Fall and Your Outdoor Space – Making the Most of What the Season Offers
This year, why not make the most of what the season has to offer? Don the sweaters, cup the hot drink, and sit by a cozy fire outside. Extending your living space beyond your home’s four walls offers you and your family many benefits. However, before you can comfortably enjoy your pumpkin-spice latte outside, your outdoor fall living space will need some seasonal maintenance.
Your Garden:
Autumn is the time to prepare your gardens for the colder temperatures of winter. Plants such as daylilies and irises can withstand the harshness of the upcoming cold and should be trimmed.
For the rest of your garden, it’s recommended to simply cut off any dead foliage and flower heads. Leaving the rest of the plant to serve as protection from the elements ensures that your garden will bounce back in the spring.
Your Fall Living Space: Leaves and Pumpkins
Fall’s cooler temperatures offer a unique opportunity to enhance the vibrancy and health of your outdoor living space. One of the richest sources of nutrients for your lawn is right in your backyard: fallen leaves.
These leaves, teeming with microbial life, not only improve the soil’s water retention but also its overall structure, making your fall living space more lush and vibrant. However, leaving them whole on the lawn might invite fungal growth, blocking sunlight. Shred them instead for effective soil absorption and as aesthetic mulch for your fall living space.
To shred leaves:
- Consider leaf mulchers, available at venues like Home Depot or Amazon.
- Or mow your lawn, set at a height of 3 inches, turning leaves into fine mulch ready for raking.
For effective raking, tools to consider include:
- Scotts 30-in Poly Rake with its Collapsible Garden Bag.
- The Amazing Rake RK31000 from Amazon.ca, designed for ease without bending.
- Quick-to-use Leaf Scoops.
- The Bagez tool to easily keep a leaf bag open.
Given the right compost conditions, leaves decompose within 3-6 months. Regularly dampen and turn them for consistent decomposition.
After Halloween, it’s time to repurpose pumpkins:
- Carved ones, composed of 90% water, quickly decompose. Cut and incorporate them into garden soil.
- Un-carved pumpkins, decomposing slower, present multiple uses:
- De-seed and dry for birds.
- Offer small pieces as wildlife food.
- Donate to local community gardens.
- Get creative, using them as seasonal or even holiday décor.
With minimal effort, your fall living space can radiate seasonal beauty, benefiting both the view and the vitality of the soil.
Your Fall Living Space - Embracing the Outdoors:
Extending your living space beyond your home’s four walls, especially during autumn, creates an enriching outdoor fall living space that not only adds value to your property but also enhances your quality of life.
Venturing outdoors can alleviate stress, depression, and anxiety, and even bolster your immune system. To maximize the experience, envision your outdoor fall living space as a seasonal extension of your home.
Enhance warmth and comfort with textiles as your base layer:
- Outdoor carpets introduce vibrant colors and textures and are effortless to maintain.
- Warm throws and soft pillows invite everyone outside for snug afternoons. Store them in durable containers when not in use to ensure longevity.
- Elevate ambiance with strands of outdoor lights intertwined through porch railings or decorative containers.
- Position LED candles in lanterns and scatter them thoughtfully throughout your fall living space.
- Ignite a fire for a communal gathering point. Choices abound with fire bowls, chimineas, and outdoor fireplaces readily available at retailers like Home Depot.
- For broader warmth distribution, outdoor heaters, in both propane and electric models, serve as excellent alternatives to open fires.
The breathtaking hues of autumn – the vibrant reds, yellows, and oranges – deserve admiration in their full splendor. An outdoor fall living space ensures you and your family enjoy nature’s spectacle while mirroring the coziness of your indoor setting.
To optimize your fall living space, approach it like any other room in your home. Winterize gardens, compost leaves and pumpkins, and lay the groundwork for memorable, cozy nights by the fire.