September has already slipped away, again.

Below are my suggestions for fall.

• Early Fall Fertilization – The fertilizer I use is 24/8/15, with 50% timed release nitrogen. Make sure that your beds get fertilized, too. "Early fall" is with-in the next two weeks.
• Late Fall Fertilization – The fertilizer used for this is 20/5/10, with 25% timed release nitrogen. Again the beds should not be neglected. "Late fall" is November. Do an early or a late fall application, not both.
• Winter Fertilization – This is an application of straight nitrogen, 46/0/0. It is applied in December or January, after the lawn has gone dormant (gold) and just before a forecasted snowfall. If you perform one fall/winter fertilization, this is the one.
• Lesco Wet – This polymer and surfactant makes water "wetter". It helps water penetrate into your lawn and beds. I use this instead of a mechanical aeration.
• Irrigation Blow-out – The irrigation system, each zone, should be blown, with compressed air. Compressed air should not be blown through your back-flow preventer, but the devise can be disassembled and the water removed. This is normally done the middle of October, depending on the weather.
• Fall Clean-up – The quickest way to do this is to blow the leaves from the beds, onto the lawn, and mulch them into the grass. Then what is left can be bagged. The grass can be mowed short, to be ready for spring.
• Bed Clean-up – Perennials, except for winter grasses, after they have gone dormant, can be cut. Shrubs, after they have gone dormant can be sheared or pruned, to shape or make them denser.

I can do these things, for you.

Thank you,
Tim

An early fall freeze, prior to the Irrigation blow-out, or a late freeze, after irrigation activation, can necessitate draining your back-flow preventer.

In general a valve is open when the handle or screw slot is parallel to the pipe with which it is attached. It is closed when it is perpendicular.

01Close the main irrigation valve. It is usually in the basement,
near the main house water valve.

(From left to right: Irrigation Main Valve Open; Irrigation Main Valve Closed)

02 Open the petcocks. They stick out of the back-flow preventer,
outside. this allows air into the pipe, so the water will drain out.

(Clockwise from top left: Petcocks Closed; Petcocks Screws Closed; Petcocks Open; Petcocks Screws Open)

03 Open the valve box drain. In the box, usually with a green plastic cover. If your valve manifold has no drain, you can open a valve, to drain the water from the copper pipe.

(From left to right: Valve Box Drain Closed; Valve Box Drain Open)

04 Open the main irrigation valve drain cap. This is near, or attached to, the main irrigation valve. I normally leave the cap off for the winter.

If you were to put the cap back on and the valve leaks, just a little, the pipe will re-fill until it reaches the outside, where it will freeze and break the pipe. Tape the cap to the valve handle. they a small enough to be easily lost.

(Irrigation Main Drain Valve Cap Removed)

To pressurize the irrigation system, reverse the above process.