This Is Florida · Life · For residents and visitors
St. Augustine Grass Care and Florida Fertilizer Rules: A Healthy Lawn Without Polluting the Water
When to fertilize, how high to mow, how much to water, why a brown patch needs a diagnosis, and how to keep fertilizer and grass clippings out of canals, lakes, lagoons, and storm drains.
Start with the grass, the rule, and the mower
St. Augustinegrass is the lawn grass most often planted in Florida yards. A pale or brown patch is not, by itself, a reason to fertilize or to run the sprinklers every morning. Winter dormancy, insects, disease, shade, and a watering problem can all change the color. University of Florida IFAS Extension says excess or poorly timed fertilizer can hurt the lawn and send nutrients toward the water.
Identify the grass, look up the city or county rule, and correct mowing and watering before buying another product. Feed the lawn when it is growing, when it needs the nutrient, and when the application is legal. A storm drain, canal, pond, or street is not a place to dump fertilizer or yard waste.
| Task | Practical starting point |
|---|---|
| Mowing | Most standard St. Augustinegrass cultivars are kept at about 3.5 to 4 inches. Dwarf cultivars such as Seville, Delmar, and Captiva are kept at about 2 to 2.5 inches. CitraBlue is a lower, more horizontal cultivar. Use the height in the UF/IFAS cultivar publication rather than the standard 3.5 to 4 inches. |
| Watering | Water an established lawn when it shows a need. A permitted watering day is a chance to water, not an order to run the system. Current restrictions are on the watering-days page. |
| Fertilizing | Match the application to active growth, the lawn area you actually measured, the label, and the local ordinance. A store shelf does not make today's application legal. |
| Brown patches | Find the cause before applying fertilizer, insecticide, or fungicide. Similar patches have different causes. |
| Clippings | Leave a light, even layer on the lawn. Keep clippings out of the street, the storm drain, and the water. |
| Near water | Keep fertilizer out of the local fertilizer-free zone. A general lawn tip does not shrink a larger local buffer. |
Mowing heights and the one-third rule are from UF/IFAS publications LH010, EP236, and LH028. Local fertilizer ordinances and water-shortage orders can be stricter than a statewide lawn bulletin.
There is no single Florida summer fertilizer calendar
Florida law sets a framework. It does not print one June-through-September ban for every address. Section 403.9337, Florida Statutes, encourages every city and county to adopt the Model Ordinance for Florida-Friendly Fertilizer Use on Urban Landscapes. A local government in the watershed of a water body listed as impaired for nutrients must adopt that model ordinance at a minimum. It may adopt stricter rules if it documents why, including review of scientific information, and puts that record in the public file before adoption. An ordinance the local government adopted before January 1, 2009, is treated differently under subsection (3). Ordinances adopted or amended on or after that date have to substantively conform to the current model ordinance and are still subject to the stricter-rule test where it applies.
Before fertilizing, look the property up in the UF/IFAS Florida Fertilizer Ordinances application, then read the linked ordinance and the local government's current page. UF/IFAS describes the application as a reference. The ordinance text and the current local notice control if a summary and the code disagree.
The table is a comparison of jurisdictions whose own pages were opened on November 7, 2026. It is not a list of every Florida ordinance, and it does not list every exemption. A county that is absent still has to be checked. Farms, golf courses, athletic fields, and vegetable gardens can be outside the residential turf rule.
