If your landscape flourishes in spring and summer, it is because you take care of it in winter.
Tree Wrapping
Leaving your trees exposed to the elements can cause severe damage, weakening your trees’ health, leaving them susceptible to disease and deadly infestation. When your trees are young, have thin bark, or are arborvitae, they require a bit of extra attention to make it through severe cold weather. Exposure to such temperature fluctuations ends up damaging tree cells and can severely interrupt the phloem and xylem located beneath the bark.
Sunscald will likely lead to:
Sunken, discolored areas of bark
The formation of cankers in affected areas
Bark cracking or splitting
Gutter Cleaning
As a homeowner, you may have, sticks, and debris should be a top priority on your fall checklist (if it isn’t already). Keeping leaves out of gutters is crucial for protecting the structure of your home and preventing (sometimes) costly inconveniences in the future. There are several reasons why cleaning your gutters is important, and we have outlined five of them below.
Prevent water damage. When gutters and downspouts are blocked with leaves and debris, rainwater may not drain properly. As water overflows from gutters, it can cause water damage on both the interior and exterior of your home.
Protect your roof. Clogged gutters give rainwater nowhere to run. When water continues to flood over, it can leave rotten or a leaky roof in its wake.
Keep pests from causing trouble. Gutters clogged with leaves can make desirable homes for rodents, birds, and insects. The last thing you want is a pest infestation in your home!
Reduce the risk of a cracked foundation. When water is blocked from traveling away from your home, it can pool around the foundation of your house. This water can crack your foundation when it expands and freezes in the winter months.
Save you money. Gutter and downspout cleaning can help prevent unexpected and expensive projects down the road. Taking preventive measures now can help minimize the likelihood of having to repair or replace your roof.
Leaf Clean up
Leaf litter can be a great thing for wildlife in the right area. Some fallen leaves around bushes and undergrowth are great cover for insects and small mammals. So, it might help to leave any fallen leaves in these areas if you want a more natural garden. However, leaf litter on the lawn may bring in pests and disease and put the grass at risk. One issue to be aware of here is the risk of mold. Snow mold and brown patch can develop when giving the appropriate conditions in the decaying leaves. These diseases will then infect the grass and could make their way through the lawn. This could go on, undetected for a long time, which could then mean costly treatments for your damaged lawn in spring. Prevention is better than the cure, so make sure to remove leaves before the mold can settle in.
Winter leaf cleanup can allow the lawn to breathe and get more light.
A heavy layer of leaves on your lawn could become a dangerous shield between your grass and all the life-giving elements and nutrients it needs. Your lawn is tough, but it still needs light, air, water, and nutrients to survive. Leaf litter could prevent access to them all.
Water could collect on the leaves and not make it down to the root system, leading to dehydration. Precious sunlight for photosynthesis might not reach the leaves. This is particularly problematic. A heavy layer of leaves on your lawn could become a dangerous shield between your grass and all the life-giving elements and nutrients it needs. Your lawn is tough, but it still needs light, air, water, and nutrients to survive. Leaf litter could prevent access to them all.
Water could collect on the leaves and not make it down to the root system, leading to dehydration. Precious sunlight for photosynthesis might not reach the leaves. This is particularly problematic during the winter when sunlight may be scarce anyway. You might say that your lawn does not need so much care in the winter. But it will store energy from light during dormancy ready for the spring.
Why should you mulch in winter?
Keep soil in place in heavy rain
Keep nutrients in your soil
Balance soil temperature
Protect soil microbes
Protect garden worms
Stop plant root from freezing
Spread water more evenly through the soil
Prevent winter weed growth
Irrigation System Checks
Running your sprinklers during the winter keeps your irrigation system healthy by lubricating seals and diaphragms, moving stagnant water out of pipes, and blowing roots, dirt, and insects out of the system.
Keeping an active irrigation system over the winter also prevents:
Algae growing in stagnant pipe water, clogging sprinklers in the spring.
Roots growing into sprinklers.
Insects laying eggs in sprinklers.
Stuck valves.
Dried out and split valve diaphragms.
Dried and cracked sprinkler seals.
Dirt and dust in sprinklers.
Why Should You Continue Your Pest Control Service Through the Winter?
Pests living inside the walls of your home are not affected by the cold temperatures outdoors. Carpenter ants, cockroaches, earwigs, and many other insects can thrive indoors as the weather is always pleasant inside!
Attics provide shelter to other insects such as wasps and spiders, as they try to escape the cold. Mice can find their way into your home if all entry points are not sealed off. When a pest management professional performs a meticulous inspection of your home, inside and out, s/he ensures that no pest-related issues are present and identifies any conditions that might increase the risk of future pest problems.
Inspecting and/or treating entry points like doors, windows, and peepholes provide lasting protection and ready your home for the emergence of pests in spring. When a pest management professional removes spider webs, egg cases, wasp nests, and dirt dauber nests, s/he prevents pests from reemerging when the weather warms.
Remember, invasive pests want to be indoors during the winter for the same reasons you do! It is important to perform a comprehensive winter pest control treatment to ensure that your home is protected year-round.