Well, you have started a controversial thread. Every time this topic comes up, opinions (and hot tempers) start flying in every direction. First off, most posters on this forum (or so I would guess) do not think the cornmeal treatment for BS is effective at all. Secondly, there seems to be some confusion above whether we are talking about insecticides or fungicides. Insecticides kill bugs; FUNGICIDES DO NOT! Fungicides are for treating DISEASES (NOT INSECTS). A lot of us here rarely or never use insecticides. There are other ways of treating most bug problems (though nobody knows how to treat the Japanese Beetle). Those Bayer products that are advertised as 3-in-1 or 2-in-1 or some such "combo" should be avoided--they have INSECTICIDES in them. If you want an effective FUNGICIDE for disease, (NOT an INSECTICIDE to kill bugs), Bayer puts out a product called Bayer Garden Disease Control of Roses, Flowers, and Shrubs--if you are going to spray, I recommend it. If your only problem is a couple BS leaves on a couple potted plants, I would not spray--just go over and yank off the BS leaves and dispose of them in a trash bag. If you have a widespread and persistent enough problem with BS throughout the garden, then you have basically two choices. (1) Spray using the Bayer fungicide (but NEVER the Bayer "combo" products); OR (2) toss all your bs-susceptible roses and start researching for BS-resistant roses to replace them. If you do spray with a fungicide, read the directions first. They list some precautions and give helpful advice. For instance, spray earlier in the morning on a wind-less day (so that the wind won't blow fungicide in your face.) While it is not listed as dangerous to kids and pets out of the yard, as a precaution you may want to keep them out of the yard until all the fungicide has dried. Again, read the label carefully--they list the kinds of critters that may be affected by Bayer Garden Disease Control for Roses, Flowers, Shrubs. Of course, if you ignore my advice and pick one of Bayer's "combo" products, then all bets are off--because the "combo" products contain insecticide (along with fungicide and/or fertilizer). And if you spray, get an extension "wand" so that your reach extends way beyond your arm--and you can thus stay further back away from the spray. Read the labels for other Do's and Don't's. Spray as little as possible--and only spray the roses that need some help controlling BS. Unforutnately, in some parts of the country, gardeners find themselves in BS-he!! and thus have to spray every 2-3 weeks all season long. Myself, I'd go look for some more disease-resistant roses so that I didn't need to spray that often--but then I've never lived in BS-he!! --so I can't really say what I'd do under those circumstances. And now I'll predict that several posters will arrive on the scene and vigorously denounce me for the "moderate" approach I advocate here. To them, you must rave against fungicides, or you are a hopeless renegade! To each his/her own, I say. : ) Good luck. Kate

Well, the solenoids (shown lying on the ground outside the valve box) should be threaded into the fairly obvious locations on the valves. The knobs in the center of the valves are called flow controls and will regulate the amount of water that passes through valve when it is open; more than likely these could be left where they are. The screws indicated in your picture are manual bleed screws these can be used to manually actuate your valve (turn it on/off). As for why there are both a ball valve and a gate valve, who knows perhaps whimsy on the part of the installer or some situation where an additional valve was necessary; maybe the gate valve leaks? I would recommend you thread the solenoids into the valves and fire the system up, it should work. The only issue I see is that the valves may not correspond correctly with the indicated position within the clock; some trial and error may be necessary to get the solenoids back where they belong.

greg, JMHO, you don't think you have much to worry about. You could do the winterizing the system yourself. Check out the YouTube vids on the subject. aloha

Any plumber in the area will be able to answer your questions. Or you might ask your new neighbors. Or a local garden club.