| Jurisdiction | Nitrogen and phosphorus restriction opened for this page | Other details from that same source |
|---|---|---|
| Unincorporated Brevard County | June 1 through September 30. The ordinance also bars nitrogen or phosphorus fertilizer on saturated soil. | Fertilizer-free zone of 15 feet from surface waters, ponds, streams, lakes, canals, wetlands, or the top of a seawall. Nitrogen must be at least 50 percent slow-release. Phosphorus on turf or landscape plants requires a documented deficiency. Cities in Brevard have their own ordinances. |
| City of Melbourne | June 1 through September 30. | The city publishes a 15-foot fertilizer-free zone, at least 50 percent slow-release nitrogen, and phosphate-free fertilizer with limited exceptions. Blowing grass clippings into streets or storm drains is illegal year-round. The May 15, 2026 city notice states a $200 fine for violating the fertilizer ordinance or the clipping ordinance. City code states a penalty of $200 per day, per occurrence, for that article. That is Melbourne's penalty. Stormwater hotline: 321-608-7341. |
| Miami-Dade County | May 15 through October 31, countywide, including municipalities. A city may add restrictions. | No fertilizer containing nitrogen or phosphorus during that period. Fertilizer-free zone of 20 feet from the top of bank of a water body, a storm drain, Biscayne Bay, wetlands, or the top of a seawall. Granular nitrogen fertilizers at least 65 percent slow-release. No more than 4 pounds of nitrogen per 1,000 square feet per calendar year, no more than 1 pound of nitrogen per 1,000 square feet in one solid application, and no more than one-half pound in one liquid application. Phosphorus requires a soil test showing deficiency. The county page lists exemptions, including vegetable and community gardens, athletic fields, bona fide farms, and certain golf courses and parks. |
| Pinellas County | June 1 through September 30. The county page also prohibits the sale of lawn and landscape fertilizers containing nitrogen or phosphorus in that window. | No nitrogen or phosphorus during a severe-thunderstorm, flood, tropical-storm, or hurricane watch or warning, or when the forecast rain is 2 inches or more within 24 hours. Fertilizer-free zone of 10 feet from the top of the bank of surface water, the landward edge of a seawall, or a designated wetland. No more than 4 pounds of nitrogen per 1,000 square feet per year. Granular nitrogen fertilizers must be 50 percent or more slow-release. Phosphorus requires a documented soil test. No nitrogen on new turf or new plantings for 30 days. The county notes that reclaimed water can already contain nutrients. |
| Unincorporated Seminole County | June 1 through September 30. No nitrogen or phosphorus fertilizer on turf in that window. The county also bars those applications during a flood, tropical-storm, or hurricane watch or warning, or when 2 inches or more of rain is expected within 24 hours. | From October 1 through May 31, nitrogen fertilizer must be at least 65 percent slow-release. Fertilizer-free zone of 15 feet from ponds, lakes, streams, canals, other water bodies, and wetlands. Phosphorus requires a soil or tissue test. The county page says the seven cities have adopted the ordinance fully or with modifications. A city address still needs the city rule. |
| Sarasota County | June 1 through September 30. No fertilizer containing nitrogen or phosphorus in that window, on the county's fertilizer page. | The rest of the year, at least 50 percent slow-release nitrogen. Keep fertilizer at least 10 feet from waterways. The same page tells residents to leave grass clippings on the lawn. City of Sarasota, Venice, Longboat Key, and North Port are separate. Do not copy the county dates onto a North Port lawn. |
| City of North Port | April 1 through September 30 for turfgrass. The city prohibits nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizer on turf in that window. | The city says fertilizer on landscape plants is still permitted in that window, with the product and rate limits in the ordinance. The city page also says not to apply fertilizer within 10 feet of a waterway or swale, and not to fertilize when heavy rain is expected. Sarasota County's June 1 date does not replace North Port's April 1 turf rule inside the city. |
The end of a blackout is not an order to fertilize. The grass may be slowing down, the soil may be saturated, a storm watch may be up, or the annual nitrogen total may already be met.
Brevard and the Indian River Lagoon
Brevard County's fertilizer ordinance, Chapter 46, is the rule for unincorporated Brevard. The county's stormwater page says the county commission and most city boards adopted a summer ban, and it points residents to the local ordinance rather than one countywide calendar. Melbourne's dates match the county's June 1 through September 30 window, and Melbourne publishes its own 15-foot buffer, its own clipping rule, and its own penalty. A lot on the lagoon should be read against the city ordinance if the lot is inside a city. The county's 15-foot figure is not a substitute for a city rule that measures the buffer differently.
A clear instruction for a lawn service: keep fertilizer outside the required buffer, keep the spreader off the pavement, and remove every clipping or granule left in the street.
Weather can stop an application on a legal date
A date inside the allowed season does not override a weather ban. Pinellas County bars nitrogen and phosphorus during the watches and warnings listed in the table, and when at least 2 inches of rain are forecast within 24 hours. Brevard's ordinance bars nitrogen or phosphorus fertilizer on saturated soil, which includes standing water or soil that releases free water under a person's weight. Seminole County's FAQ adds the same kind of watch-and-rain stop. Do not fertilize a flooded or puddled lawn to help it recover. Wait until the soil can take the product, then follow the rule that applies that day.
