Commercial Grounds Maintenance: Preparing for the Cold Season

As we approach the heart of autumn, the mornings are getting frostier and the weather certainly has a crisp bite to it. Now is the perfect time to think about preparing your commercial grounds for the months ahead, ensuring that you’re prepared for the cold weather and reducing your landscaping chores come springtime next year.



As commercial grounds maintenance experts here at GMCB Ltd, we’ve put together this comprehensive guide listing all the ways in which you can effectively prepare your grounds for the remainder of autumn and winter so that they not only stay healthy, but keep your grounds looking attractive all year round.

Read on as we offer in-depth advice on the activities you should be carrying out in each area of your commercial grounds as part of a comprehensive autumn/winter landscaping plan.

Why is Proactive Grounds Maintenance Important Throughout Autumn and Winter?

Effective landscape management and grounds maintenance is essential at all times throughout the year to maintain the health and appearance of your commercial premises, yet it is particularly imperative that you upkeep these throughout the cold seasons.

Firstly, many people believe that the natural dormancy of many plants and vegetation throughout the cold months means little to no maintenance is required, however this false narrative is what catches you out. It’s important to adequately prepare your grounds in the autumn ready for the winter so that you reduce the time, cost and effort required from you in the spring.

Carrying out maintenance throughout autumn and winter will reduce the tasks required of you by the time spring arrives next year. Not only that, but it will also mean you’ll get to enjoy a healthier, richer landscape that will be already thriving rather than in need of rescuing.

Grounds maintenance at this time is also important for safety reasons, since the ice and snow that winter brings with it can affect accessibility to your commercial premises. So, managing this effectively will both allow you to continue your business operations effectively whilst reducing the risks of injury to staff and visitors as a result of hazardous surfaces.

Maintaining Each Area of Your Commercial Landscape

Trees

Whether you’ve predominantly got evergreen or deciduous trees, or a mix of both, there are various measures you can take to maintain their health throughout the frosty seasons. Firstly, the latter months of the year are the perfect time to consider pruning your deciduous trees.

Deciduous trees naturally shed their foliage in the autumn in preparation for the winter, during which they reduce their active metabolism to the bare minimum. In pruning trees at this time, you will be helping to further reduce the stress on their metabolism in such low temperatures, allowing for healthy new shoots to grow from these pruned branches in the spring, resulting in rejuvenated and healthier trees.

As for any evergreen trees on your site, though these remain vibrant throughout the year, they are still prone to winter burn. A combination of low soil moisture, freezing temperatures and blowing wind can cause evergreen trees to lose moisture through transpiration faster than their roots can replace it from the frozen ground, resulting in dying leaves.

To reduce the chances of winter burn affecting your trees, you should place a layer of mulch around the base of your evergreens, which will help to conserve moisture in the roots. If possible, you should also continue to water any shrubs when conditions are harsh, and any small or newly planted evergreens can also be protected with burlap to prevent excessive moisture loss through their leaves.

Vegetation

Consider the vegetation on your commercial grounds and how this will appear both now and in the spring. For example, we recommend you trim back any perennial plants now, as this will not only keep them looking neat, but it will give them a better opportunity to survive the cold and come back larger in the spring.

Speaking of spring, it’s worth looking ahead to this time and thinking about any bulbs you can plant now that will emerge healthy and strong come March/April time to provide some colour and enhance the overall appearance of your commercial grounds in the spring. Bulbs such as daffodils, hyacinths and tulips thrive when planted in autumn, as they have time to properly bed in the soil before temperatures plummet and they are exposed to frost.

Weeds

Weed control is imperative all throughout the year. Whilst many plants are affected by the cold and frost, plenty of weeds are a lot hardier than this and will continue to thrive throughout the transition from autumn into winter.

As such, you should never become slack when it comes to weed maintenance. Continue your weed killing efforts throughout the winter and you will thank yourself for it later down the line - your property will not only remain weed-free but you will be saving yourself time, money and effort come the spring season.

Lawns

You may have noticed that year after year your lawn looks rather drab by the time spring rolls around, rather than looking vibrant, luscious and healthy. Chances are this is because you aren’t doing anything to prepare it for the winter.

Most people believe that because their lawn slows its growth over the winter and doesn’t require as frequent mowing that it doesn’t require any maintenance at all, however this isn’t the case. Firstly, slow growth doesn’t mean no growth, so if you notice that your lawn is looking a little bit shaggy or on the long side, then by all means mow it down to keep it neat and healthy.

Next, the cold weather isn’t solely responsible for patches of dead or unhealthy grass in the winter, rather it’s a combination of this and additional controllable factors. In being proactive and reducing the impact these additional factors have on your lawn health, you are giving your grass a better chance at thriving in the spring.

The first thing you should do is make sure that your commercial lawn is free from leaves that have fallen from any nearby trees throughout the autumn. Dead leaves covering your grass will block out the sunlight that it needs, thus causing it to become thin and preventing fresh growth.

As well as dead leaves, your lawn is also likely to gather a layer of thatch in the autumn; thatch is a layer of dead grass stems, dead roots and moss that collect on your lawn over time. If left on your lawn untreated, thatch can kill healthy grass and prevent new grass from growing as well as it should, giving the appearance of an unhealthy landscape.

To prevent this from happening, autumn is the perfect time to scarify your lawn. This removes the dead roots and churns the soil to aerate it, allowing oxygen, water, fertiliser and grass seeds to better penetrate the surface. This encourages fresh grass growth that helps your lawn to survive the cold and appear luscious and healthy come the spring.

Paved Surfaces

Just as important as your commercial landscape is, as are the paved areas of your commercial grounds - especially since these are the areas that visitors are most likely to be using. The safety of your staff and visitors should always be at the forefront of your mind, which is why you want to take the necessary precautions to avoid accidents occurring as a result of snow and ice at your commercial property.

Professional grounds maintenance companies, such as us here at GMCB Ltd, have the necessary equipment and experience to clear any roads and paths on your site of snow, allowing your business to continue to run smoothly and efficiently whilst minimising risks of slips, trips and falls.

Alongside snow clearance, you also want to protect individuals who work at or visit your business from the hazards of ice. That’s where gritting comes in. Ice presents a slipping and skidding hazard for both cars and pedestrians, which can result in serious injuries. By gritting any pathways, road surfaces and uncovered car parks at your commercial premises, any ice will be dissolved and there will be better grip for cars to drive on and people to walk on, reducing the chances of potential accidents.

GMCB Ltd Grounds Maintenance Services

We understand that in running your business you may not have the time to focus on all the relevant landscaping tasks that need completing at your commercial property. On top of that, you may be lacking the staff and necessary equipment to carry these out. That’s why, at GMCB Ltd, we’re here to help.

Operating throughout Central Scotland, we offer a variety of commercial grounds maintenance services that would be indispensable as part of your autumn/winter landscaping plan, including tree pruning, weed killing, snow clearance and gritting.

Let us help you prepare for the harsh conditions of the Scottish winter by getting in touch with a member of our team today to learn more about the services we can offer your business.