Fall Clean Ups: Irrigation & Water Systems
Once the summer watering season winds down, there’s one piece of the landscape that’s easy to forget because most of it is underground: your irrigation system.
Winters in Parksville, Qualicum Beach, Nanoose Bay, French Creek and Dashwood may be relatively mild, but freezing temperatures happen regularly enough that irrigation systems need to be properly prepared.
Water trapped inside pipes, valves, backflow devices and other components can freeze and expand. The damage isn’t always obvious during winter, either—you may not discover a cracked fitting or damaged valve until the system is started again in spring.
Professionally Winterize Your Irrigation System
For an automatic irrigation system, winterization involves considerably more than simply turning the controller to OFF.
The irrigation water supply needs to be shut down correctly and water cleared from the system before freezing weather arrives. Compressed air is commonly used to push remaining water from irrigation lines, valves and sprinkler heads.
But more pressure isn’t better.
Irrigation components are designed to operate within specific pressure ranges, and improperly introducing compressed air can damage piping, fittings, valves and sprinkler components. Different systems also have different layouts, zone sizes, backflow arrangements and winterization requirements.
That’s one reason irrigation blowouts are a job worth having done by someone who understands the system—not simply someone with a big air compressor.
Work Through Every Irrigation Zone
A proper winterization means accounting for the entire system, not just watching a few sprinkler heads blow mist.
Each zone needs attention so water isn’t inadvertently left trapped in a section of the system. That includes lawn sprinklers as well as irrigation serving garden beds, shrubs, planters and other parts of the landscape.
Larger residential properties can have surprisingly complicated systems, particularly when they have been expanded or modified over the years.
This is also a useful opportunity to note broken heads, leaking valves, poor coverage or other repairs that should be addressed when the system is started again in spring.
Don’t Forget Drip Irrigation
Drip irrigation can be easy to overlook because much of it is hidden underneath mulch and plants.
Depending on how the system was designed, drip zones may contain filters, pressure regulators, valves, fittings and lengths of tubing where water can remain after the irrigation supply is shut off.
These components need to be considered as part of the overall winterization—not treated as an entirely separate system that can simply be forgotten until spring.
Disconnect Garden Hoses
This one’s simple but important: disconnect hoses from outdoor faucets before freezing weather arrives.
Drain the hoses, inspect them for damage and store them somewhere protected if possible. Leaving a hose connected can prevent an outdoor faucet from draining properly, potentially leaving water where you don’t want it when temperatures drop.
It’s a five-minute fall job that can prevent a considerably more expensive winter problem.
Protect Outdoor Faucets & Exposed Plumbing
Outdoor plumbing deserves a quick inspection at the same time.
Depending on the home’s plumbing and type of exterior faucet, there may be an interior shutoff that needs to be closed and drained. Exposed pipes or vulnerable fixtures may also require additional winter protection.
If you’re unsure how your home’s exterior plumbing is configured, it’s better to find out before the first cold snap than during it.
Prepare Rain Barrels & Seasonal Watering Equipment
Rain barrels, hose timers, portable sprinklers and other seasonal watering equipment should also be cleaned up and prepared for winter.
Drain equipment that isn’t designed to remain full during freezing conditions, clean out accumulated debris and store removable fittings somewhere you’ll actually be able to find them next spring.
It’s also a good time to make sure overflow from rain barrels and downspouts is directed somewhere appropriate. Once our Vancouver Island winter rains arrive, drainage becomes considerably more important than irrigation.
Clean Up Ponds, Fountains & Water Features
Water features have their own fall cleanup list.
Remove fallen leaves and organic debris before they have months to decompose in the water. Pumps, filters and fountains should be maintained and winterized according to the manufacturer’s recommendations, particularly equipment that isn’t designed to operate through freezing conditions.
Small decorative fountains and containers may need to be completely drained and protected from freezing, while established ponds require different care depending on their construction, equipment, plants and whether they contain fish.
The important thing is not to assume that because there’s water in it, it’s automatically ready for winter.
Winterization Is the Last Irrigation Visit of the Season
By fall, you’ve probably stopped thinking about irrigation. The lawn isn’t drying out every afternoon, the garden isn’t demanding water, and Vancouver Island’s rainy season is taking over.
But turning the controller off isn’t the same as winterizing the system.
A proper irrigation winterization protects the investment you’ve made underground and gives you an opportunity to identify problems that should be addressed during the next spring startup.
For homeowners throughout Parksville, Qualicum Beach, Nanoose Bay, French Creek and Dashwood, getting the system properly shut down before freezing temperatures arrive is one more important job to cross off the fall landscaping checklist.
At Thrive Landscapes, irrigation winterization is part of our seasonal irrigation services. We work through the system zone by zone so it’s properly put to bed for winter—and ready for us to bring back to life again in spring.
Outdoor spaces, simply beautiful.
