Maintenance and Repairs

October 8, 2026 Published by Golden Horseshoe Chapter - By Steve Polley

The Work That Pays Off in March: Why Fall Matters Most for Condo Grounds

From the Volume 29, Fall 2026 issue of the CCI GHC Condo News Magazine

Fall is the easiest season to trim from a landscape budget, and the most expensive one to skip.

As the growing season winds down, the temptation is to let the property coast into winter and save a few invoices. But the weeks between the last mow and the first snowfall are when a corporation protects — or quietly forfeits — everything it spent on the grounds that year. The case for fall work is really a case against an expensive spring.

Begin with the leaves. Left in place, wet leaves mat down over the lawn and smother the grass beneath, leaving bare, dead patches that surface the moment the snow melts. Clearing them matters, but it helps to understand how the work is scheduled. Leaf cleanup is typically handled with a set number of timed visits, planned for when the bulk of the leaves have come down, rather than an ongoing week-to-week service. Because trees don’t all drop at once, a light scattering after the final visit is normal and isn’t a sign the work was missed — the goal is to clear the heavy cover before it can smother the lawn over winter.

Next comes the work that thickens and strengthens the turf for the year ahead. Aerating — pulling small plugs of soil from the lawn to relieve compaction — lets water, air and nutrients reach the roots. Paired with overseeding, the spreading of fresh grass seed, it fills in thin areas and builds a denser lawn that crowds out weeds the following season. Early fall, while the soil is still warm, is the ideal window. The final cuts matter as well: lowering the mowing height slightly on the last pass keeps long grass from matting under snow, and a fall feeding sends nutrients to the roots through dormancy so the lawn returns stronger in spring.

The plantings need attention too. Cutting back spent perennials tidies the beds and removes the dead growth where pests and disease overwinter. Vulnerable shrubs and young evergreens benefit from a wrap of burlap or a screen on the windward and salt-spray sides, which shields them from the drying winter wind and the salt thrown up by passing plows.

There’s one more fall task that costs almost nothing and prevents real damage: marking. Staking out garden beds, bed edges and irrigation heads before the snow flies tells the winter crews where the plants are. It’s the difference between a plow that skirts a bed and one that shears off its edge in the dark.

For a board or manager, the most valuable move in fall is simply to confirm that this work is actually in the maintenance contract — and getting done. Fall services are often the first to be quietly dropped when a season runs long or a budget runs tight, and the saving never survives contact with spring. A property put to bed properly in November needs a light tidy in March. One that wasn’t needs an overhaul.

Steve Polley is a Business Development Manager for Gelderman Landscape Services ULC. He supports commercial and residential properties in South Western Ontario.