Know which St. Augustinegrass you have
St. Augustinegrass spreads by stolons, the aboveground runners, and it is usually started from sod, plugs, or sprigs. An ordinary bag of grass seed is not the repair method to assume. It also takes repeated heavy foot traffic poorly compared with some other turfgrasses. Cultivars differ in shade tolerance, growth habit, and pest problems. The mowing height for one is not automatically the height for another.
| Grass | UF/IFAS mowing guidance opened for this page |
|---|---|
| Standard cultivars | About 3.5 to 4 inches. LH010 names BitterBlue, Classic, and Floratam as examples maintained with a rotary mower at that height. |
| Dwarf cultivars | About 2 to 2.5 inches. EP236 names Delmar, Seville, and Captiva. |
| CitraBlue | LH010 says the more horizontal growth allows a lower mowing height than Floratam, and that continuous low mowing can build thatch. Use the cultivar recommendation in that publication. This page does not assign CitraBlue the standard 3.5-to-4-inch height. |
Do not scalp the lawn to stretch the time between mowings
Remove no more than about one-third of the leaf blade at a mowing. LH028's example: a lawn kept at 4 inches should be mowed before it is taller than 6 inches. Keep the blade sharp. If the lawn is overgrown, raise the deck and bring it back to the normal height over more than one mowing. Cutting it to the ground in one pass removes the leaf area the plant uses to grow and leaves it open to stress.
Leave a light layer of clippings
UF/IFAS mowing guidance is to leave clippings on the lawn when they are spread evenly. They return nutrients to the grass. They do not, by themselves, create a thatch problem under ordinary mowing. Break up or collect clumps that would smother the turf. Sweep or blow stray clippings off pavement and back onto the lawn, or bag them for disposal. Melbourne makes blowing clippings into streets or storm drains illegal all year. Seminole County's applicator notice says clippings must not be swept, washed, or blown into drains, sidewalks, roadways, or water bodies.
Shade is not a fertilizer deficiency
Grass thinning under a dense tree may be short of light. More nitrogen does not add sunlight. UF/IFAS recommends changing the care in shaded turf and using another groundcover when the shade is too deep for a lawn. A planted bed can be a better long-term fix than replacing the same failed grass under the same canopy. Vegetable and herb choices by region are on the vegetables and herbs page. That page is about food plants, not a substitute for the fertilizer ordinance.
Fertilize during growth, and only when it is allowed
North and Central Florida have a shorter growing season than South Florida. UF/IFAS cautions against feeding dormant turf and against pushing growth too early in spring or too late in fall. In south Florida, growth can continue through the winter at a slower pace, and LH010 says applications there may be made through the year because growth is year-round. A green winter lawn can still be growing slowly. Color is not a calendar.
For the annual rates below, EP353 divides the state this way: north is north of Ocala, central is from Ocala to State Road 60, and south is the rest of the state south of State Road 60.
| Season | What to do before you spread anything |
|---|---|
| Winter | Match the work to slower growth. Do not fertilize dormant turf in North or Central Florida. |
| Spring | Wait for sustained growth. LH010's general timing is early April in central Florida and mid-April in north Florida, still subject to the local blackout start and the weather rules. |
| Summer | Keep mowing and irrigation in line. Where nitrogen and phosphorus are prohibited, do not apply them because the grass is growing fast. |
| Fall | Look at growth, rain, and the annual total. The morning a blackout ends is not an instruction to apply a heavy dose. |
Do not double or triple a single application to store the summer's fertilizer ahead of a blackout. EP236 notes that, in a place with a summer restriction, one approach is a controlled-release product before the restriction begins. That application still has to stay inside the per-application limit, the annual range, and every weather and buffer rule in force that day.
Annual nitrogen ranges for St. Augustinegrass
These figures are pounds of actual nitrogen per 1,000 square feet per year, from UF/IFAS Table 1 in EP353 and the matching table in the homeowner St. Augustinegrass guide. They are yearly ranges, not the amount for one visit. The top of the range is not an automatic target. Homeowners are expected to start inside the range and adjust to how the turf responds.
| Region | Annual nitrogen range |
|---|---|
| North Florida | 2 to 4 pounds of nitrogen per 1,000 square feet per year |
| Central Florida | 2 to 5 pounds of nitrogen per 1,000 square feet per year |
| South Florida | 4 to 6 pounds of nitrogen per 1,000 square feet per year |
The local legal cap still controls. Miami-Dade publishes a maximum of 4 pounds of nitrogen per 1,000 square feet per calendar year. The south Florida agronomic range, which goes up to 6, does not authorize a Miami-Dade lawn to exceed 4. Pinellas and the Sarasota County fertilizer page also publish a 4-pound annual cap.
