Snow can wreak havoc on your landscaping and hardscaping, especially when it falls quickly and lingers for a long time. While winter is winding down, snowstorms can stretch into the early spring in Maryland. While preparation before a snowstorm is essential to limit damage, what you do after snow falls is just as important.
Check Your Roof
Even if snow is off of your driveway, there might be plenty of snow on your roof. It might not seem like a pile of snow could do damage to your landscape and home, but slowly melting snow can drip down the side of your home and do major damage to your foundation. You shouldn’t attempt to remove a great deal of snow from your roof on your own, but you can make sure that your gutters are free from leaves and debris.
Mark Your Yard
Snow removal is a tricky process, and marking off your yard, driveway and any other landmarks is a great way to ensure the plow won’t hit anything important. Use flags, stakes or reflectors to mark the edges of your landscape, driveway and draw attention to anything else you want to call the snow plow driver’s attention to. Make sure that whatever you choose is tall enough to be spotted above a snow bank!
Clear Walkways
Once you shovel out your driveway and walkways, you should treat the walkways with a turf-friendly ice melt. In general, commercial-grade ice melt is safer for plants and turf than traditional salt, and you can also buy pet-safe mixtures. You should avoid using rock salt or traditional road salt unless you have nothing else on hand.
Check Your Trees
Heavy ice and snow can bend and break tree branches, along with severely damaging already-diseased or damaged branches. If possible, you should have JFC Grounds Maintenance inspect your trees and branches before winter begins. However, even if you’ve had your trees checked before, you should still pay close attention after a snowstorm. If you need to remove snow from branches, you should be careful and stay as far away from the branch as possible. Use a long pole or broom and work slowly.
Make It Through the Winter with JFC Grounds Maintenance
Are you ready for professional help maintaining your yard this winter? Give JFC Grounds Maintenance a call at (410) 655-2887.