Lawn care and landscaping in Clermont, FL

Lawns on hills: what changes

Clermont was founded in 1884 on the northern end of the Lake Wales Ridge, with rolling hills that are rare on the Florida peninsula and the Clermont Chain of Lakes below them. For decades the local economy ran on citrus — the Florida Citrus Tower, built in 1956, still stands as a reminder — before it shifted to real estate and tourism.

A slope changes three things in a yard:

• Water runs off before it soaks in. Long sprinkler runs on a hillside send water down the driveway. Shorter cycles with a pause between them ("cycle and soak") let it sink in.
• The top dries first and the bottom stays wet. Zones on the crest and at the foot of a slope need different run times, and the low spots are where fungus starts.
• Mowing is harder. Steep banks need a careful mower path and a trimmer on the sections a mower can’t hold safely.

Our irrigation and sprinkler service sets zones by slope and sun, and the lawn care in Clermont guide covers mowing on grades.

Watering under the St. Johns River district’s Phase III order

Clermont is in Lake County, under the St. Johns River Water Management District, which has a Phase III water-shortage order in place (order 2026-017, May 11, 2026). Residential addresses water one day a week: odd-numbered or unnumbered addresses on Saturday, even-numbered addresses on Sunday. No irrigation between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m., no more than ¾ inch, and no more than one hour per zone.

The one-hour limit fits cycle-and-soak well: two or three short passes on the same zone, early in the morning, put down more usable water on a slope than one long run. New plants and sod have their own schedule under the order — daily for the first 15 days, up to three days a week for the next 30, then two days a week for the last 15. The City of Clermont runs its own water conservation program, and its rules can be stricter than the district’s, so check the city page as well.

Fertilizer and the Chain of Lakes

Unincorporated Lake County bans nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizer on residential turf from June 1 to September 30. From October through May, nitrogen must be at least 50% slow-release, with no phosphorus, and nothing may go within 15 feet of a lake or wetland, on saturated soil, or when heavy rain is forecast within 24 hours. Whether the City of Clermont adopted its own seasonal rule is something we are still confirming with the city, so we follow the county’s dates as the conservative guide.

Sandy ridge soil drains fast and nutrients wash down with the water, which is the reason for the slow-release rule — and for keeping fertilizer off slopes that run straight to a lake. Spring and fall feedings, planned around the blackout, are the backbone of our lawn fertilization program here.

Holding a slope together

Bare spots on a hillside grow, because every rain carries more sand away. The fix is cover: dense turf where it can be mowed, and planted beds or groundcover with mulch where it can’t. For steep banks that are hard to mow, a planted bed is often easier to keep than grass — our landscaping in Clermont guide explains the options, and new sod works on gentler grades once irrigation reaches it.

Older trees in older neighborhoods

Downtown Clermont and the neighborhoods around Lake Minneola have older shade trees that hang over roofs and streets. Before the storm season, UF/IFAS recommends thinning the outer canopy, removing dead branches and shortening long ones — never topping. See tree removal in Clermont and our tree trimming page.