Winterize
lawn mowers by scraping off all dirt, rust and accumulated grass.
Remove the sparkplug and drain out excess oil and gasoline. Replace
the oil and store lawn mower in a dry place.
Clean, oil and mend all hand
tools. Sand if necessary and repaint handles or identification
marks that have faded over the summer. Sharpen all blades and
remove any rust.
Drain, coil, tie and store hoses
in a basement or cellar out of freezing temperatures. Scrub clay
pots, birdbaths and other portable garden ornaments with a 10
percent bleach solution, dry and store inside.
Give extra water to evergreen
shrubs and trees before the ground freezes to prevent winter
burn. Use Wilt-pruf anti-dessicant spray to further protect from
winter drying.
Adopt
good orchard practices, even if you have only a few fruit trees
in your yard. A good control program will include the destruction
of harboring places for insects and diseases:
- Remove and destroy all dropped
fruit.
- Rake and dispose of apple
and cherry leaves.
- Prune and destroy all dead
or diseased limbs, branches, and twigs.
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Prepare
the vegetable garden for winter by tilling crop debris into the
garden or putting it in the compost pile. Dispose of diseased
plant material unless the compost pile is hot enough to kill
disease organisms. Fall tilling or plowing in the organic matter
can benefit the garden by improving soil structure. It also disrupts
the life cycle of many pests, exposing larvae and pupae to winter
cold.
Add “green manure” to
your garden. Plant a cover
crop such as winter rye or vetch to add organic matter
to the garden in the spring and to reduce winter and spring
weeds. Till under in the spring before any of the plants start
to flower.
Protect branches on loosely branched
evergreen shrubs such as arborvitae and yews from heavy snow
and ice build-up. Tie the branches up with twine.
Remove mulch and tall weeds
from near fruit trees and woody shrubs to discourage mice from hiding
there and eating the bark. Mice damage can cause branches or entire
plants to die the following summer.
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