Winterizing Checklist To Maintain Your Home & Garden For the Future
Winter is coming.
Is your home and garden ready? Why is this a green topic?
Well, maintenance is a key action to make the most of resources that exist to ensure their continued use for their maximum lifetime. The need to fix or replace an item is a waste of resources you can avoid with regular maintenance.
Read on for our winterization checklist to make sure you’ve considered everything before the seasons change!
Winterize Meaning Explained
By definition, to winterize means to “adapt or prepare (something, especially a house or an automobile) for use in cold weather” Winterization is a useful action to take to help something endure the harsh cold season ahead.
Winterizing Your Green Space
As tempting as it may be to clean up, consider leaving your leaves, stems and plant stalks overwinter as ground cover.
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Many species of butterflies, moths and other insects need leaves, plant stalks, or dead branches for hibernation. By completely cleaning up our gardens, we can be removing important wintering habitats for native wildlife.
Plus, fallen leaves act as mulch for gardens, trees, and other shrubbery. This helps the soil retain moisture and adds nutrients as the leaf matter decomposes.
You can also collect the excess to add to your compost over winter for the necessary brown matter. Learn more about composting in the winter here.
Preparing Your Garden For Winter
Leaving the leaves as mulch for the garden adds necessary nutrients and can also protect your garden soil over winter.
Now is a good time to remove any invasive species or diseased plant matter from the garden.
Other winterization actions include planting fall bulbs, consider or cover crops for large gardens and bring in any sensitive plants for the winter.
West Coast Seeds has a great Fall & Winter Gardening Guide to help you pick plants suited to your growing region.
Winter Composting Tips & Tricks
This tip may vary depending on your composting habits. Learn about different methods here from eartheasy.
For this household, we empty our compost bin before winter starts to make the most space for food scraps. The cold weather will slow down the composting process.
For this reason, we opt to maximize our composting capacity by emptying our completed compost onto our garden for the winter.
There are tips you can implement for more successful composting over the winter. Yes, composting in the winter is possible!
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How To Winterize A Rain Barrel
Taking a few minutes to care for your rain barrel this fall will ensure that it lasts for many years.
Follow these four recommended steps to properly store your rain barrel over the winter:
STEP 1️⃣ : Drain all water out of the rain barrel and leave the spigot open. Any water left in the rain barrel over winter can freeze and cause the plastic to crack. You want to make sure all the water is out before winter comes.
STEP 2️⃣ : Remove lid and anything else attached to the rain barrel. All of these should be drained of water and stored separately from the rain barrel.
STEP 3️⃣ : Detach the rain barrel from the gutter or downspout
STEP 4️⃣ : Store your barrel upside-down in a shed or garage, or a sheltered area outside
Winterize Car With Proper Tires
While we advocate for active transportation or public transportation before driving solo in a car, it is not an option available to everyone.
For those who drive, making sure your tires are winter ready is essential for safety and eco-reasons.
Summer tires are not built for freezing or below-freezing temperature. They will harden and provide less traction making for dangerous driving. Ensure your tires are pumped to the correct pressure according to the season. Did you know…
Driving a vehicle with tires under-inflated by 56 kilopascals (8 pounds per square inch) can increase fuel consumption by up to 4%.
It can also reduce the life of your tires by more than 10,000 kilometres.
Find the right tire pressure for your vehicle on the tire information placard. It’s usually on the edge of the driver’s door.
How To Winterize Water Pipes In A House
Water pipes are susceptible to freezing in cold weather and a pipe can burst when frozen causing some of the most expensive repairs in the home.
It’s important to prepare your faucets for winter. By disconnecting the hose and drain them, turning off the inside shut off-valve, and leaving the outside faucet in the “on” position for the winter, you will release the pressure in your pipes, and help prevent any potential issues.
If you need help, contact a local plumber to help you with this. Choose to support a service provider that shares your environmental values, like Cardinal Plumbing & Electric in the Peterborough Area.
What else do you do to prepare for winter?
If you liked this article, check out further actionable tips you can take to maintain your items for longer like the ‘Best Way To Clean Jeans, According to Denim Experts‘.
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