Maintaining your yard will help to keep it looking tidy and presentable. Certain maintenance tasks could also have other benefits such as preventing costly future repairs and maintaining a healthy environment.
Some yard maintenance tasks are obvious such as mowing the lawn and watering flowers. However, other tasks are less obvious and can often be overlooked. Below are just some of the yard maintenance tasks that are often neglected.
Cleaning Your Patio/Decking
A patio or deck can be a striking feature in a yard — providing that it is kept clean. If not cleaned, a patio or deck will start to accumulate dirt, leaves and fungi. Sweeping your patio or deck on a regular basis can help to get rid of loose dirt and leaves. Once per year, you should also scrub your patio or deck with a sponge and hot soapy water to get rid of more stubborn dirt and mold. It is also possible to jet wash a patio or deck — although you should only use low pressure when cleaning decking so as not to cause damage.
Cleaning Outdoor Furniture
Your outdoor furniture could also start to become stained and moldy if not regularly cleaned. In some cases, furniture could become permanently damaged if not cleaned. This is a job that really only needs to be done once or twice per year and may be a simple case of scrubbing it with a cloth and soapy water. Check out this guide for a few tips on how to easily clean outdoor furniture. Some types of furniture may not require as much cleaning as others.
Removing Weeds
Weeds are any form of plant that ends up growing in the wrong place. This could be a plant growing between two paving slabs or an unwanted plant growing in your flower beds. Removing weeds could have various advantages — removing a weed growing between paving slabs could prevent the roots from cracking your patio, while removing a weed from a flower bed could prevent the weed from taking nutrients away from your flowers. The best way to remove weeds is often to remove them manually, but there are other ways to remove weeds too that you can try.
Watering Your Lawn
During hot months, watering your lawn can be essential for preventing the soil and grass from drying out. Some people install sprinklers in order to automatically water their lawn. However, you may prefer to simply run over it with a hose pipe or watering can. Early morning and evening are the best times to water your lawn — the water is more likely to soak into the earth instead of simply evaporating.
Fertilizing Your Lawn
You can further help your lawn to grow by feeding it with fertilizer. Lawns should be fed fertilizer four times per year: once in Spring, twice in Summer, and one in Fall. Those that live in cooler climates may not need to do it as often — possibly only once or twice per year in summer. There are a variety of different fertilizers on the market to choose from. Some people hire professionals to fertilize their lawn for them.
Trimming Hedges
If hedges are not regularly trimmed, they can become unruly and could end up taking over your yard. Buy yourself a hedge trimmer so that you can keep your hedges under control. Other bushes and trees can similarly benefit from being trimmed back or pruned to prevent them growing too far out. Make sure that you do not trim back plants too much.
Organizing Your Shed
Sheds can easily become clutter zones, where all manner of tools and outdoor equipment gets dumped. While your guests may never look in your shed, it is still worth organizing this space for your own convenience. Getting rid of clutter and storing items in a structured manner can help you to more easily retrieve tools that you may need without having to rummage around or move other stuff out of the way. There are lots of great ways to organize a shed, including using sheds and plastic tubs or even hanging small tools from pegboards. Consider decluttering your shed on an annual basis.
Repairing Broken Fence Panels
Have you got damaged fence panels in your yard? Once fence panels are damaged they can easily be ripped off by a storm. Damaged fence panels with holes at the bottom could also be a hazard if you have pets such as dogs or rabbits. Do not allow fence panels to remain loose or broken — fix or replace them as soon as you can.
Cleaning Your Pond
Got a pond in your yard? Ponds require quite a lot of maintenance — particularly if you are keeping fish in them. One of the most important tasks is cleaning your pond. This involves removing excess dirt, algae, and debris. Installing a filter and a pump in your pond will help to naturally clean the water, but you may still need to occasionally remove debris manually with a net. There are chemical products such as hydrogen peroxide and natural products such as barley straw that you can further use to clean your pond (chemicals should be used rarely if you have fish or lots of plants). Topping up your pond occasionally with fresh water can also help to clean it. Avoid completely cleaning the water if you have fish or delicate plants, maintaining some algae and bacteria within the pond is important for the health of your pond life.
Cleaning Your Pool Thoroughly
Swimming pools require a lot of maintenance too. If you have a pool, it is important to adopt a regular cleaning schedule. As with a pond, a pump and filter will help to automatically clean your pool, but you still need to do other cleaning such as removing debri with a net and brushing sediment off the pool walls. Some pool owners buy robot pool cleaners in order to automatically scrub the sides. You can further keep your pool water clean by using a vacuum and by adding chemicals when necessary (you can find a guide here to which chemicals you should be using in your pool).
