Lakefront Lawn Care in Polk County: Keeping the Lawn and the Lake

Polk County has hundreds of lakes and a large share of the properties we maintain sit on one, from the Chain of Lakes in Winter Haven to Lake Hollingsworth in Lakeland to the smaller lakes around Auburndale, Lake Alfred and Polk City. A lakefront lot has three things a subdivision lot does not: a slope toward the water, a lower section that stays wet, and a lake that receives whatever comes off the lawn. Managing all three is the job.

What goes on the lawn goes in the lake

Fertilizer, especially nitrogen and phosphorus, that is not taken up by the grass moves with water. On a sloped lot that water runs downhill into the lake, where those nutrients feed algae and weeds. Over-applied fertilizer on a lakefront lawn is not just wasted; it is contributing to the water quality the property's value depends on.

How we handle it:

• A buffer along the water where nothing is applied. The width depends on the slope and the lot, and it is wider on steep ground.
• Slow-release nitrogen only, at moderate rates, because quick-release washes off with the first rain.
• No phosphorus unless a soil test shows a genuine shortage, which on Florida soils it rarely does.
• Nothing applied ahead of heavy rain, and nothing applied to the buffer or to saturated ground.
• Clippings kept out of the water. Grass clippings blown into a lake are a direct nutrient load. We mow so they stay on the lawn.

Many lake communities and local governments in Florida have their own fertilizer rules for waterfront property. Check what applies to your lake and follow it.

The wet lower lot

The bottom of a lakefront lawn stays wet for most of the summer, and St. Augustine does not like saturated ground. It thins, the roots weaken, and weeds that tolerate wet feet move in. There are three honest options:

• Improve drainage where there is a genuine grade problem and somewhere legal for the water to go. Our drainage diagnosis guide covers finding the cause.
• Raise the mowing height on the lower section and reduce traffic on it while it is wet, which lets the grass hold its own.
• Convert the lowest strip to a shoreline planting with plants that tolerate wet feet. This is often the best-looking answer as well as the most durable, and a planted buffer does more to protect the lake than any amount of careful fertilizing.

Trees on the water

Lakefront trees are exposed to wind off the water and often have saturated roots, which makes them more likely to fail in a storm. They need dead wood removed and weight reduced where they overhang the house or dock, and they need it done correctly rather than topped. Cypress, oaks and palms along a shoreline each have their own requirements, and our guide to hazard trees covers when a tree has become a risk.

Erosion at the edge

Boat wake, wind and heavy rain erode an unprotected shoreline, and a mown lawn running straight to the water has almost no root mass holding the bank. A planted strip along the edge stabilizes it. We will walk the shoreline and tell you where it is losing ground.

Getting started

We maintain lakefront properties across our service area, including Winter Haven, Lakeland and Auburndale. Request an estimate and we will look at the slope, the wet section and the shoreline together.