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The temperatures are rapidly dropping, the grounds are building up ice overnight and pretty soon Winter will have come.

Here is a list of some stuff you can do around your home to help prepare for the Winter Season.

Bird Feeders

If you have any bird feeders outside your home now is the time to clean them out before the winter birds begin to arrive.

Get rid of the old or mouldy seeds in the bottom of the feeders as they can harbour diseases which can harm the winter birds.

Scrub the inside of the bird feeder with a brush and rinse thoroughly.

Prepare your Plants for Winter

Once the ground begins to freeze you can spread some winter mulch around your plants to help them begin going dormant before the winter arrives.

If you spread it too soon before the ground begins to freeze it will keep the soul warmer for a longer period of time delaying the plants from going dormant.

If you are bringing any plants indoors for the winter be sure to check them for any bugs that might be hiding in the plant.

The underside of the leaves is known to be a place to find webbing of spider mites while the leaf axils, where the leaves attach to the stems, are a favourite hiding place of the white, cottony mealybugs.

Dark coloured scale insects hug the stems and veins of the leaves and can be invisible to the eyes unless you really look closely enough.

The best solution to ensure you’re not bringing in all of these insects is to wash the leaves and branches of your plants with insecticidal soap.

Protect your Tree Trunks

Tree trunks are usually affected by sunscald and gnawing rodents during the winter.

Use plastic spiral tree wraps or brown paper wraps to help protect the trunk but be sure to put them in place before the first snow fall so they will extend all the way to the ground and stop critters from sneaking underneath for protection from the snow.