more repair vs. improvement questions

[Dave Silva]

I have one rental, about to buy another home for the family and convert my current home to rental.  I've read the IRS stuff about repair versus improvement but I want to make sure  I do this right.

The soon to be rental  house needs about $5000 in septic drain field work - that's a repair, right?  THen i plan to do about $8K in landscaping to fill in low spots that flood and get the water to drain.   Also replacing some appliances and redoing some floors. 

All of these projects will commence after we close on the next house.

What's the best way to separate  improvement form repair and not make myself an audit magnet.