Lawn Care While You're Away: Seasonal Residents and Long Trips

A lot of Polk County homes are empty for months at a time: seasonal residents who leave in spring, owners of second homes, people on long work assignments. The problem is that a Central Florida lawn does not wait. The wet season arrives, growth doubles, the irrigation controller keeps running whatever it was set to in April, and a lawn that was fine in May is a violation letter by July. Here is what actually needs to happen while you are gone.

Mowing cannot pause

From June through September, St. Augustine and Bahia in this area need cutting weekly. Every ten days is the outside limit before the cut starts removing too much at once and the lawn goes brown and ragged. A lawn left for three weeks in July needs to be brought down in stages, and it looks bad for a month afterward. The single most important thing to arrange is uninterrupted weekly service through the wet season. Our mowing frequency guide explains why the season changes the number.

Irrigation needs adjusting, not abandoning

The controller is the biggest risk on an empty property. Set for the dry season, it keeps running through the rains and drowns the lawn, feeding fungus and washing away nutrients. Turned off entirely, a dry stretch in a hot month kills the grass in a fortnight. What works:

• A working rain sensor or a controller that uses local weather, so the system skips when it has rained. Check that the sensor actually works before leaving; many are years old and dead.
• A schedule set for the season you are leaving into, within Polk County's restrictions, not the one you are leaving from.
• Someone checking it. A stuck valve or a broken head can run for weeks unnoticed on an empty property. Our maintenance visits include looking for the obvious failures.

The treatment program continues

Pest pressure peaks in the summer. Chinch bugs can take out a section of St. Augustine in weeks, and sod webworms and armyworms move fast. A lawn under a program is being watched on every visit; a lawn with no one looking at it can be half gone before anybody notices. Fertilization in the wet season should be light and slow-release, and any fungicide or pest treatment is applied when the lawn needs it, which is exactly the kind of judgment an empty property cannot make for itself.

Trees and storms

Hurricane season overlaps almost exactly with the months seasonal residents are away. Before leaving, have the trees looked at: dead wood removed, weight reduced where it overhangs the roof, palms trimmed correctly. After a storm, someone needs to check the property for hanging limbs and damage. Our posts on hurricane prep and recovering after a storm cover both ends.

HOA compliance

Empty homes get noticed first. Tall grass, unedged walks and weeds in the beds are the three things that generate letters, and all three are routine on a weekly service. Ask for photos after visits if you want to see the property; it is a normal request.

Setting it up

Tell us the dates, give us a way to reach you, and let us know about any gate codes or access issues. We set the service for the season, adjust the irrigation, keep the treatment program running, and flag anything that needs a decision. We cover seasonal properties throughout Polk County, including Lakeland, Winter Haven and Lake Wales. Request an estimate or call (863) 279-7724.