Fall in Iowa is such a beautiful time of the year with all the vibrant-colored leaves adorning trees. However, this season is also when yard maintenance should not be neglected. There are fall maintenance tasks that you can do to ensure your yard is in a good place before winter arrives. Removing leaves and other debris from your lawn in the fall is crucial to ensure your grass and plants can access the resources they need to grow strong and healthy so they can make it through the winter. You'll also want to trim your shrubs to spruce up their appearance and get them in pristine shape! To get effective results, make sure you do your fall maintenance tasks between mid-October and the end of November. This way, your lawn and landscape plants have enough time to bolster their health before snow arrives and they enter dormancy.

Removing leaves and other debris will benefit your yard's health and curb appeal.

Leaves and debris are notorious troublemakers on your lawn and landscape. They can smother your grass and landscape plants by inhibiting their access to the water and sunlight they need to stay healthy. By removing clutter from your lawn and landscape, your yard can absorb the resources that benefit their health and vigor. What's more, it will promote good airflow to keep moisture from getting trapped and creating an ideal environment for pests and diseases to thrive. It's highly crucial to help your grass and plants absorb vital resources and protect them from stressors so they are in their best health as they enter the winter season.

Removing leaves and debris from your lawn during the fall will also give the curb appeal of your property a boost! Accumulated leaves and piles of debris can make your yard look messy and unkempt, but being diligent with cleaning them up will keep your yard looking pristine and manicured.

A lawn and landscape that enter the winter season in great shape are more likely to emerge in the spring healthy.

Trimming your shrubs will keep them looking well-maintained.

Before the winter sets in, you'll want to give your shrubs a nice haircut by trimming them. The leaves and branches of your shrubs can get overgrown and look messy, so a nice, good trim will restore their well-maintenance looks. What's more, trimming them will allow more air to enter the interior parts of the plant, encouraging healthier and lusher growth. Getting your shrubs to their best shape before winter helps ensure their survival and allows them to emerge in the spring looking great!

When should you do fall maintenance?

Fall maintenance should be accomplished at the right time to ensure optimal results. Doing it too early might give leaves and debris some leeway to fall and accumulate again, causing health problems for your grass and plants right before winter. For maximum efficiency, it's best to do fall maintenance before snow arrives. You'll want your grass and plants to have good access to the resources they need to grow stronger before winter fully sets in so they can get through dormancy. A good window of opportunity to perform fall maintenance tasks is sometime between mid-October and the end of November.

Call us today to sign up for our fall cleanup service!

Our team at ETCH Outdoor Living offers a top-notch fall cleanup service to commercial and residential properties, as well as HOAs, in Ankeny, Johnston, Urbandale, IA, and surrounding communities. This service includes leaf and debris removal, as well as shrub trimming, to get your yard in tip-top condition before winter! Give us a call today at (515) 654-5447 to sign up for our fall cleanup service.