Fall in the West Valley and on the Peninsula is short and easy to miss. Leaves start dropping in October, the first storms usually arrive in November, and anything left in the yard by then gets matted down, soggy, and a lot harder to clean up. A little work now makes winter easy.
Start with the leaves. A layer of wet leaves on the lawn blocks light and holds moisture against the grass, which invites thin, patchy turf by spring. Rake or blow them off the lawn regularly while they're dry, and clear them out of beds and away from the house.
Next, cut back what's finished. Spent perennials, dead annuals, and any dead or broken branches you can reach safely should come out now, before winter storms knock them loose. It's also a good time to pull weeds before they settle in for the rainy season.
Then turn the sprinklers down. Once the rain is reliable, most yards need far less irrigation, and some need none at all for a few months. Lowering run times or switching to rain-off mode avoids waterlogged beds and wasted water.
Finally, top off the mulch. A fresh layer of bark over bare spots protects soil from heavy rain and keeps winter weeds from sprouting. If you'd rather hand the whole list to someone else, a one-time clean up followed by a maintenance plan keeps the yard ready all year.