5 Steps to Prepare Your Yard for Winter

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Cleaning up and preparing for winter can be a fun family activity. Here are five quick ways to winterize your yard.

1- Turn off and drain sprinklers.

Depending on your sprinkler system and area the protocol for turning off your sprinklers may be different than ours. We simply turn off our yard water, then turn the levers to the off positions and then open the drain valve (one in each box). Finally, we unplug the sprinkler computer panel. Some systems require that the water is blown out of the pipes. Google or read your sprinkler manual if you are unsure what your system requires for winterization. This is very important to do before the weather dips below freezing many consecutive nights in a row.

2- Rake up all of your leaves and debris.

I’ve really needed a wheel barrow to gather weeds, pinecones, etc. from our lawn.

When I went to Home Depot, I found this awesome Newell Rubbermaid® Roughneck™ Wheeled Refuse Trash Can that holds 32 gallons.

We raked up a ton of pine cones and needles. By just pushing the leaves, pine cones, and pine needles down, we fit a ton more in it than I thought we would! You can use black plastic bags—or not to streamline the raking and picking up process. Personally I think that lining the can with trash bags makes it easier to bag debris.

The best thing about this easy-to-use Newell Rubbermaid® Roughneck™ Wheeled Refuse Trash Can (in my opinion) is that there is no transferring from a wheel barrow to a bag and then into the trash, you simply throw weeds, pine cones, leaves, etc. into the garbage-bag-lined-can and wheel it around the yard! Plus the lid clicks on nicely.

3- Fertilize your yard.

It is important to add fertilization to your yard in the fall time. This add nutrients to grass and soil and also helps combat weeds. Weeds should be treated because they often reproduce in the fall.

4- Aerate the lawn.

Aerating adds oxygen to your soil and helps rain get down to the roots of the grass. Aeration is especially important if your lawn has been walked on often during the previous season.

5- If you have kids, wash down and store all of the children’s toys inside.

Our backyard is full of toys we play with during the summer. I have a hose with the spray nozzle that I plan on using to spray the toys down outside with. I’ll throw them on our D.I.Y. In-Ground Trampoline to dry and then come and collect the the toys I want in a black bag with my trusty and easy-to-use Newell Rubbermaid® Roughneck™ Wheeled Refuse Trash Can. I’ll pull out the bag of toys and store them in the garage.

After doing these 5 steps you can relax and let the frost and snow come knowing you’ve winterized your yard!