Are Your Lawn and Garden Ready for the Chill?
(Continued from Page 3) By Susan Morgan, HGTV.com
For the birds
Create a winter haven for your feathered friends. Provide them with the essentials: food, shelter and water. Here are more suggestions for attracting birds to the garden.
Keep bird feeders refilled throughout the winter season (figure H). If you're going on vacation during the holidays, you may want to think twice before leaving bird feeders unattended. Don't want to spend a fortune on birdseed or the time filling up bird feeders? Consider growing fruiting shrubs and trees that birds find naturally tasty. Drain and clean ceramic birdbaths before bringing them indoors. Clean all other birdbaths and keep them refilled. Provide shelter from the cold by way of birdhouses. Or, place nest-making materials, such as yarn, hair and dried grass, around the yard for birds to collect. (Find out if it's necessary to clean out birdhouses that have been previously used.)House exterior
Don't forget about winterizing the exterior of your home. Weatherproof your home with this checklist of cleaning gutters, inspecting and cleaning chimneys, caulking windows and more.
Odds and ends
Avoid the winter blues with these landscape brighteners (figure I). Inspect and winterize garden furniture and ornaments accordingly. Protect plants from snow and de-icers with a snow shed or drifting snow with a snow fence (figure J). Before freezing temperatures arrive, pressure wash sidewalks to remove the year's accumulated dirt and algae. Removing this dirt helps to improve traction (especially helpful in icy conditions!) on walking surfaces. Turn off outdoor water connections and cover exposed outdoor water spickets and pipes with thick insulative material.
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