Trees watered/planted
• water trees up to the time the ground freezes will prevent them from drying out in the winter.
• trees and grass can be planted as long as the soil can be worked. Fall seed grass often catches best because it is already in the ground when the spring moisture is available. One caveat would be in light soils where the seed may blow away.
Grass cut short
• this can prevent mice from living in your lawn over the winter.
• another way to control mice is to put a two to three-foot gravel/stone bed around your house. Mice like to have cover when they travel so they will avoid open areas like stone mulched beds. This may also reduce the risk of the house catching fire if you are faced with grass fires.
• putting up bait stations or live traps on this border provides a second line of defense.
Water works
• blow out all irrigation lines.
• drain and put away hoses.
• make sure all pumps are drained so they will not be damaged by freezing water.
• for gas pumps, run them dry or put fuel stabilizer in the gas tank.
• check to make sure stock waters are powered up.
• put a block under the end of downspouts so that the water/ice does not freeze and block the pipe.
• if you have a sump pump, is it discharging high enough above the ground to make sure the end drains and doesn’t freeze?
Septic
• check the amount of sludge build up in the tanks. If necessary, have it pumped. It is usually better to have the tank pumped in the spring, when the warmer weather allows the good bacteria to recover quicker.
• if you are very careful to make sure nothing but the by-products of digestion go into the tank, chances are that you will never have to pump the tank. Over pumping does more harm than good. If you need to pump more often than once every three years, give us a call and we will help you find out what is going wrong.
Snow Control
• remember where that snow drift formed last year? Is it possible to put up a snow fence to stop the drift?
• maybe consider planting a few spruce trees to control snow drifting or moving a few trees that are in the wrong spot.
