The winter season in Bucks County can be harsh, bringing freezing temperatures, heavy snow, and biting winds. While we bundle up indoors, our lawns are left to face the elements. Unfortunately, this can take a significant toll on your grass, plants, and soil, often leading to a lackluster, patchy, and weakened yard come springtime. This is why it’s wise to take a few essential steps now, during the fall, to protect your investment and ensure your landscape’s health in the months ahead.

Thankfully, the professionals at Di Sandro Landscape Group are here to guide you through every task of fall landscaping. Let’s get started preparing your lawn for winter right now!

Fall Landscaping Strategies for Preparing Your Yard for Winter

Getting your Bucks County yard ready for winter involves more than just raking leaves, mowing the grass one last time, and storing the patio furniture. It requires creating a full plan that addresses every part of your landscape. The good news is that our professionals have already created this plan for you.

Follow these fall landscaping strategies to prepare your yard for winter:

Start With a Thorough Fall Cleanup

Before winter sets in, it’s crucial to remove debris such as fallen leaves, twigs, and dead plants from your lawn. While colorful leaves may look charming, they can smother your lawn if left too long, trapping moisture and creating the perfect environment for mold, fungi, and pests. A comprehensive fall cleanup, therefore, keeps your property looking neat and allows sunlight and air to reach your grass.

This is also the perfect time to cut back perennials, trim shrubs, and clear out flower beds. Removing spent blooms and dead stems encourages healthier regrowth once spring arrives. For plants susceptible to damage from harsh winds or heavy snow, consider wrapping them in burlap or setting up protective frames.

Aerate the Soil to Keep Roots Healthy

After a long summer of the kids playing outside, hosting backyard barbecues, and setting up umbrellas and other lawn furniture to soak in the sun, the soil in your yard can become hard and compacted. This compaction squeezes the life out of your lawn by preventing air, water, and nutrients from reaching the grassroots. So, while getting your yard ready for the winter season, you should invest in fall aeration. Aerating the lawn helps create small holes throughout the turf to give the roots room to breathe, receive essential nutrients, and grow deeper.

For the best results, many homeowners choose to pair aeration with overseeding, which involves spreading new grass seed directly after aerating. The loosened soil provides an ideal environment for seeds to germinate, resulting in a thicker, healthier lawn come spring.

Be sure to choose grass seed that’s well-suited to Bucks County’s climate — typically cool-season grasses like fescue or ryegrass thrive here. Our team at Di Sandro Landscape Group can help you select the right seed mix for your specific yard.

Feed Your Lawn With Fall Fertilizer

Fertilization in the fall is one of the most important steps in preparing your lawn for winter. A nutrient-rich fertilizer provides your grass with the energy it needs to grow strong roots and store nutrients before going dormant. A fertilizer with higher potassium content should be used to help increase your lawn’s cold tolerance and disease resistance. With this fertilizer application, come springtime, you will have a greener, thicker lawn.

Mulch Your Garden Beds and Trees

As temperatures drop, mulch acts as an insulating blanket for your garden beds, trees, and shrubs. A fresh layer of mulch also helps retain soil moisture and prevents frost heaving (when roots are pushed up from the ground as the soil freezes and thaws). Aim for about two to three inches of mulch around the base of plants, but keep it a few inches away from the stems or trunks to prevent rot.

Water Your Lawn Once More Before the Freeze

It’s easy to overlook watering as fall temperatures cool, but your lawn still needs moisture until the ground freezes. Deep watering before winter helps your grass and plants stay hydrated during dormancy. Be sure to give your lawn a good soaking before shutting off outdoor faucets and draining irrigation systems to prevent frozen pipes.

Let Di Sandro Landscape Group Handle Your Fall Landscape To-Do List

We understand that properly preparing your landscape for a Bucks County winter can seem overwhelming. It’s a lot to add to an already busy fall schedule filled with back-to-school activities and holiday planning. Fortunately, you don’t have to do it all alone.

The team at Di Sandro Landscape Group is passionate about creating and maintaining beautiful, healthy landscapes and offers a comprehensive range of services designed to boost your yard’s health and appearance all year round. Our most popular fall lawn maintenance services include fall cleanup, aeration and overseeding, fertilization, and hydroseeding.

Fall Landscaping: Preparing Your Bucks County Yard for Winter