Palm Beach County, FL • Lawn Care Guide
Florida Lawn Care Calendar for Palm Beach County
Lawns here grow almost year-round, and the rules that govern fertilizer and watering change with the seasons. This month by month guide lays out what your Palm Beach County lawn needs and when, so your grass stays green and your yard stays compliant.
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The short version
Why South Florida runs on its own calendar
Most lawn care advice is written for places with a real winter. Palm Beach County is not one of them. We sit in USDA hardiness zones 10 and 11, where warm-season grasses like St. Augustine, Zoysia, and Bahia grow for nearly the entire year and rarely go fully dormant. That is good news for curb appeal, but it also means the growth, the weeds, and the pests never fully take a season off.
The other thing that sets this region apart is regulation. Palm Beach County enforces a summer fertilizer blackout, and the South Florida Water Management District sets watering limits that apply all year. A calendar built for Ohio or even North Florida will steer you wrong here, and in some months it will steer you into a code violation. The month by month plan below is built specifically for eastern Palm Beach County conditions.
If you would rather not track any of this yourself, a licensed local program handles the timing, the compliant product choices, and the seasonal pest pressure for you. That is the honest case for hiring out: not that the work is impossible, but that getting the timing right every month is what actually keeps a lawn looking sharp.
Month by month
The Palm Beach County lawn care calendar
Dates for the fertilizer blackout are set by county ordinance. Watering days are set by the water district and your city, so always confirm the current rule for your address before changing a timer.
| Season | Lawn & feeding | Pest & disease watch |
|---|---|---|
| Jan – Feb | Cooler, drier stretch and the slowest growth of the year. Raise the mower slightly, mow less often, and let the lawn dry between waterings. A good window for weed control and soil checks. | Cool, wet nights can bring brown patch and large patch fungus. Watch for winter weeds taking hold in thin spots. |
| Mar – May | Growth accelerates with the warmth. This is prime time for the spring feeding and pre-emergent weed control, before the blackout begins. Sharpen mowing habits as clippings pick up. | Chinch bugs become active in hot, dry spots along sidewalks and driveways. Scout south-facing areas first. |
| Jun – Aug | Peak growth during the rainy season, but nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizer are banned from June 1. Feed only with allowed products such as potassium or iron, mow frequently, and cut back irrigation because the rain does the work. | Gray leaf spot fungus peaks in the heat and humidity. Sod webworm damage often appears late in this window. Mosquito pressure climbs with standing water. |
| Sep – Oct | Still hot and wet, and still inside the blackout through October 31. Keep mowing on schedule and stay with blackout-compliant products. Plan the fall feeding for once the ban lifts. | Sod webworms and fall armyworms are common. White grubs may be feeding on roots. Fungus pressure stays high until the rain eases. |
| Nov – Dec | The blackout ends November 1, opening the window for a balanced fall or early-winter feeding. Growth slows as nights cool, so raise the mowing height and stretch out watering days. | Pressure drops overall. Watch for cool-season fungus on lawns that stay wet, and keep an eye out for winter weeds. |
The rules that shape the calendar
The summer fertilizer blackout
From June 1 through October 31, Palm Beach County prohibits applying lawn fertilizer that contains nitrogen or phosphorus. The reasoning is environmental: heavy summer rain washes those nutrients into canals and the Lake Worth Lagoon, where they feed the algae blooms that turn water green and starve it of oxygen. Products that supply only potassium, iron, magnesium, or similar micronutrients are generally still allowed during the blackout, so a lawn does not have to go hungry, it just has to be fed differently. Phosphorus is tightly restricted in general and usually permitted only when a soil test shows a real deficiency.
Mowing height and habits
For most St. Augustine lawns, a height around 3.5 to 4 inches is the sweet spot, with dwarf varieties mowed a little lower. The single most important habit is never removing more than one third of the leaf blade in a single cut. Taller grass shades the soil, chokes out weeds before they start, develops deeper roots, and shrugs off heat and drought far better than a scalped lawn. Keeping mower blades sharp also matters, because ragged cuts are an open door for the fungus that thrives in our humidity.
Watering the right amount on the right days
The South Florida Water Management District enforces year-round irrigation limits across the region, and cities and the county layer their own rules on top. In practice that usually means watering no more than two or three days a week, with no irrigation between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. when the midday sun would evaporate most of it. Assigned days often depend on whether your street address is odd or even. Because the specifics vary by municipality and can tighten during dry spells, confirm the current rule for your exact address before you set a timer. During the summer rains you can often shut the system off entirely.
Pest & disease timing
What goes after Palm Beach County lawns, and when
Warm weather nearly all year means the pests never fully clear out. Knowing the pattern helps you catch trouble before it scars the lawn:
- Chinch bugs: worst in hot, dry spring and early summer, especially near pavement
- Sod webworms: flare in late summer and fall, chewing ragged notches in blades
- Gray leaf spot fungus: peaks June through September in heat and humidity
- Brown patch fungus: cooler, wetter months from roughly fall into spring
- White grubs: feed on roots and can thin large patches in late summer
- Mosquitoes: climb with the summer rains and standing water
How our program follows the calendar
A recurring lawn and pest program is really just this calendar, executed on time, every month, without you having to think about it. Palm Beach Lawn & Pest times each fertilization to the season and the blackout dates, uses compliant products through the summer, and monitors for the specific pests and diseases that are active in that window. When chinch bugs show up in spring or sod webworms appear in fall, they get treated before the damage spreads rather than after the lawn is already scarred.
We serve homeowners across eastern Palm Beach County, from the gated communities and HOA neighborhoods of Boca Raton up through West Palm Beach and on to Jupiter. You can see the full picture of what we cover, along with recurring plan options, on our home page. Every plan starts with a free quote based on your property size and your grass type, so the program fits your actual lawn rather than a generic template.
We are a licensed and insured local company, which matters more here than in most places, because Florida regulates both fertilization and pest control and the blackout rules change what can be applied and when. Keeping your lawn compliant is part of the job, not an afterthought.
Good to know
Lawn calendar FAQs
When is the Palm Beach County fertilizer blackout?
How short should I mow St. Augustine grass in South Florida?
What days can I water my lawn in Palm Beach County?
Does grass really grow year-round here?
When are lawn pests and disease worst?
Do I need a licensed company for fertilizer and pest control?
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