Why You Should Always Winterize Your Landscape

Welcome to Ontario, where in the blink of an eye the season will change from fall to winter! Ontarians are all too familiar with the up and down weather that is always to be expected, which is why being prepared is essential to your success. This ranges from putting snow tires on your vehicle to breaking out the winter gear, all the way to preparing your landscape for the snow.

To ensure that your lawn and landscape make it through another harsh Ontario winter, it’s important that you effectively winterize. In this article, we’re going to take a closer look at the importance of winterization, what you’ll need and how to do it.

The Importance of Landscape Winterization

Just think of all the hard work that you put in over the last year to make your landscape picture-perfect. From fertilizing and mowing the lawn, to adding those finishing touches like outdoor lighting, water features or even a brand-new walkway or patio area. Now after all that hard work to ensure that your property is the best that it can be, why let it all go to waste by not properly winterizing it?

During the winter in Ontario, temperatures can drop to as low as -35° C or lower. Combine these below-freezing temperatures with pounds of snow, sleet and ice, it’s a wonder how your landscape could ever make it through the season without a scratch. This is why it’s so important that you go above and beyond to protect your landscape from the elements with proper winterization.

Proper winterization will help to ensure that:

• Your lawn and gardens survive the harsh conditions
• No landscape features are damaged
• Your money spent landscaping doesn’t go to waste
• Residents and guests are safe while outside

Ready to winterize your landscape? Read on to find out what you’ll need.

What You’ll Need

• Lawn fertilizer
• Rake
• Leaf bags
• Grass seed
• Lawnmower
• Gardening gloves
• Water hose
• Enriched soil
• An aerator or dethatching rake

Simple Steps to Winterizing

Step 1: Prepare the Soil

• Rake your lawn to remove leaves and then place them in a leaf bag. Use your lawnmower to mow some of the leftover leaves at least four to five times to create a leaf mulch, so that the leaves are shredded into pieces that are small enough to settle between the blades of grass. This leaf mulch can help to provide your grass with additional nutrients.
• Use a dethatching rake or aerator to aerate your lawn.
• Spread a thin layer of enriched soil over your lawn if it is particularly thin.

Step 2: Seeding

• Choose the correct seed for your lawn depending on the unique needs.
• Cut your grass a little shorter than usual the day before you plan to seed.
• Fill your spreader with grass seed and seed your lawn based on the instructions found on the bag of seed or what your local landscape store advises.

Step 3: Feed, Water & Fertilize

• Water your lawn daily to ensure that the new seeds germinate and that the top inch of soil remains moist.
• Feed your seeds right away with a winter care lawn fertilizer. This will help to ensure that your existing lawn and new seeds are provided with enough nutrients to make it through the winter season.
• Continue cutting and watering your lawn until the ground freezes.

Legends Landscape Supply in Burlington

Did you find the information in this article helpful? For more information about caring for your landscape, visit our blog or contact our team of experts at Legends Landscape Supply in Burlington today. We have a wide selection of lawn fertilizer, mulches and soil for sale at our showroom and our experts are more than happy to assist.