The state urban-turf rule, cited in LH010 and EP353 as Rule 5E-1.003, Florida Administrative Code, allows up to 2 pounds of nitrogen per 1,000 square feet in a spring or summer application when the fertilizer is at least 65 percent controlled-release nitrogen. No more than 0.7 pound of quick-release nitrogen per 1,000 square feet may be applied at one time. For phosphorus, the same UF/IFAS summary of the rule allows no more than 0.25 pound of phosphate per 1,000 square feet in one application and no more than 0.50 pound per year. A state ceiling is not permission to break a stricter city or county rule.
Read the three numbers on the bag
A bag marked 16-0-8 is, by weight, 16 percent nitrogen, 0 percent available phosphate, and 8 percent soluble potash. Those are the N-P-K numbers. The middle and last numbers are phosphate and potash, the conventional oxide forms, not elemental phosphorus and elemental potassium. The pounds of product are not the pounds of nitrogen.
Arithmetic example, not a recommended rate: if a legal application is one-half pound of actual nitrogen per 1,000 square feet, and the bag is 16-0-8, then 0.5 divided by 0.16 equals 3.125 pounds of product per 1,000 square feet. On 4,000 square feet of lawn being treated, that is 12.5 pounds of product. Measure the lawn. Leave out the house, the driveway, beds that are fed separately, and the fertilizer-free zone.
What 50 percent slow-release means
It means half of the nitrogen in the product, not half of the bag. A fertilizer with 16 percent total nitrogen and 8 percentage points of that nitrogen identified as slow-release has 8 divided by 16, or 50 percent of its nitrogen in slow-release form. A bag that meets a 50 percent rule does not automatically meet a 65 percent rule. Pinellas publishes 50 percent or more for granular nitrogen fertilizers. Miami-Dade and Seminole County publish 65 percent. Read the guaranteed analysis and the footnotes.
Slow-release spreads the nitrogen over time. It is not permission to fertilize pavement, saturated ground, or a prohibited shoreline. A product labeled organic, natural, or lawn food is still a fertilizer containing nitrogen or phosphorus if those nutrients are in it. Where the ordinance bans fertilizers that contain nitrogen or phosphorus, the label name does not create an exemption. Read the ingredients and the ordinance definitions.
Soil tests, phosphorus, and lime
A soil test can help with pH, phosphorus, potassium, and whether an amendment fits the soil. It is a poor gauge of nitrogen. UF/IFAS explains that routine soil tests are not used as a nitrogen fuel gauge because soil nitrogen changes quickly. Ask the county Extension office which test fits the problem. A fertility test is not a disease diagnosis.
Many Florida soils already have enough phosphorus. Miami-Dade, Pinellas, Brevard, Seminole, and Sarasota all restrict phosphorus unless a test documents a need, on the pages opened here. Choose a zero in the middle when phosphorus is unnecessary and the rule requires it. A starter fertilizer or a multipurpose garden fertilizer is not automatically the right bag for an established lawn.
Lime raises pH. Florida soils are not uniform, and lime that was routine farther north can be the wrong amendment here. Test before correcting pH. Do not add lime or sulfur only because the lawn is yellow.
Water when the lawn needs it, and only as much as the rules allow
On an established lawn, UF/IFAS describes water stress as leaf blades folding, a blue-gray cast, and footprints that stay visible after you walk across the grass. The usual guide for one irrigation is about one-half to three-quarters of an inch, adjusted to the soil and the site. That is not a daily dose and it is not a fixed number of days each week. Rain counts. Shade, temperature, soil, and rooting change the interval.
Set several straight-sided cans in a zone and compare them. A single can next to a head can hide a dry corner and a flooded corner. Fix broken or crooked heads. Stop watering the pavement. Water that runs off the yard can carry nutrients with it.
Watering restrictions override a generic lawn schedule. Check the water-management district, the utility, and any water-shortage order. An older article that says "twice a week" may not describe what is allowed this week. A permitted day is permission to water if the lawn needs it.
Watering fertilizer in is a separate job from irrigating the lawn. Follow the product label. Do not treat a forecast downpour as a substitute for a light watering-in, and do not run the zone until water flows down the gutter.
After a flood, drying and cleanup are a different task from feeding the grass. The flood-cleanup page covers what to remove from a flooded house. It is not a fertilizer schedule.
