Green Fall Cleanup Tips
After a somewhat washed out summer (in Ontario at least) it’s time to start thinking about winter and getting things in order for when the snow flies. So what can you do around the house and yard to get things ship-shape for spring?
Reduce watering
Hopefully you’ve been a conscientious water consumer over the summer months but with cooler temperatures on the way and plenty of dew in the morning, watering can be reduced even further or dropped altogether.
Get Physical
That leaf blower is not exactly the greenest solution to your leaf problem. Hang it up and get busy with the rake. You’ll not only have a nice clean lawn but a better health as well. And don’t even think about a lawn vacuum.
Compost your Leaves
After raking, consider composting them if you can. It’s likely that you’ll have a great big pile of perfect composting material on hand after you’re done raking.
Save Some Leaves
Got a vegetable garden? Skip the expensive soils and composts on the market in the spring and save some of those leaves. You can till them into your garden bed and enrich the soil. Bonus points if you turn the leaves into the soil with a pitchfork instead of a power tiller. And adding a little manure at this point. Leaves can decompose slowly but if you do this every year, you’ll get some nice rich soil that in the end.
Get Biodegradable
Still have too many leaves? Use biodegradable bags instead of plastic ones.
Send Leaves to the Compost Facility
Skip the dump if you have the chance and send your leaves in for composting.
Start Researching Next Year’s Garden Now
Are there any improvements you can make to next year’s garden? Maybe make it more environmentally friendly than ever? You may want to go with some native plants and shrubs to cut down on watering and reduce maintenance. Or maybe you could get rid of your lawn entirely and replace it with a rock garden. You could also consider xeriscaping your yard to reduce water consumption.
Consider a Vegetable Garden
Rock gardens or xeriscaping not your thing? Maybe a vegetable garden would put some of that lawn to good use. 100 mile diet? Try the 3 metre diet.
posted by: Steve | posted on: 09 09 2008 | categories: