Preparing the garden for winter

PREPARING THE GARDEN FOR WINTER

Autumn in the garden is a special time. It's November already, and autumn still dominates our windows. Some people sit comfortably in their houses, preferring only to watch their garden turn golden. Others decide to roll up their sleeves and prepare their patch of green for the coming winter. We, as avid DIY enthusiasts, lean towards the latter solution, because even people without a horticultural flair should remember that the end of the year is a period of intense work that will bear fruit when spring comes. It is also important to realize that not only plants, but also our tools need "help" before winter arrives.

Where to start preparing your garden for winter?

Autumn cleanup in the garden takes a long time, but it is necessary. Before frost sets in, you need to prepare your garden well for winter. How to put the garden in order in the fall? What work needs to be done?

Fallen, dry leaves must be removed before the end of the season.

If there are a lot of trees in your garden, you surely know what a difficult task lies ahead: you need to clean the lawn of leaves, twigs and layers of dead plant parts and mosses. The leaves from the lawn can be removed with a rake, but this work will be facilitated by a garden vacuum cleaner with a blower function. If your age is 30+, you know that playing with a rake is fun, but when you wake up the next day, your back tells you that you've had a collision with a truck. A garden blower comes in handy! The weight of the device itself is less than 2 kg. Due to the length of the pipe, you do not have to bend down. The high speed of the air stream (up to 210 km / h!) Will allow you to make your own little hurricane in the garden. The rubber handle also makes your hands rest. As if all this was not enough, the icing on the cake is the lack of wires. Yes! Both the DED7093 and DED7094 models are powered by rechargeable batteries. You can choose from 3 models of batteries with different capacity: 2Ah, 4Ah and 5Ah. Finally, the question remains, what are we, little gardeners, to do with this mountain of leaves? There are several ways. The most economical and ecological solution is to use the leaves for compost. It will be used to fertilize the soil in the following seasons and will have a great effect on the condition of plants. There is also one more solution: you can blow all the leaves to your neighbor - but we do not recommend this solution;)

Mowing the lawn is an inseparable element of garden preparation.

In the last part of the summer season, the lawn is mowed much less frequently. At the turn of October / November 2 mowing will be enough. The entire weather allows for the last trim of the grass. Remember that the optimal height is about 4 cm. The lawn, trimmed in this way, will be protected against frost. For such works, of course, we need a mower. Depending on the area to be mown, we can choose electric, petrol or, in my case, battery mowers. As a DIY enthusiast, I already have several pieces of the SAS + ALL system in my collection of tools. This is an obvious choice for me. All batteries that I use for tools such as a screwdriver, saw or garden blower are compatible with mowerscm-motor-brushless.html "> Dedra DED7198 cordless mower and the larger model of the -2x18v DED7199 cordless mower . It is an incredible convenience. We do not need to have several types of batteries or chargers with us. help us start our mower. By adjusting the cutting height, we set the right level and only minutes away from the national stadium in our own garden.

Fall is the perfect time to trim bushes and trees.

When we are done tending the lawn and the leaves do not obscure the world, we can climb higher. Time to trim trees and shrubs. Remember that fall is the perfect time for this. Before winter, remove dry and rotten tips. The tray of every DIY enthusiast who also works in the garden should not lack tools for such works. Depending on what you are dealing with, choose the right equipment. Use pruning shears to trim low trees and shrubs. The DEDRA 80A010 anvil pruner for dry branches is the perfect choice. A solid steel construction with a Teflon coated blade will handle the cutting of twigs up to 20mm. The device is ideal for men and women. Working with him is pure pleasure. However, when a large tree or shrub with thicker shoots is standing in front of us, a larger caliber is needed. DEDRA 80A030 and 80A031 anvil cantilever secateurs come to our aid. Thanks to the use of a gear that increases the force three times, we can cut branches up to 35mm! The light and solid aluminum construction allows you to cut for a long time without feeling tired. The long arms of the secateurs will allow you to reach the highest shoots. Although, as you know, hand tools are for amateurs ...

