As the leaves start turning around Bethlehem, Allentown, and the rest of the Lehigh Valley, it’s time to start thinking about fall cleanup. A thorough fall cleanup does more than tidy up your yard for the season — it sets your lawn and garden beds up for a healthier, greener spring. Here’s a room-by-room checklist to get your property ready for winter.
1. Rake and Remove Leaves
A thick layer of wet leaves left on your lawn over winter can smother grass, trap moisture, and encourage fungal diseases like snow mold. Rake regularly through the season rather than waiting for every leaf to fall at once, and either bag leaves for removal or mulch them with a mower to return nutrients to the soil.
2. Give the Lawn One Last Mow (and Cut It Shorter)
Continue mowing until the grass stops actively growing, gradually lowering the blade height on your last few cuts of the season. Going into winter at around 2–2.5 inches helps prevent matting and snow mold, while still leaving enough leaf blade for the grass to store energy.
3. Aerate and Overseed
Fall is the best time of year in our region to aerate compacted soil and overseed thin or bare patches. Cooler air temperatures combined with still-warm soil give grass seed the ideal conditions to germinate and establish strong roots before winter dormancy.
4. Fertilize for Root Growth
A fall application of fertilizer helps grass build stronger roots and store energy reserves, which pays off with a faster, greener start next spring. Look for a fertilizer formulated for fall use, higher in potassium and lower in nitrogen than a spring blend.
5. Clean Up Garden Beds
Pull spent annuals, cut back perennials that have died back, and remove any diseased or pest-infested plant material — don’t compost it, since diseases and pest eggs can overwinter in your pile. Leave seed heads on plants that benefit birds and pollinators (like coneflowers and black-eyed Susans) if you want to support wildlife through winter.
6. Divide and Transplant Perennials
Early-to-mid fall is a great window to divide overgrown perennials like hostas, daylilies, and ornamental grasses. The cooler weather reduces transplant stress, and roots have time to settle in before the ground freezes.
7. Plant Bulbs for Spring Color
Tulips, daffodils, and crocuses all need to go in the ground in fall to bloom in spring. Aim to plant bulbs a few weeks before the ground freezes, generally through October and into early November in our area.
8. Prune Trees and Shrubs — Carefully
Remove dead, damaged, or diseased branches, but hold off on major pruning of spring-flowering shrubs (like lilac, forsythia, and rhododendron) until after they bloom next year — pruning them now removes next year’s flower buds. Dormant-season pruning for most other trees and shrubs is best saved for late winter.
9. Mulch Beds and Around Trees
A fresh 2–3 inch layer of mulch insulates plant roots from temperature swings, helps retain soil moisture, and suppresses winter weeds. Keep mulch pulled a few inches back from tree trunks and shrub stems to avoid trapping moisture against the bark.
10. Clean and Store Equipment
Drain fuel from mowers and trimmers or add a fuel stabilizer, sharpen mower blades, clean off dirt and plant debris, and store hoses, sprinkler heads, and irrigation components somewhere they won’t freeze and crack.
11. Winterize Outdoor Water Features and Irrigation
Drain and shut down sprinkler systems before the first hard freeze, and disconnect and store garden hoses. If you have a pond or water feature, remove pumps as needed and follow manufacturer guidance for winterizing.
12. Inspect Hardscaping and Drainage
Walk your property and check patios, walkways, and retaining walls for cracks or shifting before winter’s freeze-thaw cycles make small issues worse. Clear gutters and downspouts of leaves so melting snow and rain drain away from your foundation and landscaping instead of pooling.
Get Ahead of Spring
A little effort now can go a long way toward keeping your landscape healthy heading into the next season. If your fall landscaping plans feel like more than you want to tackle on your own, our team can help with a variety of landscaping services to keep your property looking its best. From landscape design and planting to hardscaping and other outdoor improvements, Western Lehigh Services is here to help bring your landscaping plans to life throughout the Lehigh Valley.
Contact us to discuss your next landscaping project!
