Looking after your property in Calgary comes with a whole heap of responsibilities, but also with a lot of satisfaction. There’s something beautiful about watching the seasons change across your grounds and knowing that your hard work and effort has made it look that good. However, each season comes with a list of property maintenance Calgary homeowners need to complete to keep their property in pristine condition.
Winter Property Maintenance in Calgary
It makes sense to start with winter property maintenance projects as it always feels like the longest season. However, there are relatively few projects to be done due to the snow and ice covering your property:
- Snow removal – this is the most important job in your winter yard, but also the hardest. A good tip is to clean little and often instead of waiting for the whole storm to finish. This stops the snow from freezing and building up into heavy snowbanks.
- Walkway cleanup – no matter where you live in Calgary, you’ll have some sort of walkway outside your home and leading from your driveway to your front door. It’s essential that you keep these clear of snow and ice for safety, and it’s also a good neighbourly thing to do.
- Roof clearing – another big job for your winter to do list is to clear the snow and ice off the roof. If you don’t get round to it, the snow can quickly freeze and become heavy which can lead to permanent damage. It also then takes longer to melt in the spring leaving you dealing with snow runoff for longer than necessary.
Spring Property Maintenance in Calgary
There’s a real sense of joy across Calgary when the final snowstorms finish and the temperatures start to rise. Spring is the time to work on landscaping in Calgary as there’s a sweet spot between the snowpack melting and your plants and shrubs starting to grow. Simple spring landscaping projects include:
- Make raised beds – whether you’re short on time or space, raised beds are the best way to get some more growing areas in your yard. Not only are they easier to maintain that a regular garden bed as you can control the height and quality of the soil that goes in, but if you raise them up high enough, you can reduce the amount of bending and weeding you need to do in summer.
- Trim your hedges – while most of your garden will have frozen over during winter, your shrubs and hedges are the quickest to rebound in spring. Trimming them back will make your yard look cleaner and more organised, and it will also promote healthy growth throughout the year.
- Mulching – covering your bare soil with some sort of mulch is the best way to ensure good growth in spring. Mulch can be organic material such as straw or for aesthetic purposes, like colored wood shavings.
Summer Property Maintenance in Calgary
You have to find the right balance between yard work and relaxing in your yard over the summer months. It’s also the season where you have more jobs to do around your yard, but they should be more ongoing, shorter maintenance jobs rather than big projects:
- Pet waste removal – if you’ve got pets, or your yard is the neighbourhood toilet, removing all the old pet waste is an essential spring cleanup. Dog poop, even dried and dehydrated, has many toxins that are poisonous to humans. It’s also great food for rodents, so if you don’t pick it up in a timely manner, you’ll quickly find yourself overrun by rats and mice.
- Lawncare – when it comes to lawncare, Calgary residents have a challenge on their hands. On the one hand, you need to water it frequently enough to keep it green, but you also run the risk of the big summer storms ruining the topsoil. Take professional advice about an appropriate watering schedule throughout the summer.
- Planting and weeding – your summer months will be a great time to get fall blooming flowers ready. Make sure your garden beds are cleared out of weeds so that there’s space for growth, and consider the height and spread of your new plants so that they don’t block each other.
Fall Property Maintenance in Calgary
Fall property maintenance projects in Calgary are all about preparing your garden for the onset of winter. The weather is cooler in the evenings and the days get shorter quickly, so make sure you plan out these tasks to get them done before the snow comes:
- Fall cleanup – a simple fall cleanup will consist mainly of clearing out the leaves that will decay and block new grass growth in the spring. You’ll also want to keep on top of pet waste and fallen debris so that you give your garden the best possible start when the snow finally clears.
- Late season pruning – while most of your trees and shrubs will benefit from pruning in the spring before new growth comes in, there are plenty of varieties that should be cut back just before the last frost to conserve energy over winter. This will also reduce your spring preparation work.
- Clear the beds – finally, you’ll want to clear any loose mulch from your garden beds as well as taking out any annual or dead plants. This is to give your soil a chance to capture snowmelt throughout the winter and to avoid any toxins or bacteria entering your soil.
Getting Professional Help
It’s clear to see that when it comes to property maintenance, Calgary homeowners face a year round list of tasks and chores. For some people with plenty of time and effort, this is part of the deal of owning property in the city, but for many people, it can quickly become a time suck and a source of resentment. This is when you need to get Scoop Cut N Shovel’s expert help. Our team of property maintenance experts will work with you to create a feasible and affordable year round plan so you can enjoy your yard in every season.