House exteriors and yards need regular inspection and maintenance. Here are some Yard Maintenance Checklist Items that many homeowners overlook.
Fruit Trees Over Roof
Fruit trees attract rats and racoons. Allowing fruit trees to grow over your roof invites hungry pests into your structure. Trim fruit trees to keep them from growing over your roof. Pictured here are loquat fruits hanging over a sloped roof.
Dropped Fruit
Pick up dropped fruit daily to keep your property rat and fruit fly free. Leaving fruit on the ground attracts insects and invites rats to your property. Additionally, these flies live and breed in decaying fruit on the ground. It takes as little as three days for a fruit fly infestation to begin. These pests often find their way into your house and it’s difficult to clear them once they get in. Pictured above are apricots on the ground.
Keep Chimney Stack Clear
Pictured here is a tree growing directly over a chimney stack. Prevent house fires by keeping the area over your chimney clear of anything that can catch fire. This chimney vents directly into the combustible branches of a tree. Moreover, this situation allows for pests like rats and raccoons easy access into your house.
Keep Vines off House
Vines growing on a house look charming, but they often harm your home with dry rot from the moisture they hold near the wood. Vines also grow into the wood which damages structural elements. Additionally, they let insects damage your woodwork under the leaves’ protective covering.
Vine Damage
Pictured here are overgrown vines damaging the roof and clogging rain gutters. Vines damage your wood trim, structure, ruin the roof, clog rain gutters and attract insects. Having them grow on your house may seem like a charming way to add character to your sturucture, but it is a bad idea.
Vines Over Tree Bases
Pictured here is the proper way to keep ivy, away from the base of a tree. Keep your tree roots and bases free of invasive plants and debris that can cause rot or insect infestation. The second photo is the wrong way to have ground covering around a tree. There is ivy around the base of the trunk and climbing up the tree. Keep vegetation away from the base of trees and from growing up them. Plants around the base of a tree can strangle the tree by weakening the lower part of the trunk.
Managing Shrub Size and Scale
These overgrown shrubs and bushes make this house appear unkempt and diminish its curb appeal. This home is nicely maintained, but the overgrown landscaping prevents neighbors from seeing the that. Keep landscaping trimmed to proper size, scale, and proportion to enhance a home’s beauty. A properly maintained yard is a crucial part of a beautiful house.
All Los Angeles Painting Company, Inc. 310-470-9218 provides Yard Maintenance Checklist Items and home management services.
