From Biltmore to Hendersonville, Asheville to Brevard, as the winter months set in, many Western North Carolina homeowners are preparing their landscape for the cold weather. While pruning plants and covering delicate flowers may be at the top of the to-do list, there is one important task that should not be overlooked: winterizing your irrigation system.

Understanding the Importance of Winterizing Your Irrigation System

Your irrigation system functions just like your home’s plumbing – to carry water from one point to the other. If there is a disruption in the water’s flow in an outdoor system, namely freezing water and burst pipes, you can have a huge and costly mess to clean up, both with the irrigation system itself, but also with the resulting damaged turf and vegetation. Although this area has relatively mild winter weather, we do have occasional hard freezes every season. Winterization ensures that your irrigation system is properly protected from freezing temperatures and potential damage.
Winterization entails blowing out water from the irrigation’s parts (sprinkler heads, rotors, valves) and pipes. Once the water droplets are removed, the pipes are not prone to expanding beyond their elasticity. In doing this, TPS can expend the lifespan of your irrigation equipment.

Potential Hazards of Neglecting to Winterize Your Irrigation System

Neglecting to winterize your irrigation system can lead to a variety of potential hazards for your landscape and wallet. Of course, there is the damaged equipment as we discussed. The time and cost required for winterizing is a fraction of what it takes to unbury, repair, and replace expansion damage.
Burst pipes can also cause water leaks and flooding in your landscape. A household with an automatic landscape irrigation system that isn't properly maintained and operated can waste up to 25,000 gallons of water annually.
And, don’t forget that if your lawn floods, it’s possible you will have to treat the area to prevent fungal or bacterial growth, repair soil instability, remove silt, or reseed/resod for maximum growth in the spring season.
Finally, it is quite possible that failure to winterize your irrigation system will void a manufacturer’s warranty. With the repairs and clean up you will be faced with, you want the benefits of the system’s warranty in your favor.
Be sure to carefully consider all of the potential damages that could happen if you fail to protect your irrigation investment, and call TPS Landscaping to take care of this responsibility for you.