As 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, that really isn’t a good idea. To make sure that your rental’s lawn and garden stay healthy and to encourage strong roots that will help them withstand winter temperatures, the best thing you can do is to remove old growth and fallen leaves each fall.
Clearing dead leaves, flowers, and old-growth from your Auburn rental property’s yard has more to do than just keeping the appearance of tidiness. Cleaning up a home’s exterior isn’t all for show. Some property owners think that because fallen leaves and old-growth are natural, it’s okay to leave them on lawns and in gardens to decompose over the winter. They would be mistaken. The problem with doing this 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 healthy plants and grass is a good reason to clear your rental property’s fallen leaves and dead garden plants, but that’s still not all there is to it. There are still some additional reasons to clear it up. One of them is that uncleared leaves and dead flowers can result in common plant diseases that can ruin an otherwise healthy yard. As the debris piles up, it creates a blanket over the grass and other plants. This may trap moisture underneath and can result in damaging mold growths and other issues. Eventually, these diseases will kill existing plants. There is also another problem that happens when you have uncleared dead leaves, it’ll bring an 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 explode outdoors, they would want to expand their area. Their growing infestation would slowly make it to the rental home and eventually reach inside it. There is so much to lose. This is the reason why you should not allow dead flowers, plants, and fallen leaves to remain on a rental home’s yard before winter arrives. They have to be removed.
There are property owners that rely on their tenants to do the autumn landscaping clean-up. They think that it’s a good idea because they aren’t fully aware of the inherent risks. Tenants may not think that removing dead leaves and flowers is as important as it is, or they may not know the proper way to do it. Tenants may be endangering themselves if they do that. If your property has tall trees that shed leaves onto the roof or other elevated surfaces, it would be a terrible 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 send a cleaning crew as soon as one leaf falls and touches the ground. That’s obviously impractical. However, if you have large leaf falls, those need to be addressed in a timely manner. You need to act fast to prevent damage to your rental property’s landscaping, foundation, and even the roof and gutters. There are multiple ways to get the job done. One method is where property owners 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. Others may outsource this to a professional company that already has the experience and skill. They drop by to do an annual clean-up and solve the problem for you. If you choose the right company, this could be more cost-effective and efficient.
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 spare time, you can be the one to do it. But, as a real estate investor, your time is precious. That is why Real Property Management Metro West-Worcester takes care of important seasonal maintenance tasks for property owners with packed schedules. Our first-rate property management services will properly care for your Auburn rental property and get it ready for whatever winter brings. Contact us online or call at 508-329-6000 to get started.
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