Most people start thinking about winter the day of the first storm—by then, it’s too late. In Grey Bruce and Collingwood, winter isn’t a season that “happens” to your property; it’s a force you can plan for. A couple of smart moves in October can save you thousands by April—less lawn repair, fewer broken fixtures, fewer trees lost to snow load or wind burn.
I asked our Property Care and Winter crews a simple question: What actually prevents damage? Not theory—what you see on real sites at 3 a.m. during a lake-effect blast. Their answers became this playbook. Use it before the first snowfall so your place still functions in February and looks great come spring.
1. Have a clear plan
When the first whiteout hits, we don’t guess—we follow a clear plan. We always say, “If it’s not marked on a dry day, it’ll get hit on a snowy night.”
Start by staking the property and mapping a snow plan. Tall, visible stakes mark driveway edges, garden beds, hedges, steps, stoops, and tight turns so operators can see the true edges when everything is buried. That keeps you from losing the full width of the drive and prevents lawn scalping and crushed bed lines.
On the same site map, decide where banks will go—and where you’ll push back after big storms—keeping piles off fences, retaining walls, lighting, and new plantings, and preserving safe sight lines at the road. We include full-property staking, snow-bank planning, and a pre-season route walkthrough in our snow service so nothing’s a surprise when the first event hits.
2. Prepare your property
Winter storms can turn loose items into major problems. To prevent damage to equipment and ensure a smoother snow removal process, address these areas before the first snowfall:
Clear Loose Items:
- Move any toys, ornaments, or other small objects that a snowblower could consume or a snow pile could crush. This protects both your belongings and the snow removal equipment.
Manage Lighting:
- Remove any temporary or detachable lighting fixtures.
- Wrap permanent fixtures located in plow paths or areas where snow piles will be created.
- Be aware that hanging string lights can accumulate ice, leading to snapped wires and broken brackets.
Protect Landscaping:
- Delicate Plantings: Keep sensitive plants away from under tall or steel rooflines, which can shed heavy slabs of snow.
- Evergreens: Burlap-wrap young evergreens or those exposed to high winds for protection.
- Hedges: Prune back hedges along driveways and walkways to prevent them from being shredded by snow removal equipment.
- Perennial Beds: If a garden bed will be used as a snow storage area, cut back perennials before winter to ensure a clean and intentional snow-dumping zone.
Our Property Care team is available to assist with tasks such as deadheading, pruning, and burlap wrapping, ensuring these vulnerable areas are ready before the first freeze.
3. Winterize water lines and water features
Water only has one job in winter—find a way to expand and crack something. Don’t give it the chance.
To winterize irrigation systems, blow out the lines, drain backflow devices and valves, and shut down controllers. This is crucial, as freezing water expands quickly and can crack fittings.
For ponds and other water features, remove pumps if necessary and follow the manufacturer's instructions for winter preparation.
Irrigation close-outs are best left to a certified professional.
What happens if you don’t prepare your landscape for winter?
We’ve seen it all: trees snapped after early wet-snow events—weak unions and unprotected evergreens give way under load. We’ve seen retaining walls distorted over a few winters because banks were stacked against them every storm—damage that runs into the tens of thousands but was avoidable with proper staking and better bank placement. And we’ve seen lawns destroyed on unstaked properties—sod peeled back like a carpet. All preventable, all cheaper to avoid than to fix.
If you want help getting ahead of the first snowfall, we can stake your property, map snow banks, wrap vulnerable evergreens, and run a pre-season walkthrough so your site still functions in winter and looks great come spring. Serving Grey Bruce, Owen Sound, Port Elgin, and Collingwood.
