Autumn leads with an extensive list of exterior property maintenance items with it. To get your Rolling Meadows rental property’s yard and exterior ready for winter, you may wish to take a closer look at the lawn to ascertain whether it warrants to be dethatched, leaves cleaned up, and trees and plants made ready to weather the cold temperatures.
Tenants are already responsible for a lot of the upkeep of a rental home. They do so much of the cleaning and maybe a few simple repairs. This is mainly because they live in the house and are directly affected by its condition. However, there are some risky tasks that they shouldn’t attempt. It’s for their own safety. They also shouldn’t try to do tasks that require technical expertise. For these types of tasks, they would do better by simply reporting them to the landlord. So, with respect to seasonal yard maintenance, there are many tasks that should not be a tenant’s responsibility. It doesn’t matter whether you like to be certain that the chore is conducted accurately, or the work would put your tenant’s safety at risk, these kinds of maintenance undertakings are better administered by those who know how to perform them correctly and safely.
A rental property’s lawn is a necessary element of the overall appeal and value of the home. Continual lawn maintenance should be an important consideration for both you and your tenant, as should other seasonal lawn maintenance tasks such as aerating and dethatching. As time progresses, the soil underneath a lawn will turn out to be compacted with dead grass and other debris. This collected material is called thatch. While a healthy lawn will benefit from a little bit of organic material, when thatch builds up too much it can prevent water and essential nutrients from penetrating the ground and reaching the roots of your grass. This can cause the lawn to turn brown and stop growing, instantly resulting in a landscaping eyesore. But once you remove the thatch, you encourage the grass to thicken up and also make it stronger and less likely to get a disease. Dethatching also increases the amount of water, air, and nutrients that can go through to the root zone of your plants.
There are two ways to address the thatch problem: dethatching or power raking and aerating. For little lawn areas, it is achievable to clear out thatch with a dethatching rake. The tines of the rake are formed to draw out the thatch upward, loosening it and separating it from the soil. To dethatch a lawn by hand, the lawn should be mowed to half of its normal height and then raked thoroughly. The loosened thatch can then be removed with your next mowing. To aerate a small lawn, you can rent an aerator machine that will remove small plugs of soil.
If you are preparing to accomplish this on your own, make sure that you clearly mark all sprinkler heads or utility lines, this way you don’t run over and damage them. You’ll also want to observe the directions thoroughly to guarantee that the aerator doesn’t damage your lawn in the process. Some professionals extend these services and you may wish to discuss this with them.
Naturally, if your rental property has a larger yard, these measures will be extremely hard and prolonged to execute yourself. You could rent a dethatching or power raking machine to assist with that task, but, similarly, with aerating, you’ll have to be prudent not to damage your irrigation system or some areas of the yard. Lawns that have been aerated or dethatched must furthermore be looked after safely later, or risk further ruin. Proper watering and fertilizing are steps that should be taken after a dethatching or aeration, to both protect your lawn and encourage the roots to grow.
Conceding that your tenant may look to be able, it is not a good idea to expect them to perform dethatching or aeration on your property’s lawn. If it follows that they don’t bring about an excellent job or have no clue what they are executing, they could probably cause extensive damage to your rental home’s yard, irrigation system, even septic or other utility lines. The equipment required to perform these maintenance tasks is not anything most tenants possess or will have used previously, substantially growing the probabilities that something will go awry and that they could even harm themselves in the process.
Putting your tenant’s safety at risk is never a wonderful idea, as it could cause you to be held liable for their pain and suffering. You could carry out lawn maintenance on your property yourself but contingent on the size of your rental home’s lawn, you might desire to hire a professional company to get in and work on these important lawn maintenance tasks for you.
In contrast to killing your time on seasonal maintenance tasks, take into consideration the rewards of enlisting Real Property Management Northwest Chicago Suburbs to tend to them for you. As the saying goes: time is money. It’s true for real estate investors as well. Free up your time by letting us handle your rental property for you. Our property maintenance services will make certain that important seasonal tasks are being conducted habitually and suitably, keeping your Rolling Meadows rental property in good shape year-round. To know and learn more, contact us online or call us at 847-892-4040 today.
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