Fall Yard Clean-Up

It is that time of year again. I haven't the slightest clue as to how it got here that fast! It's well into November now, and last week was the first chance I had to rake a bit and get my patio and deck ready for winter. Because the snow will come. 

The yard is in a strange transition. Since it has been such a warm fall, there are perennials beginning their new growth, and flowers blooming. Some of my plants look like they should in the spring time. The backyard needs a little T.L.C... okay, so it needs a lot of it. Since we have construction going on in the backyard, and half of the yard is torn up, I haven't been as vigilant back there as I normally would have been at this point in time.

All of the tree leaves in our yard have come down, and they all like to gather in and around the pond.

On Saturday, we found ourselves with a couple of hours of time, so I got the rake out and went to work gathering some of the leaves up.

I have to admit that I really don't mind raking. The weather is usually so nice and crisp and gorgeous, and you notice such a difference after the leaves are all raked. AND, the exercise doesn't hurt, either.

While I was raking, Bob was working over by our firepit, getting it ready for some trenches to be dug on Monday.

The fish have quieted down and are enjoying the cool weather. Koi "hibernate" over the winter, so we stop feeding them, and now that we've turned the pond pump off, we'll place a bubbler in the pond for some aeration. Other than that, they keep to themselves and slow way down.

Since we're getting rid of the pond, the fish are going to have to find another home. We've given a few of the fish away, but there is still a good group of them that need to move on. I hate to see them go, but it will be nice not to have the worry of the pond with my little grandson and other future grandbabies running around the yard.

And after our work day, my patio now looks like this...

It's not quite as inviting as it is during the summer, but at least everything is buttoned down and ready for the winter weather. We even turned the sprinkler water off for the year, emptied the hoses of water and coiled them up, and put the faucet insulators in place. 

I still have some gardening clean-up to do before winter sets in, but we've made a good dent in the fall project list.