Your Outdoor Winter Home Maintenance Checklist

The winter season is still not quite upon us, but preparing our homes for the upcoming cold front goes beyond our indoor home comfort – your back and front yards also need to be prepared for the dramatic drop in temperature that’s soon to come. To help you winterize the outside of your home, we’ve put together an outdoor winter home maintenance checklist that will help you make way for a healthy environment in the spring.

Ensure Outdoor Faucets are OFF

If the pipes are not drained and turned off for the season, they can freeze and burst when the ice within them starts to expand. Disconnect the hoses from the pipe and make sure everything is drained before you turn your faucets off.

Wrap Up Cedars & Other Plants That Need Protection

Use burlap to wrap up your cedars to prevent them from drying out in the sun and wind all winter. You can also wrap up the stems or trunks of young plants or trees with wire (or special product you can buy from your local garden store) to protect them from animals.

Clean Gutters Thoroughly

Leaves are still all over the place this month and can clog up your gutters and force water to back up against your home. This can damage roofing, cause leaks in your home and ruin wood trim. It can also flood both inside and around the outside of your home, forcing lots of pricey repairs you shouldn’t need to make!

Mow Your Lawn

It has definitely been unseasonably warm this late-fall, but you need to stay on top of maintaining a proper height of grass in your lawn, despite the fact that it’s nearly winter. If your grass is too long when the snowfall starts, it’s likely to develop snow mold in the spring when the snow melts. Snow mold is a type of fungus and turf disease that will severely damage or even kill your grass, so it’s best to avoid the chances of allowing it to develop.

Stow Your Lawn Mower Properly

Leftover fuel in your motor can force the engine to decompose amongst other issues, which can lead to serious problems when you start it up again in the spring. Make sure you check your mower’s manual for information on how to stow it properly – whether its topping up your gas tank with stabilizer and fuel, or running your mower’s nearly empty tank to use up the last of the fuel.

Everyone’s backyard is different: If you have roses, they need to be tended to and covered up for the winter, and if you have an irrigation system, it needs to be drained to prevent freezing up like your faucets.

Here at Hometurf Lawn Care, we are experts in outdoor yard maintenance and care. Follow these outdoor winter home maintenance tips and ensure everything that needs a hand before the cold weather is properly taken care of.

Contact us for more information or with any questions on outdoor winter home maintenance and how to keep your yard safe and sound this season.