Growing Central Florida
Last updated:
By the Orlando Pro Landscape Team
Central Florida has mandatory, year-round watering rules, and right now they are tighter than usual. The St. Johns River Water Management District sets the schedule, and OUC and Orange County enforce it. Whether your yard is in Winter Park, Baldwin Park, Lake Nona, or out in Winter Garden and Oviedo, watering on the wrong day can bring a citation. Here is the normal schedule, the drought order in effect now, and a year-round plan for a Central Florida lawn on sandy soil.
The current order: Phase III drought
A Phase III Extreme Water Shortage order is currently in effect, which tightens the normal schedule to once per week:
- Odd-numbered addresses: Saturday.
- Even-numbered addresses: Sunday.
- No watering between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m.
- About three-quarters of an inch per zone, no more.
Confirm the current order with SJRWMD or your utility before you set a controller, because drought phases change.
The normal SJRWMD schedule (for when the order lifts)
Outside a drought order, the durable year-round schedule is based on Daylight Saving Time and your address:
- Daylight Saving Time (mid-March to early November): two days per week. Odd addresses water Wednesday and Saturday, even addresses Thursday and Sunday.
- Eastern Standard Time (early November to mid-March): one day per week. Odd addresses Saturday, even addresses Sunday.
- Never water between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., and keep it to about one hour per zone.
Hand-watering and micro-irrigation of plants have more flexibility, which is how you protect beds and new plantings between lawn days.
Why the schedule and the sand both matter
Central Florida lawns sit on deep, fast-draining sand that holds little water or nutrients, so watering deep and infrequent on your allowed day beats frequent shallow cycles that just drain past the roots. Overwatering is the most common mistake we see, and it invites disease. The three things that decide how an Orlando lawn does are grass choice, soil prep, and watering on the SJRWMD schedule.
2026 Orlando lawn care calendar
Orlando lawns are warm-season subtropical grasses, mostly St. Augustine with Zoysia and Bahia, and they grow close to year-round.
- Spring (Mar to May): peak green-up. Fertilize as growth starts, watch for chinch bugs as it warms, and set irrigation to the current schedule as DST begins.
- Summer (Jun to Sep): the rainy season does much of the watering, so let a rain sensor skip cycles. Growth is fast, so mow often and high. Scout for chinch bugs in the heat and brown-patch or gray leaf spot in the wettest spells.
- Fall (Oct to Nov): taper fertilizer as growth slows and the schedule shifts to the one-day EST pattern. Good time to address thin areas and plan projects.
- Winter (Dec to Feb): slower growth. St. Augustine may brown briefly in a cold snap and recover. The best season for hardscape, design, and larger installs.
Building a lower-water Central Florida yard
The Florida-Friendly approach fits both the rules and the sand. Right-plant, right-place design puts the thirstiest turf only where it earns its place, moves beds to micro-irrigation, and amends that fast-draining sand so plantings hold water and nutrients. A rain sensor is required on Florida irrigation systems for a reason, and a well-set one keeps you off the controller during the rainy season. A yard designed this way barely notices a Phase III order that stresses a wall-to-wall St. Augustine lawn.
The bottom line for 2026
Right now that means once a week by address, never in the middle of the day, and about three-quarters of an inch per zone. When the drought order lifts, fall back to the SJRWMD two-day (DST) or one-day (winter) schedule. Water deep and infrequent on the sand, lean on micro-irrigation and a rain sensor, and design for Florida-Friendly. That keeps your lawn healthy and keeps you clear of a citation.
If you would like a hand setting an irrigation system to the current order or building a lower-water Central Florida yard, the Orlando Pro Landscape Team works under these exact rules every day.
Phase III order and schedule current as of July 2026; confirm the active order with SJRWMD, OUC, or Orange County before setting a controller.