There is no denying it, autumn has arrived and it is time to start preparing for winter. With warm weather expected this weekend, now is the perfect time to prepare your property for the long, snowy months ahead (don't get too sad, Calgary is a great place to live in the wintertime! But more on that later). We're going to miss green grass and leaves, but the autumn colors are beautiful--so lets protect them.
Winter can wreak havoc on your lawn if you do not prepare it properly. What your lawn needs most in the wintertime is Potassium so it can stay strong, just like us. Today's Homeowner writes, "Potassium is a very important nutrient in overall plant health. It works at the cellular level to strengthen and harden plants from top to bottom, making them more tolerant of cold and stress. Potassium also helps a plant absorb other nutrients, making it an important component of balanced feeding for your lawn."
Before you sprinkle fertilizer all over your lawn, make sure you have mowed the grass one final time and raked all the leaves so that the fertilizer has an easier time absorbing into the soil. We also recommend winterizing lawn tools like lawnmowers and weed-whackers. Put them somewhere they will stay dry and hidden from critters.
Plants and trees also need to be winterized, and fall is the perfect time to do this. HGTV notes, "the reason that fall fertilizing is so effective is because plants respond to external triggers in fall to start the process of preparing for winter. These triggers are things like daylength and temperature changes. As days shorten and air becomes cool, plants respond by slowing growth and shifting food reserves from leaves to roots. Although air temperature continues to fall, plant roots remain active in soil. This is true of many different kinds of plants, including grass. Shifting excess nutrients to roots is the secret to plants’ return each spring. Those stored food reserves fuel the spring wake-up."
Harvest the last of your veggies and flowers; it's time to winterize. Make sure to also put stakes in the ground surrounding any tree beds or garden areas so that in the wintertime you don't accidently shovel away the soil that is protecting your precious greenery.
Do you feel like a botanist now? We sure do! Go enjoy the sunshine and the golden leaves
Posted by Ken Richter on
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