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Florida Summertime Yard Care Tips

May 25th, 2022

The climate in Florida during the summer is very humid, but you can keep your yard healthy as long as you follow these summertime yard care tips.

 Summertime Yard Care Tips

If you just moved to Florida, you might be wondering what to do about maintaining your yard during the summer. The climate in Florida during the summer is very humid, but you can keep your yard healthy as long as you follow these summertime yard care tips.Use a slow-releasing fertilizer early in the season.

You should fertilize your lawn early in the season with a 50 percent slow-releasing fertilizer. This gradually gives grass the nutrients before the fertilizer blackout kicks in. It is also best to find a fertilizer that does not contain nitrogen or phosphorus and use palm fertilizer instead when you have palm trees near your lawn.

Don't prune.

Don't trim your plants just to look good. Pruning plants is similar to giving them a haircut. However, pruned plants may become stressed, leading to food loss or overgrowth. Choose plants with growth potential if you don't want to cut shrubs down to a height of two feet.

Insects and diseases are more likely to attack stressed plants, so only prune your trees to clear pathways. You should prune palm trees only when the fronds are entirely brown. Removing green fronds causes them to die faster.

Make sure you're watering enough.

This summertime yard care tip can make a big difference during a hot summer. Water your lawn between ½ inch to ¾ inches when you water. You can use a tuna or cat food can to do an irrigation check if you have sprinklers.

You want to apply 1/2" to 3/4" of water when you apply.Determine how long to run your irrigation zone by following these basic steps:

1)Place a rain gauge or a flat container (like a tuna can) in the zone you wish to test.

2)Run the irrigation zone for ½ hour.

3)Measure the amount of water that accumulated in the rain gauge or tuna can.

4)Adjust zone run time up or down in order to apply between ½ inch to ¾ inch of water.

Applying ½ inch to ¾ inch of water will wet the soil profile to a depth of approximately 8 inches. That will wet the bulk of the root zone.

You can calculate the amount of water used for hand-watering by measuring how long it takes to fill a bucket. A bucket that fills in two minutes uses 2.5 gallons per minute.

Search for plants that grow well in Florida.

Tropical plants are designed for Florida's hot climate and don't need much water. These plants are pest-resistant, low-maintenance, and can withstand direct sunlight. Plant nurseries and garden centers sell Florida-friendly plants. Check out this list of Florida-friendly plants.

Some plants you could plant include:
- Azaleas - These need partial shade and grow up to 10 feet tall and 8 feet wide.
- Black-eyed Susan's - These need full sun and grow up to 1-3 feet tall and 1-2 feet wide.
- American beautyberries - These need full sun or partial shade and can grow up to 3 to 8 feet tall and 4 to 8 feet wide.

Hold off on mowing.

Keep your lawn looking great with this summertime yard care tip. You’ll have a deeper, healthier root system if your grass blades are tall. If your homeowner's association doesn't like it, let it grow to its highest point before you mow. Short blades mean there’s green tissue available for food production, which means you have a weak root system.

As long as the roots are healthy, your grass should stay green throughout the summer.

Those are the summertime yard care tips you need to know for Florida. If you follow these tips, your yard will look good the whole summer and many summers to come.

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