Diagnose a brown or yellow lawn before you treat it
UF/IFAS treats chinch bugs, large patch, gray leaf spot, and lethal viral necrosis in Floratam as different problems that can look alike at a distance. Fertilizer on every brown patch wastes money and can make some of those problems worse.
| What you notice | A possible explanation, not a diagnosis |
|---|---|
| Yellow-to-brown patches in hot, sunny spots | Chinch bugs, drought stress, or an irrigation problem. Look at the line between damaged and green grass for the insects. UF/IFAS also points to excess thatch and extra fertilizer as conditions that make chinch-bug trouble worse. |
| Expanding round patches in cooler, damp weather | Large patch. Overwatering and the wrong fertilizer timing can favor it. A fungicide does not fix a sprinkler that keeps the grass wet. |
| Thinning grass and spotted leaves in warm, humid weather | Gray leaf spot is one disease UF/IFAS lists for St. Augustinegrass. Confirm it before treating. |
| Thinning only under dense trees | Not enough light. |
| A broad color change in cool weather | Dormancy or slower winter growth, especially in North and Central Florida. |
| Floratam that keeps declining after ordinary care | Lethal viral necrosis has no fertilizer cure and no fungicide cure. When UF/IFAS guidance confirms it, do not replant the failed area with Floratam. |
Iron can improve color when iron is the missing piece, including on high-pH soils. It does not replace nitrogen, and it does not fix insects, disease, shade, or a broken irrigation zone. Read the whole analysis. A bag sold as iron can still contain nitrogen or phosphorus that the ordinance restricts.
A weed-and-feed product applies herbicide and fertilizer together. The right week for the weed may be a banned week for the fertilizer, or the wrong week for that cultivar. Confirm the label for the grass, the cultivar, and the weed. UF/IFAS weed guidance starts with identifying the weed and fixing mowing, watering, and fertility, rather than using one combination product for every weed.
New sod
New St. Augustine sod needs roots before a heavy feeding. Do not copy the established-lawn rate onto sod that was laid this week. Pinellas County publishes a 30-day wait before nitrogen on new turf or new plantings. Other ordinances set their own wait. An IFAS Extension note on Miami-Dade's 2021 ordinance described a ban on nitrogen and phosphorus before sodding and for 60 days afterward. Read the current Miami-Dade fertilizer page before relying on that 60-day figure for a specific job. Temporary watering for new sod is also different from the established-lawn schedule, and it still has to fit the current watering rules.
Replace the reason the old grass failed before you buy new sod. New sod does not remove deep shade, standing water, compaction, or a disease that is still in the site.
Keep the nutrients on the lawn
Nitrogen and phosphorus grow grass. In the water, the same nutrients can grow algae. Thick algae blocks light to plants under the surface. As that algae breaks down, it uses oxygen that fish and other aquatic life need. Sarasota County states that runoff of nitrogen and phosphorus from fertilizer is why it restricts summer applications. Fertilizer is one contributor. UF/IFAS also names septic systems, wastewater, pet waste, decaying vegetation, and deposition from the air. A residential lawn is not the sole cause of every Florida algae bloom.
- Honor the whole buffer. Measure it the way the ordinance measures it: shoreline, top of bank, seawall, wetland line, or storm drain. Miami-Dade's published 20-foot zone includes storm drains. A deflector shield does not, by itself, authorize spreading inside a local no-fertilizer zone. Seminole requires a deflector on rotary spreaders and still keeps the 15-foot zone.
- Sweep spills. Do not hose them. Put granules back on the lawn only if that will not push the area over the intended rate. Otherwise return them to the bag or dispose of them as the label and the local waste rules allow. Never rinse fertilizer down a driveway into a drain. Pinellas says fertilizer on concrete or asphalt has to be removed or swept back onto the landscape.
- Keep clippings out of the road, the canal, and the pond. A light layer on the grass recycles nutrients. The same clippings in the gutter are on their way to the water. Melbourne and Seminole both publish that blowing or washing clippings into the drainage system is prohibited.
- Stop sprinkler runoff. Water the soil can absorb. Fix overspray. Runoff carries soil and nutrients off the property.
- Count nutrients already in the water. Pinellas County notes that reclaimed irrigation water can contain nitrogen. Ask the utility or the Extension office before stacking a full fertilizer program on top of reclaimed water. The amount varies.
