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Tidying Up Your Prairieville Landscapes Before Winter

A Pair of Boys Raking Up the Autumn Leaves in PrairievilleAs the autumn leaves begin to fall and summer flowers fade, it is important to clear them out of your rental property’s garden and yard before winter drives away the warm summer days. While it may be tempting to leave the leaves on the ground, there are plenty of reasons why this shouldn’t be done. To make sure that your rental’s lawn and garden stay healthy and to encourage strong roots to grow and help withstand winter temperature, the best practice would be to remove old growth and fallen leaves each fall.

Clearing dead leaves, flowers, and old-growth from your Prairieville rental property’s yard isn’t just about keeping the appearance of cleanliness. The benefits of taking care of a home’s exterior includes things that aren’t cosmetic. There are some property owners that look to nature and see that fallen leaves and old-growth are natural, so they mistakenly conclude that it’s better to leave them on lawns and in gardens to decompose over the winter. The danger of taking this approach is that the layers of dead leaves and other debris can smother lawns and other plants, preventing air, light, and essential nutrients from penetrating the ground below. Healthy landscape plants and grass rely on a healthy root system, which in turn relies on abundant access to water, air, and light.

Having a healthy garden or yard is already a very compelling reason to clear your rental property’s fallen leaves and dead garden plants, but there are still additional reasons to do so. For instance, uncleared leaves and dead flowers can result in common plant diseases that can ruin an otherwise healthy yard. As the debris piles up, it covers the grass and other plants, trapping moisture underneath. This can result in damaging mold growths and other issues. After a while, these diseases will kill your existing plants. Another risk taken when dead leaves remain uncleared is the likely increase in insects and other pests. Many kinds of roaches, spiders, and small mammals flourish in layers of rotting foliage. As the number of these pests explodes in your yard, they would start to explore and expand. They would then likely find their way inside your rental home as well. There is so much at stake. This is why dead flowers, plants, and fallen leaves have to be removed from a rental home’s yard before winter arrives.

There are property owners that mistakenly believe that autumn landscaping clean-up is the tenant’s responsibility. Owners should not rely on their tenants to do this task. It may not have crossed your tenant’s mind just how important it is to remove dead leaves and flowers, or perhaps they just don’t know the correct way to do it. There’s also the danger they’re exposed to. If your property has tall trees that shed leaves onto the roof or other elevated surfaces, it would be a really bad idea to ask your tenant to get on a ladder to trim tree branches or clear the fallen leaves away.

You don’t have to remove every leaf that falls as soon as they touch the ground. That wouldn’t be practical. However, if you have large leaf falls on your hands, then that needs to be addressed in a timely manner. You’ll need to act on that right away to prevent damage to your rental property’s landscaping, foundation, and even the roof and gutters. There is more than one way to get the job done efficiently. What some do is rake fallen leaves onto the lawn and then use a mulching mower to shred them into fine particles, which will sift down into the soil and fertilize the grass. There are some property owners that like to do it this way. Others may opt to have a professional company do the annual clean-up. They would hire a company with a track-record to make sure they do it right. This may be more efficient and cost-effective than doing it yourself.

Whichever way you want to do it would most likely be fine. What’s important is that you take care of your rental property’s yard without putting your tenant at risk. If you have time, you can do the job yourself. But, as a real estate investor, your time is precious. That is why Real Property Management Baton Rouge takes care of important seasonal maintenance tasks for property owners who have a lot of things to do. Our top-notch property management services will make sure that your Prairieville rental property is cared for properly and will be ready for whatever the winter season brings. Contact us online or call at 225-389-6860 to get started.

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