Recently discovered one of my 5 zone's not working, so I came here looking around for answer. I've tried moving that zone's wire in timer to another zone, still won't come on. Reseted the timer, nothing. Then on to find that valve box...after cutting off some bushes there it is, opened it and !!!! might as well not have a valve box around it!

Damn thing is covered in moist dirt, hard to see what goes where, but it's got multiple valve things in one place so it should be the one for my dead zone. Even the wires are covered in moist dirt.

Question is, can this be fixed DIY style? What can I do the clear out the dirt without causing further damage the system?

And even if I manage to clear out the dirts, how do I go on about fixing this?

*last resort, what would it cost to hire pros do fix this?

thanks!!