Rough winter weather can take a heavy toll on your hardscaping elements.
While winter brings freezing temperatures and snow, many wonderful things make the season a beautiful and magical time of year. If you take pride in your landscape and hardscape, however, you might have different feelings about the month of winter. Rough winter weather can take a heavy toll on your outdoor patio or walkway. Luckily, we have some tips on caring for your hardscape during the winter months so you can relax with that cup of hot cocoa afterward. Keep reading to learn more.
Clean and Weed Your Yard
The first and easiest step is to weed, sweep your hardscape, and wash off the stones. Cleaning your patio, walkway, or driveway will ensure less work after the snow has fallen. Dirt and debris trapped underneath the snow can stain and dull your pavers. While cleaning, keep an eye out for any damages you should fix before the snow comes, such as a small crack or hole in the stone. It’s also important to remove snow as quickly as possible. While the snow won’t harm your pavers, the eventual water runoff seeps into the stone pores and causes damage as refreezing and thawing occurs.
Shovel Carefully
As annoying as it is to shovel snow, don’t take your frustration out on your paver stones. Metal shovels can get caught on the stone’s edges, pulling them up and allowing dirt, ice, salt, sand, and leaves to collect in the winter. Scraping from the metal on brick can also ruin the color of the stone and can make pavers more brittle and likely to break. Instead, use a plastic or rubber-edged shovel to avoid chipping or scratching your hardscape surface.
Prepare Your Outdoor Kitchen
Many people only have one outdoor appliance, such as a grill, that is kept out all year. If you don’t use your grill year-round, consider storing it in your shed or garage. On the other hand, if you have a full outdoor kitchen, it is important to start winterizing your appliances:
- Shut off the water supply to outdoor sinks and drain pipes to ensure no pipes freeze during the winter.
- Cover your sink to prevent leaves or ice from getting inside and staining it.
- Disconnect all electricity to outdoor appliances – but do not cover them because moisture can collect on wiring and damage equipment.
- Seal stone countertops with specialty winter sealant to prevent leaf stains and cracks.
Interested in Improving Your Outdoor Living Space? Consider Landscape and Hardscaping Design Services from Carroll Landscaping
Carroll Landscaping has over 30 years of experience with landscape construction, porch construction, deck building, and hardscape installation. Our award-winning landscape designers are passionate about providing customers with top-notch service and landscape design. Our landscape designers have a creative design outlook and work as a team with our installation crews to make your vision a reality. We are committed to providing every customer with the highest quality workmanship, professional and knowledgeable service, and creativity in design in order to surpass our clients’ expectations in every aspect of the project.
We serve residents throughout the beautiful state of Maryland including Baltimore, Columbia, Ellicott City, Eldersburg, Clarksville, Sykesville, Manchester, Westminster, and Woodstock. For more information and to schedule a consultation with one of our expert designers, contact us online or give us a call at 410-922-2416.