Fall Yard Cleanup Checklist: Preparing Your Landscape for an Ontario Winter

Winter Is Coming for Your Yard

Every spring we walk properties in Oakville, Burlington and the surrounding area and see the same damage: grey circles of snow mold, dead grass under matted leaves, cedars browned by wind, and a cracked pipe on the irrigation system. Almost all of it traces back to fall jobs that got skipped. The good news? Fall cleanup is simple when you do it in the right order. In our climate the whole list fits between late August and mid November, and none of the steps take more than an afternoon.

Your Checklist, in the Right Order

1. Aerate and overseed, late August to mid September. Warm soil and cool nights make this the best seeding window of the year. Core aeration first, seed right after.
2. Keep mowing until growth stops. Make the final cut 5 to 6 cm, usually late October or early November. Grass left long mats down and invites snow mold. Grass cut too short goes into winter stressed.
3. Deal with the leaves. Mulch light layers right into the lawn with your mower. Rake and remove thick mats, because a wet leaf blanket can smother grass in 2 to 3 weeks.
4. Cut back perennials, but not all of them. Cut hostas and peonies to the ground to limit disease. Leave coneflowers and ornamental grasses standing for winter interest and for the birds.
5. Drain hoses and irrigation. Disconnect hoses and blow out the irrigation lines before a hard freeze, normally by the end of October. A cracked backflow preventer costs $300 or more to replace.
6. Protect young trees and shrubs. Burlap screens for young cedars, spiral guards against rabbits and voles, and 5 to 8 cm of mulch kept off the trunk. Water evergreens deeply until the ground freezes.
7. Feed the lawn one last time. Apply fall fertilizer in late October, after top growth stops but while roots are still active. Landscape Ontario notes that late fall feeding builds roots and gives you an earlier green up in spring.

What Happens If You Skip It

Nothing dramatic in November. The bill arrives in April. Matted leaves leave dead patches that need reseeding or new sod at $1.50 to $3 per square foot. Voles tunnel under long grass all winter and carve highways across the lawn. One rabbit can girdle and kill a $300 young tree in a single cold week. And a burst irrigation line means digging before the season even starts. An afternoon of prevention beats a spring of repairs.

Which Jobs Are Worth Hiring Out

Raking is free, and most homeowners handle the perennials themselves. These are the jobs our customers hand off:

• Core aeration: $100 to $200. The rental machine weighs more than most people want to wrestle.
• Irrigation blowout: $80 to $150. It needs a proper compressor, and a mistake is expensive.
• Full cleanup with hauling: $200 to $600 for a typical lot, done in hours instead of weekends.

Fall is also a smart season to put new roots in the ground. If you are adding plants this year, see our guide on when to plant trees and shrubs in Ontario.

Book Your Fall Cleanup Before the Rush

Our seasonal maintenance crews book up fast once the leaves turn. Request a free estimate now, or price the work with our online cost calculator. For the full year round routine, keep our seasonal landscaping tips handy.