Greetings to the board,

I have a question about "winterizing" lawns. The coastal area of the
Florida Panhandle is now in the middle of the first "hard freeze" and
regular "freeze" warning depending how close to the gulf. Now it is also
when I realize that I haven't spread the stuff I purchase early November.

I suppose (hope?) the temps will raise in a week or so to the neighborhood
of 50 to 60 before another cold front shows up.

The lawn is looking sort of OK, but I'm not sure how healthy it is
inside.
Also now that I have your attention, when the weather people give the
warning for the freeze for a particular night: is it better to water
before or after? How bad is it, if the sprinklers go automatically before
you know it and then you see icicles hanging from the leaves of the
bushes?

this may be very obvious for some, but I'm a SouthFloridian transplant.
I figured Florida was the sunshine state period, now I'm learning
differently. Used to be 2 seasons: tourist and locals, if there was
anything to pick during the fall it was the ONE palm leaf. Now I have 4
seasons: tourist/locals, tourist/spring breakers, tourist/drawn in leaves
& pine cones and finally tourist/freeze your southflorida behind.

thanks for any info

Why are you so egar to fertilize now Ana? If it were me, I would wait until
March. By fertilizing when your lawn is close to dormancy is not very
productive. More importantly, it would be wise for you to send a soil sample
to a commercial lab for analysis. It might cost you about $40. Don't bother
with home test kits. There's no sense to add potassium or phosphor if your
soil doesn't call for it. Of special importance, is organic material. I
suspect that Florida soil might be light on organic material. The Lab might
say that you need commercial compost or peat moss. I just finished a 4
semester college course up here in Illinois. If there was anything of
importance that I learned, it was that it's unwise to remedy a soil problem
untill you know what's wrong with the soil. Until reciently, as a retiree, I
spent way to much on fertilizer while skimping on soil testing. Just a
thought Ana.
"Ana" wrote in message
...
Greetings to the board,

I have a question about "winterizing" lawns. The coastal area of the
Florida Panhandle is now in the middle of the first "hard freeze" and
regular "freeze" warning depending how close to the gulf. Now it is also
when I realize that I haven't spread the stuff I purchase early November.

I suppose (hope?) the temps will raise in a week or so to the neighborhood
of 50 to 60 before another cold front shows up.

The lawn is looking sort of OK, but I'm not sure how healthy it is
inside.
Also now that I have your attention, when the weather people give the
warning for the freeze for a particular night: is it better to water
before or after? How bad is it, if the sprinklers go automatically before
you know it and then you see icicles hanging from the leaves of the
bushes?

this may be very obvious for some, but I'm a SouthFloridian transplant.
I figured Florida was the sunshine state period, now I'm learning
differently. Used to be 2 seasons: tourist and locals, if there was
anything to pick during the fall it was the ONE palm leaf. Now I have 4
seasons: tourist/locals, tourist/spring breakers, tourist/drawn in leaves
& pine cones and finally tourist/freeze your southflorida behind.

thanks for any info