When you know that none of you are Salvador Dali and precise cuts are not your specialty, it's the time when you need to move heavy artillery out of the workshop. Like most DIY enthusiasts, we also adhere to the principle: "If it can be easier and faster, do it". You will admit that you need to make your life easier. The Dedra company will help us in this, and cleaning in the garden will make you a real lumberjack. Your thujas (or if you prefer thuje) have grown like a jungle? Take the DEDRA electric hedge trimmer. As always, here you also have a choice: electric or battery. As a supporter of aku devices, I took three models to the test workshop: DED7092 , DED7192V and DED7096 . The long blades of the first two devices: 51cm and 60cm will allow you to do wonders. Depending on the selected model, you can cut branches and shrubs with a maximum thickness of up to 28mm. Laser cut blades will allow you to shade like a cleaver. Thanks to the rotating handle, you can easily cut any of the planes without having to set yourself in positions that are far from comfortable. The shears are very light. Most importantly, safety during work is ensured by a hand guard and a "safe" switch. The DED7096 is a real combine. We are dealing here with two devices in one. Shears + saw on the extension arm. A very important element of this product is the boom itself, which allows you to work at a height of 3 to 5 meters. The highest parts of our trees and shrubs become accessible like low hanging apples. As in other SAS + ALL models, we have high-quality components here: laser-cut blades or a saw guide from the renowned OREGON brand . Cleaning the garden is a pleasure with such a set of tools.

How to cut down a tree inthe garden?

Many of us will face a real job for the woodcutter. Cutting down a tree. It happens that it withers or just gets in the way and needs to be removed. You can do this in two ways. Felling with an ax or chainsaw. The shear technique itself, regardless of the selected tool, is a topic for a separate post. Let's focus on choosing a saw. We have a choice of petrol, electric or battery chainsaws. In the perimeter of the house, the most convenient solution is to use an electric or cordless saw. However, when you have to go further or you have a real redwood tree to cut, don't hesitate and use a chain saw. DEDRA's offer includes the proven powerful DED8711 model with a power of 2.1 HP and a 45 cm guide. Thanks to the reasonable power and a properly selected guide, we can handle really thick trunks. The chain used was a half chisel chain. What does it mean? A chain with such a profile cuts slightly slower than a full chisel, however, they are more resistant to working in difficult conditions with contaminated material (wood contaminated with earth, sand). Chisels with such a profile are recommended for both professionals and amateurs of home cutting. All you need to do is chop the tree into bars and we have ready fuel for winter evenings.

We dealt with the cut. We have ready bars of wood. How to prepare firewood? How to store firewood?

Firewood requires proper preparation before it goes to the hearth. The method of storage, and even the way the wood is arranged, affect the quality of the wood and the amount of heat it will give to the fireplace. For this purpose, the wood should be stored for at least one year in a dry and covered place. When storing wood in the air, it is best to stack it against the building wall. The stack should have the shape of a cuboid, thanks to which it will have adequate air circulation. We cover everything in advance so that no water gets there.

Before winter, also remember to protect your tools for the winter.

Remember to protect your workshop equipment in winter. With the end of the season and the arrival of frosts, it is very important to properly protect your tools. Thanks to this, they will serve us for many years to come. In the case of a mower, clean the body and knives, which should also be sharpened and covered with a preservative. Drain residual fuel from combustion appliances. Also, do not leave gasoline mixtures for two-stroke machines. Always prepare a new batch immediately before work. Clean all hand tools such as shovels, rakes, scissors and secateurs with water, dry and also lubricate with preservative. If you have rechargeable devices in your assortment, remember to protect the batteries from negative temperatures. Store them in a garage or basement where the temperature will be above freezing. If you have completed the above tasks, all you need to do is cut wood for the fireplace and enjoy the heat while sipping mulled wine;)