While Calgary fully deserves its title as the sunniest city in Canada, summer seems to be over before you’ve really had time to enjoy it fully. The sunny days continue throughout the fall months and with the official turn of the season, it’s time to think about your annual fall maintenance projects for your property. Somewhat surprisingly, fall is a critical time in your yard as you need to take care of business for the summer and prepare everything for the inevitable snowpack that will be here before you know it.
Start With a Fall Clean Up
The first step that you need to do is to create a to do list for a fall cleanup. This will involve clearing your garden beds and lawn so that they are free of organic matter that will break down and stop sunlight and water from getting to your soil towards the end of fall. The following are important tasks that should form the backbone of your fall cleanup:
- Deal with the leaf problem – the biggest problem your garden faces in fall is the sheer volume of leaves that will fall or get blown onto your property. Left unattended, leaves get wet and matted quickly, blocking the pores in your soil and making it hard for your grass and plants to get much needed nutrients before the winter dormancy. While you’ll take care of most of the leaves in your big fall pick up, you’ll need a plan to stay on top of the leaf problem until the trees are bare.
- Pick up the debris – with the leaves taken care of, the next fall clean up job is to take care of fallen branches that come down with the famous Calgary breeze. While these don’t decompose as quickly as the leaves, they do block sunlight from coming in and prevent any growth underneath them due to their weight. You can store them to dry them out for a campfire, or make them into wood chips for your own homemade mulch.
- Collect thatched matter – thatch is a killer when it comes to fall lawn care in Calgary. This garden annoyance happens when grass clippings and leaves get wet and matted before you have time to pick them up, and then get squashed into the soil by feet, animals and your lawn mower. Left unattended, thatch can block water from draining into your soil and cause low scale flooding in your lawn. Picking it up is a simple matter of running a hard rake across your yard and then collecting the thatch that gets broken up.
Garden Bed Fall Maintenance
Once you’ve taken care of the big picture fall maintenance work, you need to look after your garden beds, especially the bushes, trees and perennials that need some help surviving the long Calgary winter.
One Last Watering
As the weather gets colder, the soil becomes more compact and less able to receive water at the root depth. Fall is the ideal time for fertilizing your bushes and trees with a long, deep watering session. This extended watering will allow the fertilizer to drain deep down to the roots, giving your plants winter-long nourishment and setting them up for a solid growing season once the snowpack has gone.
Prune and Trim
While the exact timing of pruning will change for each of your bushes and trees, fall tends to be a good time to remove dead branches at the junction, and trim back any damaged or decaying ends. Pruning helps your plants to avoid unnecessary energy expenditure, as well as providing more room for healthy branches in the spring.
Mulch, Mulch, Mulch
As you’ll already know, Calgary’s seasons create fantastic growing conditions, which means that any bare or exposed soil is just waiting for some sort of weed to take root and slowly take over your garden bed. Mulch is your best friend here as it gives your soil coverage and protection from weeds, as well as slowing down the water drainage from heavy storms and quick snow melt. You can mulch for decoration using colored woodchips, or use organic material which will decompose over time and release further nutrients into your soil.
Getting Professional Help
If you’re an avid gardener with no other time commitments, the above makes for a fun to-do list to take care of during the fall weekends and evenings. However, if you’ve got this far and you’re already dreading the necessary work to prepare your garden for Calgary’s winter months, then it’s time to get some professional help. Scoop Cut N Shovel has a team of garden experts who will work with you to accomplish your fall maintenance goals. We provide a range of services through the fall season, from a one time fall clean up to a multi-session work party to get your whole garden ready for a safe winter and a productive spring.
Bundle To Save More
Scoop Cut N Shovel’s packages already represent excellent value, especially when you factor the amount of time, effort and planning that you save by getting professionals to take care of business for you. You can save even more money when you bundle your fall clean up subscription with one (or more!) of our property maintenance packages.
Whether you want us to come and clear the snow and ice from your driveway and walkways all winter long, pick up your dog poop on a weekly basis, or take care of lawn during the summer months, we have a subscription service that will need your needs. All our packages are created in conjunction with you so you’ll always get the right level of service for your property.
Our best value deal is our year long property maintenance package. This gives you access to all of our services all year long. It will feel like a great weight off your shoulders knowing that someone has a clear vision for your garden and grounds throughout each season, keeping everything looking great for you and your family.