Fall Clean-Up Tips with The Home Depot Contest

Just because the weather gets colder, doesn’t mean you should hibernate inside this fall. Investing some time in outdoor maintenance now not only keeps the yard looking beautiful throughout the season, but provides a strong foundation for healthy growth in spring, minimizing repairs after a cold winter.
SavvyMom and The Home Depot Canada have teamed up to find out your fall maintenance tips. Share your best fall clean-up tip and enter for a chance to win a $500 gift card from The Home Depot Canada. All submitted tips will be published on savvymom.ca in our Tips section, so you’ll be sharing your savvy too.

Here are some ideas on how you can have fun and include the whole family with a few projects from The Home Depot Canada:

1. Rake the leaves – Have fun cleaning the lawn by involving your little ones when raking leaves. Older children can certainly help by using their own rake while younger ones would love the job of stuffing garden bags!

2. Prep the deck – Cleaning the deck’s surface, especially removing debris caught between deck boards can save a lot of time come spring. Take advantage of a sunny day by hooking up your garden hose and washing the deck. Children will love the chance to hold the hose. And when the surface is clean again, Mom or Dad should seal it with a weatherproofing wood stain.

3. Move the vegetable garden indoors – Enjoy fresh herbs and vegetables all winter long by creating your own indoor container garden. The only supplies needed are containers, seeds and soil. Children can help by labeling containers, choosing the seeds and filling containers with soil. Older kids can learn how to take care of plants by getting them involved with scheduled watering.

4. Prune trees and hedges – If you’ve put off trimming overgrown areas or removing dead limbs—now is the time to do it. Dead limbs can weaken and fall under winter snow, so keeping trees trimmed can save a roof-repair bill in the future. While only Mom and Dad should handle the equipment, kids can help out by clearing and collecting small branches and fallen pinecones.

For more helpful yard clean up and lawn maintenance tips and checklist, visit www.homedepot.ca/fallprep or The Home Depot store in your community.