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 the warm days are replaced with cold winter days. Although it may be tempting to leave the leaves on the ground, that idea isn’t very sound. So that your rental’s lawn and garden continue to stay healthy and also to encourage strong roots so that your plants can withstanding winter temperatures, your best course of action is to remove old growth and fallen leaves each fall.
Clearing dead leaves, flowers, and old-growth from the yard of your Milwaukee rental property is more than just a show of neatness. Cleaning up a home’s exterior affects more than just its mere appearance. There are property owners that think it’s a good idea to imitate nature by leaving fallen leaves and old-growth on lawns and in gardens to decompose over the winter. They wrongly assume that because it’s natural, therefore it’s good. 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. For one, uncleared leaves and dead flowers can result in common plant diseases that can ruin an otherwise healthy yard. As the debris piles up, it covers everything else. This may trap moisture underneath and can result in damaging mold growths and other issues that will kill existing plants. Another danger that comes with uncleared dead leaves is 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, the area they’re infesting would grow larger, reaching the rental home itself, and eventually making its way inside. You’re exposing your rental home to great risk. This is the reason why dead flowers, plants, and fallen leaves, have to be removed from the yard before winter arrives.
Some property owners think that it’s a good idea to rely on their tenants to do the autumn landscaping clean-up. This is a risky thing to do. Tenants may not fully comprehend how important it is to remove dead leaves and flowers. It’s also possible that they just don’t know how to do it properly. Tenants may also be exposed to danger. If you have tall trees in your property and they shed leaves onto the roof or other elevated surfaces, it would be a very bad 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 choose to hire a professional company to do the work. That company would have a team with skills and experience come and do the annual clean-up. This method may end up being more effective and economical.
Whichever method you end up choosing would be okay for as long as the guiding principle is there— that the care for your rental property’s yard does not put your tenant at risk. If you have time to spare, you can do it yourself. But there is truth to the maxim: Time is gold. And this is true for real estate investors as well. That is why Real Property Management Greater Milwaukee takes care of important seasonal maintenance tasks for property owners who are engaged with more important things. Our top-tier property management services will see to it that your Milwaukee rental property will be looked after carefully and will be ready for whatever the winter season throws at it. Contact us online or call at 262-309-6961 to get started.
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