Our Fall Cleanup Checklist for Chicagoland Yards

By Yuritzy Landscape · October 15, 2026

If you're wondering what really needs to happen in your yard before winter, and what can wait until spring, this is the list we'd give you. We've been cleaning up yards around North Riverside every fall since 1992, and most of it comes down to timing. Get these done between the first frost and the day the ground freezes, and spring is a lot easier.

1. Get the Leaves Off, and Plan on More Than One Pass

Leaves are the big one. A wet mat of leaves left on the grass all winter smothers it, and come March you'll find dead, matted patches where snow mold took hold. If you have big oaks and maples, like so many yards in Riverside, La Grange and Western Springs, one cleanup usually isn't enough, because the trees don't all drop at the same time.

Clear the patio and walks too. Wet piles sitting on pavers can leave brown stains that take a while to fade.

2. Feed the Lawn and Drop the Mower a Notch

Most lawns around here are cool-season grasses, bluegrass and fescue blends, and in the fall they put their energy into roots instead of blades. That makes fall the best time of year to fertilize. Overseeding works best in early fall, but aeration and a late-season feeding can still go down in October. Keep mowing as long as the grass keeps growing, and lower the deck a notch for the last cut. Just don't scalp it.

3. Clean Up the Beds, Then Mulch

Cut back the perennials that turned to mush after the first frost, and pull whatever weeds are left before they drop seed. You don't have to cut everything down. Ornamental grasses and sturdy seed heads look good poking out of the snow, and the birds will use them. Once the soil has cooled off, a fresh layer of mulch helps protect roots from all the freezing and thawing we get here.

4. Water the Evergreens Before the Ground Freezes

This one is easy to forget. Boxwoods, arborvitae and yews keep losing water all winter, and on dry, windy days they can't pull any up from frozen ground. That's the browning you see on evergreens in late winter. Give them a long, deep soak before the ground freezes, especially anything planted in the last year or two. Shrubs along the driveway or the street may also need some protection from salt spray and plowed snow.

5. Winterize Your Irrigation System

Winterizing your irrigation system, also called a blowout, means clearing the water out of the lines with compressed air. Any water left in the lines, valves or backflow device can freeze and crack them. Get it done before the first hard freeze, and you won't be paying for repairs at spring startup. We winterize irrigation systems too, so you can book it along with your fall cleanup.

6. Take a Quick Look at Your Pavers

A paver patio built on a properly dug and compacted base, the way we build ours, handles our winters fine. A quick walk around it now still pays off:

• Low spots and loose pavers. Water that sits in a dip freezes, expands and pushes the pavers up even more. Make a note of them now, while the ground is still soft enough to fix.
• Joint sand. If rain has washed sand out of the joints, sweep more in. Full joints keep the pavers tight and the weeds out.
• Downspouts and drains. Point downspouts away from the patio, walks and foundation, and clear the leaves out of any patio drains.
• Sealing can wait. Sealer needs warm, dry days to go on right, and with cold nights and damp mornings it's hard to get a good application this time of year. If your pavers are due, plan it for late spring or summer.

7. Get Ready for Snow and Salt

Put stakes along the driveway edges and bed lines before the first snow so plows and shovels stay on the pavement. On pavers and stone, a plastic shovel blade is gentler than a metal one. When you buy de-icer, look for one labeled safe for concrete and pavers, and skip anything with ammonium nitrate or ammonium sulfate in it. Go easy near the lawn and beds, too, because salt burns plants.

If you'd rather not deal with any of it, our snow removal crews take care of driveways and walks all season. Here's why it pays to book before the first snow.

When to Schedule It

In most years, the window for a fall cleanup runs from mid-October until the ground freezes, which usually happens sometime between late November and December. If you have a lot of trees, plan on two visits: one when most of the leaves are down, and a quick second pass before the snow.

A common mistake we see is waiting until the last minute to confirm a fall cleanup. Then the weather turns, the window closes, and the leaves end up sitting on the lawn until spring. Our advice is simple: confirm your fall cleanup as soon as you can.

Want Us to Handle It?

Our maintenance crews do fall cleanups, leaf removal, pruning, mulching, fertilizing and irrigation winterizing in North Riverside and the towns around us, from Riverside and Brookfield to La Grange, Western Springs and Hinsdale. Schedule a complimentary consultation or call us at (708) 853-1800. We'll walk the yard with you and tell you what it needs before winter.