News
Every year some area gardeners lose the top of their Austrian pine. The top dies down to at least the upper-most whorl of branches. We have yet to find a disease or insect pest causing this die-back. It appears the problem is caused by watering these trees too often during the fall months.
Some plants continue to grow late into the fall especially when watered too often. This prevents them from starting the winter acclimation process and makes them very susceptible to winter damage. Peach trees and globe willows are just two of the trees we know respond in this fashion. The Chitalpa also tends to stay succulent late into the fall when provided too much water. It appears the Austrian pine responds the same way. Succulent tissue is very susceptible to winter damage.
Reducing the amount of water your total landscape receives between now and when your irrigation system is winterized is the best way to reduce problems of this nature. Reducing the amount of water applied has the additional benefit of your lawn and perennial flowers and vegetables developing deeper roots resulting in healthier and less disease prone plants come spring. The deeper roots also enhance the plant's ability to withstand summer drought.
You can reduce your water use by setting your irrigation controller to apply only half of what was applied in July. In October you should only apply one-third of what was applied in July. For people with an irrigation controller this is easily accomplished by setting the Seasonal Adjust to these percentages. For those of you without irrigation controllers it is not quite as simple. You can however, increase the number of days between watering. When you do water the water should run for the same length of time as it did during July. Upgrading to a Smart irrigation controller would take care of these monthly adjustments for you. I have information on Smart Controllers on my website at http://WesternSlopeTurf.org if you are interested in this approach.
Underground sprinkler systems will need to be winterized sometime within the next month and a half. I'll give everything one final and thorough watering just before my system is drained. This will ensure the soil is moist going into winter. Between now and this final watering I will dry my plants out to prepare them for winter. If I wait too long before having the system winterized I will be replacing valves and other components next spring.
Winterization primarily consists of expelling all the water from the irrigation system and its components. This is necessary because water freezing to ice during cold weather will break pipes, fittings, valves, sprinklers, pumps, etc. This process must be done correctly to assure there are no costly repairs and replacements to make in the spring at system start-up. If you plan on doing this yourself, be sure to review the fact sheet on winterizing your system at the turf web site mentioned above. Once you read this information you might decide to hire someone to do this for you.
If you have a drip irrigation system supplied by a hose connected to your house water, be sure to remove the hose and allow the drip tubing or drip hose to drain. Even though these components are plastic, water can freeze inside them and tear and rip the components apart. If you don't feel the system will drain properly, it would be best to remove it and store it where it won't freeze during the winter. Be sure to remove the backflow prevention device you installed between the hose bib and the hose. These small units can freeze and be damaged if not stored in a non-freezing spot in your home. Some of the backflow prevention units are an integral part of the hose bib and cannot and should not be removed.
The drip irrigation system I installed this spring is connected to an irrigation valve and will be blown out along with the rest of my irrigation system. I will, however, need to remember to remove the caps at the end of each of the drip tubes or they could be blown apart when the system is blown out. At a dollar per foot that would be an expense loss.
If a hard freeze is expected and your system has not yet been winterized and your irrigation pump or backflow prevention device are outside cover them with a heavy blanket to keep them from freezing.
Dr. Curtis E. Swift is the area horticulture agent with the CSU Extension. Reach him at Curt.Swift@mesacounty.us. or visit WesternSlopeGardening.org.
Some plants continue to grow late into the fall especially when watered too often. This prevents them from starting the winter acclimation process and makes them very susceptible to winter damage. Peach trees and globe willows are just two of the trees we know respond in this fashion. The Chitalpa also tends to stay succulent late into the fall when provided too much water. It appears the Austrian pine responds the same way. Succulent tissue is very susceptible to winter damage.
Reducing the amount of water your total landscape receives between now and when your irrigation system is winterized is the best way to reduce problems of this nature. Reducing the amount of water applied has the additional benefit of your lawn and perennial flowers and vegetables developing deeper roots resulting in healthier and less disease prone plants come spring. The deeper roots also enhance the plant's ability to withstand summer drought.
You can reduce your water use by setting your irrigation controller to apply only half of what was applied in July. In October you should only apply one-third of what was applied in July. For people with an irrigation controller this is easily accomplished by setting the Seasonal Adjust to these percentages. For those of you without irrigation controllers it is not quite as simple. You can however, increase the number of days between watering. When you do water the water should run for the same length of time as it did during July. Upgrading to a Smart irrigation controller would take care of these monthly adjustments for you. I have information on Smart Controllers on my website at http://WesternSlopeTurf.org if you are interested in this approach.
Underground sprinkler systems will need to be winterized sometime within the next month and a half. I'll give everything one final and thorough watering just before my system is drained. This will ensure the soil is moist going into winter. Between now and this final watering I will dry my plants out to prepare them for winter. If I wait too long before having the system winterized I will be replacing valves and other components next spring.
Winterization primarily consists of expelling all the water from the irrigation system and its components. This is necessary because water freezing to ice during cold weather will break pipes, fittings, valves, sprinklers, pumps, etc. This process must be done correctly to assure there are no costly repairs and replacements to make in the spring at system start-up. If you plan on doing this yourself, be sure to review the fact sheet on winterizing your system at the turf web site mentioned above. Once you read this information you might decide to hire someone to do this for you.
If you have a drip irrigation system supplied by a hose connected to your house water, be sure to remove the hose and allow the drip tubing or drip hose to drain. Even though these components are plastic, water can freeze inside them and tear and rip the components apart. If you don't feel the system will drain properly, it would be best to remove it and store it where it won't freeze during the winter. Be sure to remove the backflow prevention device you installed between the hose bib and the hose. These small units can freeze and be damaged if not stored in a non-freezing spot in your home. Some of the backflow prevention units are an integral part of the hose bib and cannot and should not be removed.
The drip irrigation system I installed this spring is connected to an irrigation valve and will be blown out along with the rest of my irrigation system. I will, however, need to remember to remove the caps at the end of each of the drip tubes or they could be blown apart when the system is blown out. At a dollar per foot that would be an expense loss.
If a hard freeze is expected and your system has not yet been winterized and your irrigation pump or backflow prevention device are outside cover them with a heavy blanket to keep them from freezing.
Dr. Curtis E. Swift is the area horticulture agent with the CSU Extension. Reach him at Curt.Swift@mesacounty.us. or visit WesternSlopeGardening.org.
