Coral Springs Lawns After a Record Hot, Dry Summer: How to Keep Your Property Cool

What This Summer Did to Coral Springs

We have taken care of lawns in Broward since 2011, and Coral Springs is on our weekly route, a few minutes from our office on West Sample Road. So when we say this summer was different, we are not guessing. The numbers say it too.

The National Weather Service office in Miami called summer 2026 unusually hot and dry. Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International averaged 85.3°F from June through August, 1.9 degrees above normal and the hottest summer there since records began in 1913. The airport logged 78 days at 90°F or higher, against a normal 49. Broward spent 37 days under heat advisories, and on August 19 the county got an Excessive Heat Warning, the day after the airport hit 98°F.

The rain that usually rescues a South Florida lawn in summer never really came. The airport gauge caught 11.52 inches all summer, 11.33 inches below normal and the eighth driest summer on its record. Drought that normally breaks in June held on through the whole season.

What “Level Two” Means: Severe Drought in Broward

The U.S. Drought Monitor rates drought on four levels: D1 Moderate, D2 Severe, D3 Extreme and D4 Exceptional. A fifth label, D0, marks ground that is abnormally dry but not yet in drought. Level two, Severe, is the stage the Drought Monitor ties to likely crop and pasture losses, common water shortages and water restrictions.

By late August, all of Broward was in drought. About 92% of the county was at level two or worse, and about 27% had reached level three, Extreme. September rain and the last weeks of the rainy season pulled most of that back: on the October 27 map, about 23% of Broward is still in drought, about 7% is still Severe, and about 61% is abnormally dry or worse.

Here is the part that matters for your yard. South Florida's rainy season officially ended on October 15, and the dry season runs into May. From now on, most of the water your lawn gets is the water you give it, on the days the city allows. A lawn that went into October stressed is going into the driest months of the year without a reserve.

Why Keeping a Property Cool Matters

A cool yard is not only about looks. Living grass cools itself, and the air just above it, by moving water up through its leaves. When it browns out, that cooling stops, and the ground starts holding heat the way a driveway does.

• People and pets. Bare soil, pavers, rock and synthetic turf in full sun hold heat into the evening, which is exactly when most families use the yard.
• The house. Shade and planting along the west and south sides keep the hardest afternoon sun off the walls and windows that take the most heat.
• The lawn itself. Heat-stressed St. Augustine thins out, and weeds move into the gaps. Hot, dry, sunny spots are also where chinch bugs, the grass's main insect pest, do their damage.
• The neighborhood. Almost every neighborhood in Coral Springs sits inside an association with its own standards, and a burnt lawn is the one everyone sees from the street.

Know Your Watering Days in Coral Springs

Coral Springs has permanent watering limits of two days a week, and they apply in every season:

• Odd-numbered addresses: Wednesday and/or Saturday.
• Even-numbered addresses: Thursday and/or Sunday.
• Only before 10 a.m. or after 4 p.m. No sprinklers in the heat of the day, when much of the water evaporates before it reaches the roots.

The city suggests about 20 minutes per zone, which puts down roughly half to three-quarters of an inch. Under the South Florida Water Management District rule, hand watering with a hose that has a self-cancelling nozzle is allowed on any day, which is how to rescue a struggling bed or a new plant between watering days. If your water comes from an improvement district rather than the city, check its schedule on your bill, or call the city at 954-344-1000. Florida law also requires automatic sprinklers to have a working rain sensor, so the system skips a cycle after a real storm instead of watering wet ground.

Montenegro does not do irrigation work. If your sprinklers are watering the street or skipping a corner of the yard, a licensed irrigation contractor can fix the heads and the controller, and the city runs a rebate program for homeowners who upgrade to an efficient, weather-based setup.

Signs Your Lawn Needs Water, and Signs It Doesn't

St. Augustine tells you when it is thirsty. The blades fold in half lengthwise, the color turns a dull blue-gray, and your footprints stay pressed into the grass after you walk across it. Water on your next allowed day when a third to half of the lawn shows those signs, instead of on a timer that runs whether it rained or not.

Yellow or straw-colored patches in the sunniest part of the yard that do not green up after watering are a different problem, and that pattern often points to chinch bugs. Montenegro does not apply pesticides or fertilizer; a licensed lawn care applicator can confirm the cause and treat it.

Brown is not always dead, either. UF/IFAS notes that warm-season grasses like St. Augustine can survive long dry spells by going dormant. Before you rip anything out, tug on a brown patch. Grass that holds firm at the roots will often come back once it gets water on its regular days; grass that pulls up with no roots attached is likely gone and is a candidate for new sod.

How We Keep Coral Springs Properties Cool

This is what our crews do through the hot, dry months, and what we would tell any homeowner doing it on their own.

• Mow high. Standard St. Augustine stays at 3.5 to 4 inches, the height UF/IFAS recommends. Taller blades shade the soil and push roots deeper.
• Never take more than a third. Cutting more than a third of the blade at once shocks grass that is already stressed.
• Keep the blades sharp. A dull blade tears the tip instead of cutting it, and the ragged edge browns and loses more water.
• Mulch the beds. Two to three inches of mulch keeps roots cooler, holds moisture between watering days and keeps weeds down. Keep it pulled back from trunks and stems.
• Trim hedges with the heat in mind. Light, regular trims keep a hedge full. Cutting hard into old wood in peak heat exposes the inner leaves to sun they are not used to.
• Protect the shade you have. A big oak or a palm cluster on the west side of a house is doing real work. We maintain palms; trees go to a licensed tree service.
• Pick the right surface for the spot. Artificial turf, which we install, needs no water and suits shady corners where grass will not grow or high-traffic areas. In full afternoon sun it gets hot, as rock beds do, so plan shade near the spots people use.
• Replace dead patches at the right time. New sod has its own watering allowance while it establishes under the district rule. Check the details with your city before you lay it, and plan on hand watering through the dry season.

A Cooler Coral Springs Is a Shared Job

Coral Springs sits on the western edge of Broward's suburbs, where the neighborhoods give way to the Everglades, and the water under our lawns is the same groundwater the region drinks. Watering on schedule, at the right time of day, and only when the grass asks for it keeps lawns alive and leaves water for everyone else when the next dry spell comes.

If you would rather hand the yard to someone, we run weekly service in Coral Springs, including inside gated communities, and estimates are free. Call 786-308-8491 or send us a message, and we will walk the property with you.