Don’t Let the First Freeze Crack Your Sprinkler System: Why Winterization Matters
By Nature By Design Landscape, Inc.
Fall in Clark County is beautiful: crisp mornings, changing maples, and a well-earned break from summer watering. But it’s also the time to prepare your landscape for what’s coming. Our winters may be milder than in other parts of the country, but we get plenty of nights below freezing. That’s all it takes to cause expensive damage to an irrigation system that hasn’t been winterized.
What is winterization?
Winterizing an irrigation system means removing the water from it before freezing weather arrives. Water expands when it freezes. When it’s trapped inside underground pipes, sprinkler heads, valves, and your backflow preventer, that expansion can split pipes and crack fittings. You often won’t know anything is wrong until spring, when you turn the system back on and find soggy spots, geysers, or zones that won’t run.
The most reliable way to clear the lines is a blowout. Compressed air is pushed through each zone until only air comes out of the heads. Done correctly, it clears the water without over-pressurizing or damaging the system.
Why it’s worth doing every year
- Repairs cost far more than prevention. A cracked backflow device or a broken main line can mean digging, parts, and labor. Winterization costs a fraction of that.
- Damage hides until spring. Freeze damage usually shows up when you need your system most: the first warm weeks of the growing season.
- Your landscape depends on it. A healthy irrigation system protects the investment you’ve made in your lawn, plants, and trees.
- Clark County freezes are unpredictable. A mild stretch can turn into a hard freeze with little warning. Getting on the schedule early means you won’t have to scramble.
When should you winterize?
Plan to have your system blown out in mid-to-late fall, before the first hard freeze. For most of Clark County and the Portland Metro area, that’s typically late October through November. Once your lawn and plants no longer need regular watering, it’s time.
Other ways to prep your landscape for winter
Irrigation is the big one, but a few other steps make a real difference:
- Disconnect hoses and protect outdoor faucets (hose bibs) to prevent frozen, burst pipes at the house.
- Clear leaves from drains, gutters, and dry creek beds so our winter rain has somewhere to go.
- Mulch around plants and shrubs to insulate roots through cold snaps.
- Give your lawn a final mow and cleanup so it isn’t smothered under wet leaves all winter.
Winterization service for everyone, not just our clients
You don’t need to be an existing Nature By Design customer to book winterization with us. Maybe we installed your system years ago, maybe another company did, or maybe it came with the house. Either way, our team can get it ready for winter.
We’ll blow out every zone, check that the system is properly shut down, and point out any issues we notice along the way, so you head into spring with no surprises.
Spots fill up quickly once the weather turns. Call us at (360) 687-8302, email office@nbdlandscape.com, or request service online to get on the schedule before the first freeze.
Nature By Design Landscape, Inc. — Dream • Transform • Enjoy