Some people take great care to winterize their landscape, because they know that if they don’t, their trees and bushes might not look right– or live– come Springtime.
Winter brings with it a host of challenges for landscaping. Besides the cold temperature, there’s ice, snow, wind, and even salt to deal with. It’s a tough season for any yard to take!
What are some ways you can winterize your landscaping? With evergreens, consider making a barrier of burlap to cover the windward side(s) of your trees and bushes. Leave the top open for light and air penetration. If you have new shrubs or trees in your yard, mulch them with about six inches of wood chips around the base. If possible, water your landscaping before the ground freezes for the season. Should you see any open spaces/cracks in the soil whereas roots are slightly exposed to the elements, fill those areas in with soil.
To protect against snow and ice damage, consider wrapping small trees up in cloth, carpeting or even nylon stockings to give them protection and support for the winter. For bigger trees, consider having a professional from Big Foot Tree Service cable together main branches, if needed, especially if you’re worried about a storm messing with an already less-than-stable tree in your yard.
What about pests? In the winter mice, rodents, rabbits and deer can mess with your landscaping. Deer, in particular, like to rub their antlers on trees, damaging them. So, find ways to put up barriers around trees and bushes that you don’t want animals bothering this winter. For example, you could add a cylinder of ¼-inch mesh hardware cloth around the trunk of a tree. The cylinder, ideally, would go about three inches below the ground line and about two feet above the snow line in order to protect the tree from pests. Plastic tree guards as well as chicken wire fences can also help keep pests away from your landscaping. Some people use store-bought pest repellents to make their landscaping taste or smell undesirable to critters. Regarding deer, a combination of repellent and fencing around landscaping seem to deter them.
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