Due to the heavy snow and rainfalls, winter can seem like a time when all activities seize for everyone to snuggle in with a hot cup of coffee with no activity on their to-do list. Winters can be mild or harsh, but in this case, we are happy to announce to you:
Yes! Landscaping can be done in winter. You will just need to switch to more technical and safer methods of landscaping and use some winter-favorable equipment. You might also need to increase your budget a little because you might require more support from other landscaping professionals due to the increased workload it takes for you to get your trees, shrubs, and lawns ready for the winter.
The winter season is fondly called the “off-season” for landscapers, especially when the season appears to be harsh. However, even when there is very little planting activity in this season, landscapers go big on snow removal and tree, lawn, and shrub maintenance.
What Are Some Important Landscaping Activities That You Can Do During Winter?
Lawn Mowing
In a mild winter season, where there are occasional sunny days, grass can still grow and thrive. This means that you can maintain a healthy landscape by occasional maintenance of trees, shrubs, plants, and grasses. This would help to protect new growth in the gardens and lawns, prevent mold from infesting them, and prevent pests from damaging them. During a harsh winter, mowing lawns might not be as easy or frequent as during mild winter seasons.
Snow Removal
As simple as this sounds, snow removal is not just an important landscaping activity, but also a very necessary one. Snow removal from plants will help prevent salt damage. Salt damage will occur from exposure of plants to de-icing salts. Snow removal will help to preserve the life of the trees and plants as ice-damaged trees are more prone to diseases.
You can remove snow by gently brushing snow off the trees, plants, and shrubs. This might seem like a whole lot of work, but it will keep the landscape looking green and good after the winter.
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Irrigation Organization and Setup
Just as you took irrigation quite seriously during the summer, fall, and spring, you should as well take it seriously during the winter. It may feel like the natural wetness of the season might be enough to maintain your plants, trees, and landscapes, however, irrigation is not just about getting the plants and the lawns wet, it is also about channeling adequate moisture to specific parts of your plants.
The good news is that you might not need as much time watering as you did during the summer. You can also perform irrigation to prevent cold injuries to flowers, trees, and plants.
Weeding and Seeding
In a mild winter, weeding and seeding are very doable and even great for encouraging the growth of grasses after the winter, increasing the beauty of landscapes, and enlarging the green space. Also, grasses that have been weakened due to the cold weather can be replaced by the new grasses that are emerging due to the seeding of gardens.
On the other hand, weeding is also necessary to allow the new plants to grow in a healthy environment. You can use a spot treatment to kill off the weeds without damaging your newly planted seeds.
Pruning
During winter, most trees and plants lose their healthy and green collectivity. As a landscaper, winter is the best time to take out deciduous trees and shrubs in preparation for planting. As a result of pruning, there will be encouraged growth in plants.
Planting
It might seem like a wrong move to plant during winter, however, bare-root plants can be planted during the winter. In addition, bare-root plants do not fully start taking root till spring.
Cleanup
Cleaning is one of the most important jobs of a landscaper. So, whether it’s sunny, rainy, or winter, you need to keep cleaning your landscape. Allowing fallen branches, shed leaves, and shrubs to remain on landscapes will damage the health and green beauty of the landscape.
Designing
As a landscaper, during the winter, you can still cuddle up in your blanket and sip a hot cup of coffee while you design the beautiful landscape you’d want to execute during a more favorable season.
Planning
During the winter, you can begin the plan to execute the landscaping decision that you have designed. If you start planning during the winter, you should be able to get yourself and your team fully equipped for the expected favorable seasons.
What Is Your Landscape Job And Is It Right For You?
What Tools Can You Use for Landscaping in the Winter?
Some of the tools that you can use for landscaping during the winter are:
Shovel
A shovel might look like a random gardening tool; however, it comes in handy when you need to “break the ice” while landscaping. Here are some of the uses of a shovel for landscaping during the winter:
- Breaking hard ice.
- Scooping ice and granular materials.
- Digging.
- Transplanting.
- Making shallow trenches.
- Dirt removal.
- Edging the landscape.
Rake
A rake is important while you are landscaping during winter because of its versatile uses. Some of the uses of a rake while you are landscaping during the winter.
- Scraping ice, debris, and granular materials.
- Cleaning the landscape after work.
- Leveling leaves, soil, and mulch.
- Pulling leaves and old weed.
Shears
As a landscaper, one of the most important tools you should have during the winter is your shears as this tool helps you with several activities in your gardens. This scissors-shaped gardening tool will help you maintain your small trees and flowers and also help you create a beautifying effect on your landscape. Here are the two types of shears you can use for landscaping in the winter and their various uses:
- Gardening Shears/Garden Clippers:
You can use gardening shears to cut out dead plants or dead and infected parts of plants. It is often called hand shears and can only be used for smaller plants or smaller tree parts.
- Pruning Scissors/Shears:
You can use this for ornamental purposes. The maintenance of your landscapes against the harshness of winter might be more important than beautifying your landscape, however, beauty has no season.
Gloves
You might want to consider using a glove through all seasons because as a landscaper, you’ll be dealing with a lot of digging, and planting and you do not want to get hurt from shrub scratches and even direct contact with the soil. However, consider winter as the best season to wear gloves to give you that extra warmth you need while working.
Buckets/Wheelbarrows
Having a strong bucket and wheelbarrow as a landscaper will be very valuable to you. You will need a bucket to carry lots of snow, dead plants, weeds, tools, etc. Buckets and wheelbarrows will help you transport working tools and trees, plants, and ice across the landscape within a shorter time than you would if you were using your hands. Most importantly, you do not want to carry all that snow with your hands. Buckets and wheelbarrows are essential when working on a large landscape.
Grass Trimmer
During harsh winter seasons, a grass trimmer might not be of much use because there might be very little growth, however, in mild winter seasons where growth is more feasible, you will need a grass trimmer to keep your landscapes looking trimmed and pretty.
Snow Blower
As a landscaper, the winter season might mostly consist of snow clearing. As the name implies, a snowblower will help you remove snow from unwanted areas. The snow blower does a similar job as a shovel, but it is preferable due to its ability to be maneuvered around your landscape.
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Frequently Asked Questions
How safe is it to landscape during the winter?
Landscaping during the winter is very safe. However you might want to consider staying indoors during snowstorms and blizzards as it is not only unsafe, you might not get any work done!
How can I store my landscaping tools?
Storing your landscaping tools during winter can be very tricky because most times, your landscaping tools are made from materials that are more likely to remain of good quality in dry seasons. Here are some tips on how to maintain your landscaping tools during the winter.
- Store your tools in a cool dry area.
- Rub your wooden tools or tools with wooden handles with mineral seed oil or linseed oil.
- Do not leave your landscaping tools outside.
- Use oiled rags to wipe your tools (motor oil is fine).
- Use a coarse metal brush to brush metal tools.
- Hang your tools in a garage, out of the weather until the humidity that comes with the winter season reduces.
To learn more on how you can start your own landscaping business, check out my startup documents here.
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Meet Shawn Chun: Entrepreneur and Landscape Business Fan.
I’m a happy individual who happens to be an entrepreneur. I have owned several types of businesses in my life from a coffee shop to an import and export business to an online review business plus a few more and now I create online resources for those interested in starting new ventures. It’s demanding work but I love it. I do it for those passionate about their business and their goals. That’s why when I meet a landscape business owner at a job site, driving down the road or anywhere else I see myself. I know how hard the struggle is to retain clients, find good employees and keep the business growing all while trying to stay competitive.
That’s why I created Landscaping Business Boss: I want to help landscape business owners like you build a thriving business that brings you endless joy and supports your ideal lifestyle.