The Value of Eavestrough Maintenance

Living where we do, with such an abbreviated growing season, it seems everybody really values having trees in their yard, as it takes so many years to get them established, but when they do establish themselves they are remarkable in the growth they can attain in each of our short summers.

Our trees are great additions to our yard. We have the majestic old weeping birch tree in the front, some Goodland apples, crabapples and a beautiful flowering Strathmore Crab Apple in the back, along with some majestic Pyramidal Cedars and the ever present Lilac Bushes.

cleaning an eavestroughMuch and all as I love my trees, there is one feature they all exhibit that I could do without (if need tree maintenance company check this service https://www.treeserviceremoval.com/tn/dyersburg/). You see, most of these trees are deciduous, and as such drop all their leaves each fall. As some of the apples and the lilacs are adjacent to the garage, they get a bit large over time and end up with branches overhanging the eavestrough & indeed the roof of the buildings.

Each fall there’s a mess of leaves that drop on the roof and collect in the eavestrough, also the apples drop any damaged fruit onto the roof, and these as well end up lodged in the eavestrough.

And every fall I forget to clean them out!

A couple of seasons of neglect and next minute the downspout attaching to the eavestrough is pulling away from the weight of the debris in the guttering. Then the gutter sags, loses it’s level and is unable to drain the water from our sudden downpours we experience each summer. Couple that with clogged downspouts, and next minute every rain shower brings a cascade of water pouring over the eavestrough.

Such basic maintenance is just as important to the overall look and feel of the garden, as any impressive Kinetic wind sculpture, complicated lighting system or well thought out planting scheme.

It can be prevented so easily

clogged eavestroughAll it really needs is a trip up a ladder a couple of times a year, once in the fall, once in the spring, taking a hand trowel and a bucket and simply cleaning out the guttering. Simple, should take what, maybe half an hour, tops! Then why can’t seem to remember to do it?

Look at the mess I’m faced with now. I know I’ve left this for so many years that my eavestrough is beyond repair, and the downspouts are all as messed up as this one.

I now have a recurring “task” in my Outlook Calendar on my computer, set to alert me each fall and spring, we’ll see if that jogs my memory.

 

 

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