleaning service.

``Your best bet is to keep them as free and clear as possible,'' Janes says. Otherwise, you risk the formation of ice dams come winter. Ice dams form when melting snow and ice back up under the roof's shingles, which leads to roof and ceiling damage and possible water leakage inside the house.

Clean them two or three times before the snow sets in and temperatures dip below freezing.

``Once they get clogged up, they'll freeze right up,'' Janes says.

Think of your gutters like drains and don't let those drains get clogged. Lyons advises using an extension tool to flush out gutters.

Turn off water outdoors

Turn off the water to your outdoor spigots before temperatures dip below freezing. After doing so, go outside and check all those spigots to make sure they have no water built up. If you have an outdoor sprinkler system, shut it off around the same time. Also remember to drain garden hoses.