Fall Watering and Irrigation Winterization for Erie Colorado area landscapes

October 2023

Erie, Colorado area landscapes {Monthly Series}

The Front Range of Colorado can have beautiful weather in late September into early November. Warm days in the 70’s and cool nights in the 30’s lead to beautiful fall color as long as an early season cold front doesn’t freeze things too fast and cause plants to lose leaves early. This year is no exception. Temperatures have remained near record highs in the 80’s and only one mild freeze so far. Oftentimes, people will winterize their irrigation systems too early with the first freeze, and then be left with dry conditions in October and November, thinking winter is here and plants are dormant. They are not. The cool seasons, both spring and fall are when plants do most of their root growth, including cool season grasses like the Kentucky Bluegrass which most people have in their Erie Colorado landscapes.

Plant of the month series October 2023 for Erie Colorado landscapes October: Fall Watering and Irrigation Winterization

If your irrigation system has already been winterized, drag the hose around and give everything a good drink, including setting up a sprinkler on your lawn. It isn’t ready to go dormant yet. Your plants should go dormant in November with a good soaking. Usually Mother Nature does that for us, but not always. If you have not winterized your system yet, keep watering about 2-3 times per week for both the lawn and the drip irrigation to trees, shrubs and perennials. Some vegetable are still going in vegetable gardens too, so keep the water going to those every day, just reduce the amount of time on the timer so not to saturate the soil. Lettuce, spinach, snap peas, or anything else you planted 45 days ago should still be going strong and needs the moisture. Don’t be fooled by cool nights. The air is very dry in October and early November until those seasonal cold fronts start breaking down the high pressure ridge entrenched over the western US and begin to saturate the airmass here.

One trick to keep your irrigation system going through the first few mild freezes is to wrap the Pressure Vacuum Breaker (PVB) with an old towel and then cover that old towel with a plastic trash bag and duct tape it securely. Cover it all the way to the ground. This will insulate the PVB and copper pipes that come out of the house. Those are the expensive parts that can freeze. If you do this, you are good down to about 20 degrees for short overnight bursts of cold. Do not worry about lines or valves in the ground. The ground insulates them. IF we get an extended period of cold and you are caught not having blown out your system, you can turn off the water in the basement, open the drain cock next to the shutoff valve, turn the two screws on the side of the PVB outside, and open the drain valve in the valve box to let air into the system….that will save you for a short time until you can blow out the system. If you don’t know how to do this, call a sprinkler company for assistance. If you can do this, then you are able to keep your system running until the forecast calls for cold and wet. Put your plants to bed with some moisture and that will delay the time spent dragging a hose around during the winter months for that very important winter watering. Take the time to learn about your irrigation system and you can have healthy plants more easily. That’s what it is there for anyway. Happy planting!

Glacier View Landscape and Design, Inc.

Providing Exceptional Landscape Services near Boulder and Erie, Colorado