Here are a whole year’s ideas and suggestions for maintaining house, home, mansion or cabin in 2017:
This month – Protect yourself and your house in 2017
If you’ve never owned a fire extinguisher before, buy a simple one for the kitchen and read the instructions carefully. Then install new batteries in your smoke and carbon monoxide detectors and similar battery-operated devices. Do it every January and you’ll remember to keep doing it. You might want to buy 10-year, lithium batteries for these alarms. Start off by changing filters on your HVAC system, and from now on do it monthly.
February – Show a little love for your garden
Resolve to get rid of weeds by applying pre-emergent to parts of your yard that get weedy, but avoid spraying areas of plants you want to keep. Then spray everything in your yard with fertilizer – citrus and nut trees, annuals, perennials and ground covers, all shrubs and flowering plants. This is probably your last chance to prune deciduous trees. You can also prune apples, peaches, nectarines, apricots, pomegranates, and nuts. If you want to plant summer vegetables like beans, corn, squashes, pumpkins and more, you can put seeds in the ground starting later this month, depending on your location.
March – It’s time for a big cleaning inside and out
Do some spring cleaning in closets and garage. Make it your goal to find space in your garage to park two cars. Remember if you don’t do the garage now, you won’t want to go out there to work on it once Arizona temperatures start rising. This is a good time to plant shrubs and flowers.
April – Summer will be here soon
Wash windows; clean sunscreens and install them. Call an air conditioning expert to tune-up your heating and air conditioning system. Maybe it’s time to buy a new air conditioner. Drain your water heater to remove sediment that can shorten the lifespan of your water heater. Check on your swimming pool’s pump and heater to make sure everything works. Take a look at your home’s exterior. Is the stucco getting chipped and cracked? Is the wooden fascia showing its age? It might be time to have the house repainted. Remember, a thin layer of paint will be the only protection your home has in the hot summer sun.
May – Clean up the outdoor grill; prepare for the heat
Plan some big barbecue feasts for Mother’s and Father’s Day and Memorial Day. Fertilize citrus and all other plants. Check your drip irrigation system; all emitters should be operating. Repair any leaks. Maintaining irrigation lines should be done monthly all year long, but be especially careful during our long, sometimes hot growing season.
June – Monsoon storms may be on their way
Have the whole roof checked for repairs. Check for leaks in windows. Protect trunks of citrus and young trees from intense sun by covering them with special paint designed for citrus. Monitor and reset your irrigation clock for summer watering times; protect vegetables and other plants with mulch.
July – Watch for scorpions, mosquitoes and more
Clean up firewood, plant debris and piles of rocks where scorpions may lurk. Look for them around palm trees. Fight mosquitoes by draining buckets, pails and other standing water where bugs breed. If you haven’t tried our super-cooling system to control air conditioning costs, check it out. You can cool off your home during off-peak electric hours so you can turn off power at times when the price per kilowatt hour goes up.
August – Ready to eat more veggies?
Resolve to plant a vegetable garden and start planning now. Some favorites like cucumbers and cauliflower can be planted this month; the big season starts in September. If this is your first try, prepare your bed with compost and fertilizer; think about planting easy growers like lettuces.
September – It’s time to replant and refurbish
Fall is a good time to put in more trees and shrubs so they can start growing before winter. Fertilize your citrus. If you’re overseeding a lawn, buy supplies and get to work.
October – You can still plant some vegetables
If you don’t have room for a full garden, put in an herb garden in a small raised bed. Have the chimney swept if you burn wood or logs. Or maybe change over the fireplace from wood to natural gas. Check smoke alarms using the test button; replace any devices that don’t work. Remove sunscreens.
November – Spiff up for holiday celebrations and visiting friends
Get your carpets and upholstery cleaned. Install any new appliances you might need. Clean your oven and microwave to get ready for holiday feasts. Clean up the guest bedroom and buy some luggage racks. Be careful as you climb ladders to hang lights and other Christmas decorations.
December – Watch out for frosty nights
From December and possibly until March in Tucson areas, protect plants from frost damage at night. Buy frost cloth and similar coverings at nurseries. You can also use cotton sheets, but not plastic materials. Wrap exposed water pipes at the point where they enter the house. Keep that live tree inside the house well-watered.
All of this might sound like a lot of work, but once you get into a routine, these suggestions will help create a happy and bright future in the home you love.
