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Current Customers | Let me start by saying that we at Lawn Care Extraordinaire have been through many, many freezes and cold snaps over the last 31 years. We can help you figure out what to do to your lawn and other landscaping now that another arctic cold wave has struck. | 
| Your good grass will suffer from the cold. Blades will turn purple, yellow and brown and the overall look will deteriorate. However, the cold should not permanently damage your St. Augustine. We will continue to apply plenty of fertilizer to bring the St. Augustine turf out of dormancy. We will continue to apply weed control products until the weather gets too hot.
Most of the existing crabgrass that has been growing in your lawns is now probably dead. Bermuda grass and nutsedge is also browned out. Since we cannot control crabgrass or Bermuda grass in a St. Augustine lawn, this is a good thing. Now that the unwanted grasses are dead or totally stunted, your St. Augustine can begin to thicken and retake those areas in your lawn. In areas where the crabgrass has died but where there is too little St. Augustine grass left, you may want to re-sod or have us install grass plugs to speed the recovery. | 
| Most or all of your “flowering” shrubs and trees have probably been severely damaged by the freeze. Hibiscus, alamanda, ixora and bouganvilla are the type of plants that may be killed back to the ground in a severe freeze. Many other plants that are suited to our rather tropical climate will also be damaged. Tropical palms, flowering trees and fruit trees could be damaged as well. | 
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Resist the urge to prune away what appears to be dead in your shrubs and trees. You should wait at least 3 weeks to assess how far the freeze damage goes into the plant. Wait longer if you can. We may yet get another cold front or two before the warmer March weather arrives. If you can’t stand the ugly appearance of your damaged shrubs, after 3 weeks you can remove some of the damaged plant material. But, if you prune into the healthy portion of the plant, this will trigger new budding and growth that will be very susceptible to another cold snap. We do not recommend pruning into the healthy plant material until late February.
If we are caring for your shrubs, we will begin applying a high quality, 100% slow-release granular fertilizer to all your shrubs. This will gently begin feeding your plants which will help them recover far faster when warmer weather returns. Since most of the foliage is damaged, we will not be spraying with insecticides until new growth, warmer weather and insects return. | 
| It is impossible for us to get to all of our customers in a short time. Therefore, it is very important to allow us to move systematically through our normal schedule of services. This will allow our technicians to efficiently address the needs of your plants and turf. Remember that this is the type of situation that you hired us to manage. We will adjust our products and application techniques to benefit your landscaping as best we can. In Florida, we are accustomed to managing periods of drought, extreme rainfall and cold; many times all in the same year. But it really is better than shoveling snow. |
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View Photo Gallery of Frost Damage & Plant Info