Top 10 Tasks To Do in the Fall Around Your House

Preparing your house for the winter is very easy and it will save you from lots of surprises during the cold months. There is nothing worse than a leaking garden tap or accumulated tree leaves in your gutter. You should start early, while the weather is still warm and winter-proof your home. Unless you live in a condo. Then you may let your property management worry about all this. 😛

#1) Clean your gutter 

Every spring birds will come and nest in our gutters and we will watch about 3 litters grow up through the spring/summer months. We don’t mind the chitter – chatter as much as the dirt and even some twigs they leave behind. Why don’t we seal our gutter to prevent these birds from nesting? Because we love nature and we want to let them enjoy being able to stay safe somewhere. As soon as the last litter decided to leave the nest, we went to Rona’s and purchased a very long ladder. Let the cleaning begin!

#2) Prepare your garden

For those who love to grow fresh vegetables every season, make sure that you turn your soil over. Why? Because during the winter months water will freeze along with the soil; therefore, cultivate it before freezing temperatures hit. Once the water melts, it will break down the soil for you and you will be able to plant and garden a lot easier in the spring.

#3) Buy some mulch or garden rocks 

Since our arrival in Canada, we have noticed the enormous amount of snow falling every season. Protect your outside walls from water leaking in by elevating the ground around the walls. Make sure the mulch or garden rocks are placed higher around the wall and there is no chance for the water to form a puddle around it.

#4) Put up your holiday decorations while it is warm out  

We LOVE to decorate for the winter, but we are not a fan of putting up tree and houselights while it is snowing. So why not decorate right after Halloween festivities are over? Right after Halloween, we have 54 days before Christmas celebrations commence. That gives you plenty of time to put up your decor and not freeze during winter.

#5) Put away your patio furniture

It is much easier to shovel snow in the winter if there is nothing in your way. We purchased a shed for this purpose and we make sure that before the first snow fall, all the furniture is put away. This will not only save you from having to shovel around obstacles, but it will also protect the furniture and they will last longer. You may also wish to put away your gazebo for the same reasons.

#6) Protect your Pool/Jacuzzi 

We have lived for a year and 7 months in the house we have purchased and unfortunately we found out the hard way that the lid for the jacuzzi was so damaged that when we opened it up in the spring, just as the snow melted in April, the ice in the jacuzzi was up to the top. The previous owners of the house failed to mention that the lid had a giant hole in the middle. They tried to fill it in with all kinds of garbage but because we bought our house in February, even the inspector could not inspect the damage. So now we make sure that the lid is double sealed. Cleaning and melting all that ice last year was no fun.

#8) Turn off your garden faucets from the source 

Or you’ll end up with a frozen pond by the side of your house. Our Caucasian Sheppard Mix, Rexi, learned how to open up the faucet last summer. We did not realize this until a freezing day when Rexi decided to let the faucet run. By the time we went outside to check on him we had a pond by the side of the house and in a couple hours it was completely frozen. Now we turn the faucet off every time the fall season begins.

#9) Stock up on firewood for your fireplace

We are not saying that you should purchase a forest, but if you have a wood passed fireplace and like to get cozy by it every now and then, it is nice to have firewood handy and not have to run out in cold to get it. We usually leave some space for it in the garage, which is connected to the laundry room of our house. It is easier to run out to the garage than having to travel far for it.

#10 Prepare the bird feeders in advance 

If you love nature as much as we do, then you should make sure your bird feeders are in place for when it starts to snow. We usually get bluejays, cardinals, sparrows every day. We have noticed that their eating patterns are usually around 6 AM and 6PM. That is when we whip the cameras out and start recording these gorgeous birds of Ontario.

Did we miss something on our list? Let us know in the comments below.

Until next time,

AE.–