Wondering What To Do With Your Greater Victoria Landscaping This Fall?
We specialize in getting your lawns, gardens and landscaping ready for the cold wet, winter.
As the leaves on the trees throughout the Saanich Peninsula begin to turn color we know the summer growing season is coming to an end. The warmth of summer is soon to be replaced by the cold wet sting of our West Coast winter.
The leaves all fall to the ground (leaving a mess to cleanup) the perennials in your gardens die back and your lawn and garden lose that vibrant, lush color they had all spring and summer. Just because nothing appears to be growing doesn’t mean that you should give up on lawn and landscape maintenance. But what do you do…?
Many home and property owners in the Greater Victoria area are left in the dark as to what they should to prepare their lawn and landscaping for these months.
Island Pro Mowing and Landscaping Inc. is a full service lawn care and landscaping contractor based on the Saanich Peninsula. With more than 15 years experience landscaping residential and commercial properties on the Peninsula and within Greater Victoria we’ve learned a thing or two about maintaining lawns and landscaping through the winter.
This article is a collection of tips you can implement yourself, without the help of a professional. If you don’t have the time but want your lawn and landscaping to be healthy and ready for another several months of wet, cold weather then give Island Pro Mowing and Landscaping a call today 250-812-4676. We’d be happy to provide you with an estimate.
Fall and Winter Lawn Care and Landscaping Checklist Greater Victoria
There are a variety of tasks almost every property owner in Greater Victoria will have to complete and then other tasks might vary from property to property dependant on many different factors such as the types of trees and shrubs on your property, plant species, location and more.
#1. Dealing With All Of The Leaves
Did you know the city of Victoria hauls away more than 7000 tons of leaves and organic debris annually! That’s a lot of leaves that are then turned into compost, which then continues to fertilize many of Victoria’s most beautiful lawns and gardens.
One of the most important projects for winter is to clean up all the leaves that have fallen on your lawn or in your garden. Not only does it look unsightly but it can actually affect the health of your grass and your garden plants. Many people think the leaves bio-degrade and in-turn begin to fertilize your lawn. This is true to an extent…
What they also do is become a breeding ground for harmful bacteria and fungi that can infect your plants, trees and flowers. Have you ever walked into an old growth forest? You won’t see much green grass growing underneath the tree cover (where all the leaves fall) but you will find plenty of moss, algae and other slow growing but destructive organisms. This is not really the same conditions most of us want for the lawns and gardens on our property.
What Do You Do With All The Leaves?
First off, if you haven’t hired a professional you’ll want to go to Canadian Tire or another hardware store and pick yourself up a gas powered leaf blower or rent one. A leaf blower will save you hours of time over using rakes and is far less damaging and disruptive to any ground or bedding plants you need to rake around.
On a dry sunny September or October day the leaves can be blown into piles quite easily and then bagged up for the city or hauled away by your landscaper. Your lawn and gardens will immediately look much cleaner and well cared for.
All municipalities in the Greater Victoria area offer some type of leaf collection services but you need to check their website for the schedule, a missed pick up could result in a $40 (it varies from municipality to municipality) pickup fee.
#2. Cutting Back and Maintaining Your Perennials
Perennial plants make up a large portion of most landscaped properties throughout the Greater Victoria area. A perennial plant is one that withers and dies back for the winter but can bloom once again the following spring. Rhododendrons are a very common perennial in Victoria landscapes to give you one example.
What Do You Do With With Your Perennials?
After you’ve clearly identified what is and what isn’t a perennial you can begin cutting them all down and removing all their leaves and organic matter from the surface of your soil. It’s also a good idea to spread mulch of some type to protect and insulate the soil throughout the winter.
After you’ve cut back and removed the perennials you’ll have a much cleared view of the lawn and landscaping and will be able to complete any pruning touch ups that might be required on surrounding trees or shrubs.
#3. Apply Mulch To Your Gardens and Flowerbeds
In the cold wet winter months you might like to warm up with an extra layer of blankets. Your garden and flower beds are no different. Mulch to your garden is like a warm blanket to you on a cold winter day. A good mulch provides insulation for your soil and the root systems of plants against the cold bite of winter frosts.
In addition to providing a layer of insulation against the cold a good mulch can also feed and nurture your soil for the next season, not all mulches are created equal in this regard though. Mulches made from pine needles for example can be quite acidic and not a very good choice for your garden because it alters the PH of the soil. Fish mulches and leaf mulches from organic composting are much better choices.
#4. What To Do With Your Lawn
Keeping grass healthy through the fall and winter isn’t all that difficult but if you want to have a lawn like that couple down the street has (it’s lush and green all the time!) then you’ll need to put some time and care into your lawn and winter is no exception.
- Keep your lawn aerated. The soil needs oxygen and your grass roots thrive on it.
- Fertilize your lawn with fertilizers high in P (phosphorous).
- Apply lime to alter your soil PH unfavorable for moss to grow.
Who Provides Fall/Winter Lawn Care and Landscaping Maintenance?
Island Pro Mowing and Landscaping Inc. is a full service lawn care and landscaping contractor based on the Saanich Peninsula. We specialize in helping home and property owners get their lawns, gardens and landscaping ready for winter.
If you’d like to receive an estimate to have your lawn and landscaping professionally cleaned up and winterized then give us a call or fill out our email form and someone will get right back to you.
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