Fall cleanup checklist: what to do before winter

Before winter, a fall yard cleanup in Ontario comes down to five jobs. Get the leaves off the lawn and paving, clear out the beds, cut back only what’s diseased or collapsed, mow one last time to about 5 cm, and shut off the outdoor taps before the first frost.

Around Markham that work usually falls in late October and November.

Most of it is really about spring. Leaves left on the lawn turn into a flat grey mat by April, and beds full of rotting annuals are where the weeds show up first. A tap left on can split in the first cold snap.

The step-by-step checklist further down runs in the order we’d do it. First, the reasoning behind the steps people most often get wrong. If you’d rather hand the whole thing off, that’s what we do on our fall and spring cleanups.

When should you do a fall cleanup in the GTA?

Do it once most of the leaves are down, which around Markham is usually late October into November, and before the ground freezes.

Starting too early means doing the leaves twice. Starting too late means raking wet leaves off frozen grass, or finding them under the first snow.

For the beds, Penn State Extension suggests waiting until several hard frosts have killed back the tops of your perennials before cutting anything. Until then, the roots are still pulling energy back from the dying leaves.

Annuals can come out after the first frost.

The other deadline is your city’s last yard waste pickup.

When does yard waste pickup stop?

Curbside pickup ends earlier than most people expect, especially in Markham. Here is what the City of Markham and the City of Toronto publish:

Plastic bags and cardboard boxes are refused in both cities.

If you miss Markham’s last date, the City lists the Richmond Hill (Bloomington) compost facility as a drop-off option. Dates change every year, so check your city’s page before you plan around them.

Should you leave the leaves on the lawn?

A light layer is fine if you chop it up, but a thick, whole-leaf mat should come off.

Virginia Cooperative Extension, citing Michigan State University research, says up to about 15 cm (6 inches) of leaves can be mulched into a lawn at once with a mower, sometimes with several passes. The same research found fewer dandelions and less crabgrass over time, because the leaf bits filled the bare spots where weed seeds would have sprouted.

Left as a thick layer, though, leaves block light and hold moisture in the grass. Virginia Extension says that raises the risk of disease.

University of Illinois Extension lists leaves and other debris on the turf as one of the conditions behind snow mould, the grey or pink matted patches you sometimes find in spring.

Leaves don’t have to go to the curb at all. Raking a layer into the garden beds lets them break down over the winter, and Illinois Extension notes that some moths and butterflies spend the winter in leaf litter.

Which plants should you cut back in the fall?

Cut back the plants that are diseased, rotting or flopped over, and leave the healthy ones standing until spring. Penn State Extension’s advice sorts them like this:

Healthy hollow stems are worth keeping too. Illinois Extension points out that native bees nest in them and some butterflies spend the winter on dry stems.

How short should the last mow be?

About 5 cm (2 inches). Illinois Extension recommends a final height of about two inches and says to keep mowing until the grass is fully dormant.

The Nursery Sod Growers Association of Ontario puts it as roughly 30 per cent below your usual height. From a 7.5 cm summer cut, that lands close to 5 cm, and the association says the shorter grass helps reduce matting under the snow.

Don’t go lower than that in one go.

For overseeding, aeration and repair, see our guide to fall lawn care in Ontario. The Ontario lawn care calendar picks up from there in spring.

Common fall cleanup mistakes

These are the ones that cause the most trouble come spring.

• Waiting for every last leaf to drop, then missing the city’s final pickup date.
• Leaving whole wet leaves on the lawn over winter, and finding dead patches under them in April.
• Cutting every perennial to the ground, including the grasses and seed heads that look good in winter and feed birds.
• Composting diseased stems and leaves, which brings the same problem back next year.
• Giving hedges and shrubs a hard trim in October. Penn State Extension says late summer and fall are poor times to prune, because the new growth that follows is open to winter injury. Iowa State Extension gives the same warning for evergreens.
• Leaving leaves on interlock all winter. Techniseal lists dead leaves among the organic stains on concrete pavers, and Unilock suggests a leaf blower to clear debris and seeds off pavers.
• Blocked eavestroughs. The City of Toronto asks homeowners to keep eavestroughs and downspouts clear and to let downspouts drain onto grass or a garden at least 1.8 m (6 feet) from the foundation.

Our guide on when to trim hedges in Ontario has the better pruning timing. For the paving, debris left in the joints is where weed seeds settle, and our guide on weeds between pavers has more.

When it’s worth getting help

A small yard with one young tree is a reasonable afternoon with a rake and a mulching mower, and you don’t need anyone for it.

It’s a different job when you have mature trees dropping leaves for weeks, beds that have been let go, a lot of bagging, or a pickup date coming up fast. A backpack blower and a second pair of hands get through it far quicker than one person with a rake.

If that sounds like your yard, our seasonal cleanup service takes the leaves, beds and hard surfaces off your hands. We work across Markham and nearby, including Richmond Hill and Scarborough.

Call or text (437) 684-2535, or text us a few photos of the yard with your street or postal code, and we’ll come by and give you a free quote. When the snow is gone, our spring cleanup checklist picks up where this one stops.