Mobile Home Landscaping: 15 Things You Can Do For Fall

When you think of autumn, you probably think of rusty-colored leaves, pumpkins, and Halloween. One thing you probably aren’t thinking about is gardening.

 But fall can be the perfect time to tick some items of your landscaping checklist. It isn’t quite frosty yet. So you can still spend some pleasant afternoons outside.

Since autumn is around the corner, here are 15 ideas of things you can do with your mobile home landscaping for fall.

1 – Rake fallen leaves

Fall leaves are nostalgically beautiful. They decorate all the trees up and down the country, creating a patchwork of russet.

But unfortunately, they can become a nuisance as soon as they start to shed. Many people assume that you only need to rake the leaves for cosmetic reasons. However, that’s not the case. It’s critical for the health of your lawn too.

Your grass can get smothered by the cover of leaves. It can stop water, nutrients, and healthy airflow from reaching the roots of your grass. And even more importantly, it can block the sunlight from the lawn.

You need to rake up the leaves at least every three days until the trees have stopped shedding. Or until winter arrives.

A pro tip is to use a regular or mulching mower to shred all the leaves on your lawn. These bits and pieces won’t harm the grass and can save you lots of time.

2 – New shrubs and trees

Many gardeners love fall for planting. The cooler air can be beneficial for plants and planter alike. In addition to this, the soil is still relatively warm. Luckily, there are many shrubs and trees that do well if you plant them in fall.

Generally, you want to avoid planting in the late season around November. The early months are more favorable.

Here are a few of our favorites trees and shrubs to plant during fall:  

• Rhododendron
• Oakleaf hydrangea
• Spirea
• Alder
• Maple
• Ash
• And spruces

3 – Feed your garden

Most of the plants in your garden will probably look dormant in the autumn. But this isn’t entirely true. Plants often use this season to store nutrients and to prepare for winter. This is even the time when root systems often expand.

That’s why a great landscaping task for autumn is to fertilize your garden.

Lawn

First off, it is an excellent chance to feed your grass. Use a complete fertilizer that contains both nitrogen and potassium. The best time to do this is at the end of the season around November.

Spring bulbs

 Your spring bulbs will flourish with phosphorus-rich feed. This will help them to establish their roots. You can also mix in compost in the soil.

Perennials

 If you want them to really bloom in spring, use a fertilizer that is high in phosphate but low in nitrogen.

4 – Mulching

Once you have fertilized your garden, you can add new mulching to your garden. You need to place it around your perennials, trees, and shrubs. The layer will protect the roots from exposure to harsh weather. On top of this, it can prevent weeds from cropping up.

 The mulch should be less than three inches thick. Otherwise, you could accidentally suffocate the plants.

 A pro tip is to use the old fallen leaves, especially if you shredded them using a mulching mower. But you can also use plastic film, straw, hay, or wood chips.

 Remember to thin it out and pull it away once spring arrives.

5 – Start dividing and transplanting

After the growth of spring and summer, parts of your garden might even feel too lush. If your beds are feeling too crowded, you might want to spread out your plants.

Prepare a new bed somewhere in your yard. Transplant trees and large shrubs to this area. You could divide perennials like daylilies, irises, peonies, and lily-of-the-valley and move sections of them as well.

Keep in mind that the transplanted and divided plants will need some extra nurturing.

6 – Lay down pathways and walkways

So far, we’ve mostly looked at “soft landscaping.” This includes plants, soil, flowers, etc. But you can also update your hard landscaping which are the walkways, rocks, stones, porches and other built structures in your mobile home’s yard.

 While the greenery growth is tamed by autumn, you should start laying down that pathway and walkway you always wanted.

 Two of the most popular options are gravel and stepping stones.

Gravel

We all know that pleasing crunch of a gravel pathway. It is relatively easy to set up and isn’t too expensive.

 Alternatively, you can use wood chips, seashells, peacock, or limestone for a different appearance and effect.

The downside is that the pieces of rock can easily end up in your beds, on your porch, or in your home. They aren’t a good choice if you live in an area with heavy rain or snowfall like Michigan.

You need to install edging around the border of the path using metal, bricks or larger rock.

Stepping stones

These walkways are often even easier to install. You could place large flat stones along the route. Or for a snugger fit, dig a hole for each piece. If you want to create a cozy cottage look, this is the way to go. 

7 – Cleaning and maintenance

Like any other season, there are some general maintenance and cleaning you want to do before it’s over. Many of these tasks are necessary for winterizing your mobile home and yard.

 Here are a few examples of chores you need to take care of:

• Clean out the gutters. All the leaves and other debris can eventually clog up your gutters. This can turn into a disaster once all the winter snow melts.
• Treat and apply new finishes to your outdoor wooden fixtures to protect them from the winter weather.   
• Clean and put away all your garden and work equipment.
• Store your outdoor furniture inside if you can.
• Check and replace weather stripping and caulking if necessary.
• Turn off all your exterior taps. Drain all the water from the outside pipes and faucets including your sprinkler system and the garden hose.
• Fix and fill any cracks in your sidewalk or driveway before it gets worse.

