Everyone has heard of Spring Cleaning. It’s a time where most people decide to do a deep clean of their homes at a time of natural renewal. While this is a common practice, a knowledgeable homeowner will understand there are other important times in the year to do a deep clean. One that primarily affects how well your property transitions from winter to spring, and how much effort you need to put into your Spring Cleaning, is the fall. More specifically, the time just before the transition from fall to winter. It’s always a good idea to clear out your yard before the snow starts to fall. Our Fall Cleanup services consist of a short mow, leaf removal, fruit cleanup, street and rain gutter clearing, and window well cleanup. Most of these services can seem self-explanatory as to why they are important, but they have several unspoken benefits that deserve to be clarified.
Short Mow
During the summer months, it’s important to let your grass grow long, somewhere around three inches. This is easily accomplished because summer is a season with more frequent rainfall and longer daylight hours, both of which increase grass growth. Longer grass provides more shade and insulation to the soil, which can help retain moisture and prevent soil erosion. Longer grass also tends to have deeper roots, which can help the grass withstand the hot and dry conditions of the summer. However, as the weather cools down and the hours of sunlight decrease, it becomes more of a burden for grass to maintain that length.
Our Fall Cleanup Service includes a short mow which will bring your grass down about half an inch to a more sustainable length. A shorter mow will help your grass conserve its energy as temperatures drop and be better prepared for dormancy once winter comes in full swing. Grass cut short before snowfall is also more resistant to snow mold and other pest activity in the Spring, giving you a stronger starting point for your lawn once the snow melts.
Leaf Removal
Leaves are a double-edged sword in the Fall. The changing of colors is dazzling and sets the mood for a cozy, crunchy walk through the neighborhood; but they get everywhere and get in everything which can cause problems for your property in the long-term. Leaving a layer of undisturbed leaves on your lawn is like draping a heavy wet quilt over your grass. This blanket will choke out your grass by preventing water evaporation and blocking direct sunlight which kills grass and promotes harmful mold growth. Aside from mold and rot, these conditions also create a welcome environment for all kinds of spiders, snakes, and other critters that like to make their homes in dark, rotting, humid places which can increase your risk of receiving potentially harmful bites as you navigate your property.
The effects of all these issues increase in severity once the leaves get covered after heavy snowfall. A thick layer of snow works like a heavier, even wetter, and much more insulating weighted blanket on top of your already suffocating lawn. Winters in Idaho have been irregularly long over the past few years. A layer of neglected fallen leaves covered by extended months of snow can spell disaster for your grass.
Our Fall Cleanup Service includes leaf removal where we gather all your leaves and clear them off your yard. Keeping your lawn clear of any leftover debris is a vital part of preparing your lawn for Spring.
Fruit Cleanup
Speaking of debris, fruiting trees and shrubs are often the next biggest contributors to lawn clutter in the fall. It may seem harmless to let fallen fruit sit on the grass and decompose, but cleaning up fallen fruit in the fall is important for several reasons.
- Removing fruit reduces the likelihood of pest infestations. Fallen fruit attracts pests like insects and rodents, which feed on the fruit. Pests will flock to this ripe food source which will lead to a higher number of eggs being laid in the surrounding area and pests finding their way into your home to find shelter for reproduction, culminating in a greater number of pests emerging on your property once spring comes around.
- Removing fallen fruit can help prevent the spread of diseases. Rotting fruit can harbor disease-causing pathogens, which can easily spread to other plants in the area, potentially causing severe damage.
- Removing leftover fruit reduces the chances of harmful microorganisms affecting your trees’ health. Leaving fallen fruit alone can create a breeding ground for opportunistic fungi and bacteria that are known to infect trees and nearby vegetation.
- Removing fruit makes your yard visually pleasing. A yard or garden littered with rotting fruit can be unsightly and can ruin the overall appearance of the area. It coats your walkways, stains cement when it gets crushed under feet, doesn’t smell great, and drapes the whole area in a sense of negligence to the passer-by. By cleaning up fallen fruit, you can keep your yard looking neat and tidy giving it a graceful transition into the winter.
Overall, cleaning up fallen fruit in the fall is an important part of maintaining a healthy yard, preventing pest infestations, and keeping your property looking at its best year-round.
Clear Street and Rain Gutters
Leaves do not discriminate when it comes to where they land. They fall on gardens, grass, and gutters alike. Most leaves are waterproof. This is a nice feature for the plant itself, but it can become a big issue when masses of leaves accumulate in your street and rain gutter after they’ve been raked off the lawn, blown off the roof, or washed away by the rain.
Cluttered street gutters create blockages that prevent proper drainage during times of heavy rain or snow. That lack of drainage in the street can lead to flooding and eventual water damage to your home and lawn. It also worsens surrounding water quality by creating pools of stagnant water (which is prime real estate for pests like mosquitos to breed) and increases the risk of water pollution from any chemical runoff from things like household cleaning agents or pesticides that are prevented from properly draining.
Clogged rain gutters cause similar issues but with different, sometimes more severe consequences. When gutters are clogged with leaves, debris, or other materials, water can overflow from the gutters and spill onto the roof, walls, and foundation of the building, leading to water damage and potential structural issues. Stagnant water along your roofline can attract several pests, leading to potential infestations in the building itself. When water overflows from clogged gutters, it can spill onto the roof and cause damage to the shingles, window trim, and the materials that line the roof’s underside. This can lead to costly repairs and even a potential roof replacement.
The Yard Butler’s Fall Cleaning Service will clear out your street gutters and the rain gutters around your house to ensure that your home has all the draining it needs to be completely protected from the elements, and so you can go into spring with a cleaner, more manageable snow thaw.
Window Well Cleanup
One of the most common features present in an East Idaho house is a basement. As a way to get natural light into these ground floors (and make residents feel less buried), many homes have window wells. These openings are great for giving basements a more open and welcoming feel, but they are a hassle to clean particularly in the spring and fall.
A window well filled with leaves, twigs, and all manner of debris that comes with nature’s preparation for the winter months, can breed many of the same issues that we’ve already discussed if left alone: pests, water damage, disease, mold, and negative appearance. Only this time it’s worse because all these issues ferment in deep holes incrementally spread around your home’s foundation. It goes without saying that this would greatly increase your risk of dealing with difficult property damage, harmful microorganisms, and unwanted intruders, as well as block out natural light that is so vital for a basement.
Cleaning out your window wells can be cumbersome and even hazardous. There’s no telling what might be hiding in that mystery pile below. That is why to complete our list of services included in our Fall Cleanup, we offer window well cleanup. Let us take care of it so you can have confidence in a safe and clean home down to the literal foundation.
Conclusion
Spring Cleaning can be a huge endeavor and an intimidating task when you consider all that should be done inside and out. Without the proper preparation, the work load grows only heavier. In order to facilitate the process, you need to take every preventative step possible before winter rears its ugly head. You need a Fall Cleanup. Save all the time, stress, and effort of doing it yourself and call The Yard Butler for a free estimate on the services you need for your Fall Cleanup today!