- Stop replanting turf where it cannot live. Use grass where it has a job and enough light. A planted bed or other Florida-Friendly design can end a cycle of watering and fertilizing a spot that fails every year. Florida-Friendly Landscaping, the UF/IFAS program, is about the right plant, efficient water, careful fertilizer, and protecting the waterfront. It is guidance. It is not a permit.
What to ask a lawn service
A person who is paid to apply fertilizer in Florida needs more than a mower. Pinellas County states that commercial and institutional applicators must complete the UF/IFAS Green Industries Best Management Practices class and hold the limited fertilizer license from the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services before they apply fertilizer. Brevard County's published staff note says the same Limited Urban Fertilizer certification. Mowing, edging, or owning a landscaping business is not that certification.
Ask which ordinance applies to the property, what product and rate will be used, how much actual nitrogen that is, where the no-fertilizer buffer is, and whether you will get a record. A useful record has the date, the product analysis, the amount used, the area treated, and the reason. It shows whether a second visit would duplicate a feeding.
For fertilizer in the street, clippings in a drain, or granules in the water, call the city or county stormwater or code-enforcement office and describe what you saw. A mowing visit is not proof that fertilizer was applied.
Questions
Does Florida have one statewide summer fertilizer ban?
No. Section 403.9337, Florida Statutes, requires certain local governments in nutrient-impaired watersheds to adopt the state model ordinance at a minimum, and it allows qualifying stricter rules. The blackout dates, the buffer distance, and the slow-release percentage are in the city or county ordinance. A bag on a store shelf does not mean the product may be applied at that address today.
Can I fertilize as soon as the summer ban ends?
Not automatically. The end of a local blackout is not an instruction to feed. Check whether the grass is growing, whether the soil is saturated, whether heavy rain is forecast, how much nitrogen has already been applied this year, and whether another local rule still applies. Dormant or slow-growing St. Augustinegrass in North or Central Florida does not need a catch-up dose because the calendar changed.
Can I use fertilizer with a zero in the middle during a blackout?
A zero in the middle means the bag lists no available phosphate. A product such as 16-0-8 still contains nitrogen. Where the blackout covers fertilizers that contain nitrogen, that bag is still prohibited. A summer product has to be free of both nitrogen and phosphorus if the local rule bans both.
Should St. Augustinegrass stay dark green all winter?
Not everywhere. North of Ocala, and much of Central Florida, St. Augustinegrass slows down or goes dormant in winter. A brown or dull lawn in those months is not automatically dead and is not automatically short of fertilizer. South Florida lawns may stay green while growing more slowly. Color alone is not a fertilizer calendar.
Is more fertilizer the fastest way to thicken the lawn?
Not when the cause is shade, insects, disease, compaction, or watering. UF/IFAS guidance is to correct mowing and watering and to identify the problem before adding more nutrients. Extra nitrogen will not create sunlight under a dense tree, and it will not cure a virus in Floratam.
Sources
- UF/IFAS LH010, St. Augustinegrass for Florida Lawns. Cultivars, mowing height, nitrogen ranges, and the urban-turf rule summary.
- UF/IFAS EP236, Homeowner Best Management Practices for the Home Lawn. Annual ranges, dwarf mowing heights, the one-third rule, and the link to the ordinance application.
- UF/IFAS EP353, Urban Turf Fertilizer Rule for Home Lawn Fertilization. Regional nitrogen table, the Ocala and State Road 60 split, and phosphate limits in the state rule.
- UF/IFAS LH028, Mowing Your Florida Lawn. The one-third example.
- UF/IFAS Florida Fertilizer Ordinances application. A reference map. The ordinance controls.
- Section 403.9337, Florida Statutes (2025).
- Brevard County fertilizer ordinance, Chapter 46, including the June 1 to September 30 restricted period, the 15-foot zone, the 50 percent slow-release rule, and saturated soil.
- City of Melbourne, Summer Fertilizer Ban Begins June 1, May 15, 2026, and the city's stormwater "What You Can Do" page.
- Miami-Dade County fertilizer regulations.
- Pinellas County fertilizer ordinance page.
- Seminole County fertilizer ordinance, and the county's fertilizer FAQ.
- Sarasota County fertilizer management.
- City of North Port fertilizer ordinance.
- This Is Florida, Florida watering days.
Checked November 7, 2026. A later ordinance amendment, a water-shortage order, or a city rule inside one of these counties can change a date, a buffer, or a percentage. Read the current local page before you apply anything.