8 – Get to painting

Autumn can be a great time to improve the curb appeal of your mobile home. Besides working on your garden, you can update the exterior of the house too. The walls are the background to your landscaping. You want to think about the complete picture.

 It’s incredible to see the difference that a fresh coat of paint will make. You might want to think about painting the walls, trim, and porch too.

 On top of this, you’ll want to paint your fence and any other built fixtures in the yard.

9 – Fall flowers

As gorgeous as it may be, eventually you might get a bit tired of all the fall colors. It can be a great idea to mix up the color palette with some new shades. Preferably, you should have planted them already. However, with extra care, they can still stun you.

• Pansies
• Dahlias
• Cosmos
• Cornflowers
• Sage
• Asters
• Verbena

 These are just a few of the flowers that can brighten up your autumn garden.

10 – Care for your lawn

We’ve already covered fertilizing and raking your grass. However, that’s not all you need to do. Lawns are fairly high maintenance in the fall. There’s much you need to do to prepare them for next year.

In addition to those tasks, you also want to aerate the soil and reseed the lawn. First, take a pitchfork and prick some small holes in the ground. This will let the soil breathe and allow air, nutrients, and water to seep in. Then add some new seeds to the soil.

Do this before you fertilize the grass. And make sure to water it adequately.

11 – Do some weeding

You might ask why you should bother with taking out weeds now. They will all die once winter comes. However, you have to look forward and plan ahead.

Most weeds seed in the fall. In other words, this is when their seeds will spread. Those seeds will be ready to come up once the weather and soil become warm in the spring. 

So, if you want to contend with fewer weeds later on, you should nip them in the bud in autumn. 

You can use a commercial or a DIY herbicide to kill them and then pull them up, root and stem.

Read here for a list of homemade weed killers that you can try.

12 – Prepare for spring

An expert tip for any beginner gardener is to think ahead. The experts know that this is the way to creating a garden that flourishes season after season, year after year. So get a jump on next year and make plans for spring.

Believe it or not, the fall months are fantastic to plant some spring bulbs. The soil will still be pretty warm, which will encourage them to develop their root systems to bloom just in time for spring.

 A few of the best flowers to choose are:  

• Snowdrops
• Daffodils
• Tulips
• Striped squills
• Spring crocuses

To plant these, dig a hole that is at least twice as deep as the size of the bulb. Twist it in place and cover it with soil.

 Now you can sit back and wait for the surprise of those first few pops of color come March.

13 – Get your shears out

You don’t want to get too eager with your pruning shears. Trimming dead branches can stimulate new growth too early before the weather warms up again. For this reason, you don’t want to prune spring-flowering shrubs. And avoid trimming roses or perennials with seed heads that feed birds.

 Also stay away from flowering fruit trees like cherry, peach, plum, pear, crabapple.

But there is some foliage that you should cut down. They are:

• Dead limbs on trees
• Perennials which are susceptible to diseases like hollyhocks and bearded iris.
• Plants that are prone to mildew problems like peonies and phlox.
• Salvia shrubs
• You can trim fall flowering shrubs and plants once their blooms have faded late in the season.

14 – Warm up with a fire pit

Do you want a cozy hangout spot in the yard?

Then why not install a fire pit? Fall is the perfect time to spend a lovely evening sitting around the fire, chatting with close friends and family. That’s why it is a fantastic landscaping project for autumn.

 If you are handy, you can do-it-yourself. You can build one out of brick or stone. Otherwise, you can always buy a freestanding one.

 We recommend that you get some seats to place around the fire. And if you are constructing it from scratch, you can build your own benches too.

 Take a look at these examples while you imagine all the s’mores you can roast.

15 – Put up some outdoor decorations

The cherry on the cake of your landscaping is your outdoor decor. 

To most of us, nothing says autumn like pumpkins. Best of all, you can use them in a variety of ways.

Make a family activity out of carving a few. Besides this, a carved pumpkin can make a unique flower pot or vase. They will look very festive if you arrange them around your steps and porch. Remember you don’t have to stick with orange. Pumpkins come in a variety of colors.

Another brilliant way to celebrate autumn’s bounty is to create a harvest table effect. You can use crates or even make wreaths to show off some seasonal vegetables and fruits like ornamental cabbage, gourds, apples, and pears.

An excellent way to add some warmth to your yard is to add some lighting. Line your pathways with porches and lanterns. Make your garden more whimsical by draping fairy lights in your trees and shrubs.

Fall magic

There is no reason why fall should look drab and dreary. Even if you only tick off a few tasks on this list of things to do, you will be a couple of steps closer to making your mobile home magical. It should help you improve your mobile home landscaping for the upcoming seasons too.

It doesn’t have to stop there. There are endless customization options open to you. Take a look at a guide to creating the perfect outdoor area for your mobile home. And for a bit of outdoors fun check out what the view from your mobile home says about you.