RI Landscaper 855RILAWNS

Landscaper Serving Southern Rhode Island Since 2001

YOUR FALL TO-DO LIST

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Seasons change, whether we’re ready or not. Autumn is upon us and with it comes another list of things that you may want to take care of before winter brings its grip on the area.

IN YOUR HOME:

  • You may want to put on your storm windows and doors once the days are a bit cooler. Consider adding weather stripping and caulk to prevent drafts and help with those energy costs!
  • Did your pet tear up any of your screens? Now is the perfect time to bring them in to have them repaired. 
  • You might want to have a professional come check out your furnace. They can make sure your system is up and running and will check for any issues. At the very least, change the filter.
  • Do you have a crawl space with exposed pipes? Get down there and insulate them before they freeze (and you have a flood!). 
  • When it starts getting cooler, we’re not the only ones that want to be snug—make sure your attic is pest free by checking your vents. If you suspect you have a critter up there, call a professional.
  • Do you use a fireplace or wood stove? Now is the time to clean and inspect it. Do you need firewood? 855-RILAWNS has got you covered! Call us today for your free estimate.

FOR YOUR VEHICLE :

  • Change your wiper blades. Not sure what size to buy? Most auto parts stores have staff that can look it up for you. 
  • Check your tire pressure. If you have a car with one of those sensors, you may have noticed that it automatically goes off when the weather gets cold. If you have snow tires, now is the time to call your mechanic. Don’t wait till there’s snow in the forecast!
  • Fluids all set? Besides your windshield fluid, you should check your brake and antifreeze levels. If you’re not sure how to check them, call your mechanic (or check youtube!)
  • How is your battery? Are your lights dim or have you had any weird clicking sounds when you start your car?, You definitely want to have that checked!
  • Before it’s freezing out, check your heat (maybe on one of the cooler mornings?). If you notice a coolant leak, bring your vehicle to a professional ASAP.

FOR YOUR YARD:

  • Clear all debris from downspouts and all gutters after all leaves are down.
  • Rake all leaves from yard and dispose of properly. Don’t have an easy way to dispose of them? We offer a ‘rake and take service’ for you.
  • Don’t want to deal with those leaves at all? Call us today for your free estimate!

Winter Prep: Fall To Do List

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Remember feeling overwhelmed this past spring because it felt like there was so much to do? Clean out garden beds, bring in fresh soil, weed, plant, water, prune, edge, the list goes on and on. We have some great news for you: it doesn’t have to be that hard! We have compiled a to do list so that when spring comes next year, you’re not in the weeds (literally and figuratively). There are steps you can take now that will have your lawn and garden perfectly prepared to sustain and thrive over the winter so that in the spring your lawn looks great and the beds are all prepped and awaiting beautification.

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  1. Test your soil

Testing your soil now and adding any necessary amendments will ensure that once spring arrives the grass will have the nutrients it needs to grow thick and full. Give your grass a head start next spring by improving the soil now.

  2. Aerate

To encourage root development in the spring, aerate your lawn now so that it is able to absorb water and nutrients all winter creating healthy soil for spring growth.

  3. Remove fallen leaves

We’ve said it before but we’ll say it again, leaves left on your lawn invite disease, mold, and suffocate the lawn. Make sure they’re cleared before the snow arrives.


 

 

 


 

4. Clean up rotting plants from gardens

Like leaves, letting old plants rot in your garden beds not only looks bad but also invites disease, fungus, and pests. If you wait until spring to clean out the garden, then any pests that overwintered or laid eggs on those old plants will already have had the chance to infest your garden.

5. Weed

Removing weeds now will position you for much less work in the spring. Again, waiting until spring to weed will give the weeds a chance to thrive and will make your spring and summer job much harder. Especially important is to remove the invasive weeds that root deep… the ones that you can’t dig up without damaging surrounding plants in the summer.

 

 

6. Plant cover crops

This tip applies more to vegetable gardens and beds…Planting cover crops will not only help keep unwanted weeds down but it will also improve the soil. Cover crops add nitrogen, increase organic material in your soil, and help prevent erosion.

7. Mulch

Mulching in the fall or early winter is a huge time saver and benefit to your garden. Mulch helps to retain moisture, regulate soil temperature, improve the soil as it breaks down, will give new growth in early spring a buffer against the cold, and inhibits new weed growth. Your plants will thank you for the warm blanket in the spring.

8. Clean and sharpen tools, service small engines

To prevent spreading any diseases to your plants next season, clean all your tools now before putting them away. Have your lawn mower winterized and get your snow blower ready for the winter.


 

 

Sustainable Leaf Composting

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Ever wondered what happens to all those leaves we haul away? We at 855-RI-LAWNS are incredibly proud and happy to partner with Earth Care Farm to ensure that this organic material is used sustainably to produce compost. Earth Care Farm reroutes tons of leaves, wood chips, food scraps, and coffee grinds which would normally end up sitting in a landfill somewhere and turn it all into nutrient rich compost. It is this very compost that we use whenever we do soil amendments or lawn renovations! They are Rhode Island’s oldest operating farm composter and are a vital member in our community. The service they provide not only redirects items typically sent to a landfill but it also gives homeowners a better option than the pollution laden method of burning leaves. 

 

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We know it can be tempting to rake all those leaves into a heaping pile and burn them, but, while it might be fun for kids especially, it is not a sustainable solution to yard waste. Rather than returning the beneficial organic matter back to the earth in the form of nutrient rich compost, you release harmful toxins and pollution into the air. According to ecologist, Luke Curtis,

Burning a ton of leaves will produce about 117 pounds of carbon monoxide, 41 pounds of particulates (most of them smaller than 10 microns and easily absorbed in the lungs), and at least seven highly carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.

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The Washington State Department of Ecology notes that smoke from burning yard waste can be just as harmful as cigarette smoke. Yikes. Burning leaves was a fun pastime, but so was riding in the car without a seatbelt or a carseat. We know better now, so we owe it to our kids to do better.

Unfortunately, it’s also not as simple as letting all those leaves decompose on their own in your flower beds. We talked about this in a blog post a couple years back. Fallen leaves will hold up to five times their weight in water, rivaling even peat moss in water retention levels. Since they retain so much water, these leaves will increase acidity levels and can smother and promote fungal diseases in the lawn underneath. You could pile it all up in the backyard somewhere and wait for the magic to happen, but the resulting dirt will not be the black gold that Earth Care Farm produces.

 

They have been turning organic waste into compost since 1977! The process has been fine tuned over all those years and the resulting compost speaks for itself. The care they take in their process is evident and described here:

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All ingredients are mixed and turned in an aerobically-managed compost process on our farm. We compost the blended ingredients for approximately 1 year to ensure a well cured and finished product. The final production step is the screening of our finished compost to a particle size of 1/2″ or less.  The screened compost then cures an additional 6 months, resulting in a final product that is approximately 18 months old. 

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With such a meticulous and lengthy process, it’s easy to understand how leaves, food scraps, coffee grinds, animal manure, wood shavings, etc could become the fine, rich soil that it does. We know first hand the benefits that this compost provides when used on lawns and gardens. That’s why we use it in our lawn renovations, organic fertilization program, and whenever we amend soil. We are so lucky to have such a wonderful farm in our community and we are happy support them as a business, vital community members, and environmental stewards.