It’s always disappointing when summer is finally, truly over. The kids are back in school, and it’s time to put away all those backyard games and the pool toys, too. Yes, it’s time to winterize your yard, and that includes your pool area and artificial grass. The pool will be a lot more work than your grass. That certainly wasn’t the case when you had a natural grass lawn, was it?
Winterizing your pool
You could have your pool service close down your in-ground pool, but you can also save money by doing the work yourself. It’s tedious but not terribly difficult. You will need to:
- Give the pool one final cleaning. Skim off leaves or other debris, clear the in-pool skimmer and pump basket.
- If you have a removable diving board, steps, or rails, do that now.
- Add winterizing chemicals to keep your water in balance as it sits idle over the winter. You’ll probably need Pool Shock, a scale/rust remover or algaecide – talk with your pool service to learn what they recommend for your type of pool. You’ll need to dilute the Pool Shock (3 parts water to 1 part product) but the other products can be added to your pool as is.
Do you plan to cover your pool? This is a smart move to keep out debris and anything else that could blog into your pool over the winter, making spring clean-up much more difficult and potentially causing damage. These simple steps will protect your pool:
- Stretch out the cover along one wide of the pool. With a helper, grab a corner and walk the cover across the surface to the other side. Keep it elevated a little, so it doesn’t scoop up water.
- Secure it all around with water tubes.
- You can then add a leaf net over the top, following the same process, and secure it. This is a great way to capture remaining leaf fall, and you can remove it once all the trees are bare.
You don’t have to winterize your artificial grass
Simply tidy it up, give it a close inspection, and call it good. And good it is – just think how pretty it will continue to look around your pool, even as the pool remains dormant for the winter. Even if we have a cold snap with heavy frost, your artificial grass is up to the challenge. It is the definition of rugged, in every way.
Many of our customers like to schedule an end-of-season Turf Tune-Up. Our Heavenly Greens pros will come spend a half-day doing the inspection and tidying up for you, and they’ll fix any minor problems they find.
What about your putting green or bocce ball court?
Thanks to the beauty and versatility of modern artificial grass, more and more homeowners are installing these amenities in their backyards. Here, too, winterizing is nothing more than a minimal effort to tidy up, inspect, and you’re good to go. Really, good, actually, because the change in seasons is no reason to stop playing.
In fact, weather predictions for this winter indicate we’re likely to have normal or above-normal temperatures. So you may want to organize a bocce or putting tournament for the holidays. Before guests arrive, you can also call upon our Heavenly Greens maintenance experts to give your putting green a professional once-over.
You’re all done!
It’s time to stand back and admire your handiwork. It looks good, doesn’t it? But it could be even prettier. As you’re waiting for spring to return, consider adding a winter-minded garden.
