August 27, 2019

If you own or run a commercial property, you’ll want to hire a professional landscaping service before winter hits for a fall clean-up. During the fall season, the leaves begin dropping and the weather takes a turn for the worse, which means your landscape will begin experiencing more wear and tear than usual. A fall clean-up will not only help to preserve your commercial landscape, thereby allowing you to maintain your property’s curb appeal (which is important if you want to keep attracting customers), but also help you prepare your landscape for the harsh weather of winter.

Professional landscape services cleaning up leaves in Autumn.1. Remove Dead Leaves

Since leaves begin to die during the fall, they will begin to litter your property as they fall off your trees. This can make your landscape look messy unless you have them cleaned up. You’ll want to leave some dead leaves on your landscape as they can leave organic matter that will improve your soil’s health. However, you’ll want to make sure all dead leaves are removed by the time winter hits. Remaining leaves can suffocate the turf once it begins snowing, which can result in dead spots once spring arrives.

In addition to removing dead leaves from your landscape, you’ll also want to make sure all leaves are removed from the drains on your property. Leaves left in your drainage gates and inlet or outlet pipes can cause blockages and even flood as a result of melting snow and moisture buildup that happens in the winter.

2. Cut Back Grass

You don’t want your grass to get too long during any season as this can make your property look unkempt. You’ll also want to prune back your grass since it goes dormant during the winter. By pruning your grass, you’ll help protect it against the freeze and thaw of winter. It will also prevent your grass from breaking under its own weight (and the added weight of any snow that might fall during the winter).

Close up of someone pruning shrubs.3. Prune Plants and Trees

Dead or dying branches should be removed from your plants and trees. However, you need to limit how much you prune your plants and trees since some of their growth can help protect them during the winter. As such, it’s better to leave your pruning to landscape professionals.

4. Fertilize Landscape

One of the problems that landscapes tend to experience during the late fall is the germination of weed seeds, which will result in the growth of weeds during the spring. A professional landscaping service will apply granular preemergent fertilizer to your landscape to prevent the germination of weed seeds. Following winter, they will apply another preemergent product to ensure the prevention of weed growth.

5. Protect Vulnerable Plants

Ann Arbor winters can be quite rough once temperatures begin to drop. Some of your plants may be vulnerable to cold weather and could be more susceptible to winter burn. During a fall clean-up, a professional landscape service will spray specific oils and anti-desiccants onto your more vulnerable plants. This will help them to retain moisture during the winter and make them more resistant to colder temperatures. Some of your more sensitive bushes may need to be burlapped as well.

By hiring a professional landscape service to perform a fall clean-up on your commercial property, you’ll help to maintain your property’s curb appeal throughout fall while preparing your landscape to make it through winter without experiencing too much wear and tear. To schedule a fall clean-up for your commercial property, reach out to us at Twin Oaks Landscape today.