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Seasonal checks are about the controller and zones, not a northern freeze routine.
Central Florida rarely needs a northern-style winterizing blow-out. The Florida Climate Center's 1991–2020 normals for Orlando put the average January low at about 50°F. What homeowners here usually need is a clear start or pause: schedules adjusted for the season, zones that sat unused, or a controller that was turned off for months. The matched tech confirms what "seasonal" means for your system and sets their own scope, price, and schedule.
Spring start: run each zone and note failures.
Travel pause: stop watering without losing track of coverage.
Rain-sensor and clock checks.
Hand-off to repair if a zone never wakes up.
Why do Florida sprinkler schedules need seasonal changes?
Lawn water needs swing a lot through the year. UF/IFAS Extension's guide Watering Your Florida Lawn says irrigation systems should be reset seasonally, and that many people leave the timer on one schedule all year, which usually leads to overwatering. Its table for St. Augustinegrass with 6-inch roots shows how wide the swing is: for Gainesville, the closest city listed, the grass can go roughly 7 to 23 days between waterings in winter but only 1 to 5 days in summer, assuming no rain. The amount per watering stays about the same (1/2 to 3/4 inch); only the frequency changes.
Rain shifts the picture too. The Florida Climate Center's normals for Orlando show about 51 inches of rain a year, concentrated from June through September, while November averages under 2 inches. UF/IFAS advises that if at least 1/2 to 3/4 inch of rain falls before a scheduled watering, you can skip it, and that you may water less often than the rules allow.
How do the water district's rules change with the seasons?
SJRWMD's normal schedule has two seasons. Its watering restrictions page sets one schedule for daylight saving time (second Sunday in March to the first Sunday in November) and another for Eastern Standard Time, with fewer allowed days in the Eastern Standard Time season. Your days depend on whether your address ends in an odd or even number. Water-shortage orders can override the normal schedule: when we checked on October 4, 2026, a Phase III order covered the portions of Lake County within the district, which matters in Clermont and Minneola. We do not publish the days here; read them on the official page or on our watering days and restrictions guide.
The practical habit is simple: when the clocks change, check the controller. Confirm the date and time, confirm the programs match your allowed days, and adjust run frequency for the season.
What should I check when restarting after travel?
Turn the controller back to automatic, confirm the date and time, and make sure the rain sensor is not bypassed. Then run each zone briefly and watch it; SJRWMD allows short runs for maintenance and repair checks. Look for heads that do not pop up, nozzles clogged with debris, water pooling at a head, and zones that do not start at all. A system that sat idle for weeks can come back with a stuck valve or clogged heads.
- Controller: power on, correct date and time, programs restored, not on rain delay.
- Rain sensor: switch set to active; test it by spraying it with a hose while a zone runs, as UF/IFAS recommends at least once a year (AE221).
- Each zone: starts, heads pop up, spray reaches the edges, no pooling.
- Turf: look for folded blades, a blue-gray tint, or footprints that stay visible, which UF/IFAS lists as signs of drought stress.
If anything fails, note which zone and what you saw, then choose Seasonal start-stop or Sprinkler repair on the form. Our guide to broken head vs bad valve vs dead controller helps you describe it.
What should I do before leaving for a season?
If you are leaving for weeks or months, decide whether the system stays on a seasonal schedule or goes to rain-off, and who will notice if a zone breaks or a head starts leaking while you are gone. A running system with a broken head can waste water for weeks unnoticed; a system switched off can leave turf stressed when you return, especially in the dry late fall and spring. A matched irrigation tech can talk through controller settings and check that the rain sensor works before you go.
Vacant home watch visits are a different service: that is SafeNest, not this page. If you only need the grass cut while you are away, that is Lawn Care.
Does winter dormancy mean the system is broken?
Not necessarily. UF/IFAS's guide to St. Augustinegrass for Florida Lawns notes that the grass goes into winter dormancy in parts of the state and turns brown or tan until spring. Even color loss across the whole lawn in a cold snap is different from one sharply defined dry patch that matches a spray arc. If one zone is brown and the rest are not, test that zone. If the browning does not follow the sprinklers at all, read dry zone vs soil vs irrigation.
What about new sod or new plantings in spring?
New landscaping needs more frequent water while it establishes, and SJRWMD's rules include a specific establishment allowance for new plantings, which is tighter during a water-shortage order. Read the current wording on the SJRWMD page before you program a new-sod schedule, and switch back to the normal schedule when the establishment period ends. Leaving a new-sod program running for months is a common cause of overwatering.
Which related pages help?
Our guide to the fall irrigation schedule reset after the rainy season walks through the October and November controller change. Controller / timer for clocks, apps, and rain sensors. Sprinkler repair for heads, valves, and leaks. Irrigation maintenance for tune-ups. HOA dry zones if a notice arrived while you were away. Local guides: Winter Garden, Horizon West (including Hamlin and Waterleigh), and Clermont. Ready? Request a local irrigation tech.
Seasonal start / stop FAQs
- Do Central Florida sprinklers need winterizing?
- Not in the northern sense. Most seasonal checks here are about resetting the schedule and testing each zone.
- Should I check my sprinkler schedule when the clocks change?
- Yes. SJRWMD’s normal schedule is different during daylight saving time and Eastern Standard Time, so confirm your days on its page.
- Do rain sensors stop a Florida afternoon storm from flooding the yard?
- A working sensor should skip a cycle after rain. The tech checks it.
- Is this lawn care or irrigation?
- Irrigation. Mowing is a different match.