What to check before hiring for your yard
Compare the work, the contract and the rules before you choose, and ask how the company plans to handle brown patches or overgrown beds.
- Planting plans, plant installation and lawn maintenance don't need a state DBPR license in Florida.2
- Connecting irrigation lines to drinking water needs a state DBPR license. Installing or repairing a system with a backflow preventer on that supply does not.2
- A business that applies fertilizer to Florida lawns for pay must hold an FDACS certificate, earned through six hours of best-practices training.34
- A direct owner-contractor contract over $2,500 for a dwelling of up to four units must include the lien-law notice.5
- For a Florida in-home sale, you can cancel until midnight of the third business day after signing.6
- Your Florida HOA can't stop you from hiring a contractor just because they aren't on its preferred-vendor list.1
Yard rules in Vero Beach and Fort Pierce
Give new plants time to settle in. Under the South Florida Water Management District rule used in St. Lucie County, extra watering is allowed for up to 90 days while new yard installations establish.78 In Vero Beach, you can water new yard installations any day for 30 days, then every other day for 30 days.9 Check the current local schedule because drought orders can change it.10
From June 1 through September 30, unincorporated Indian River County bans fertilizer application, and St. Lucie County bans fertilizers containing Nitrogen and Phosphorus.1112 In Vero Beach, the median start of the wet season is May 26 and the dry season begins Oct. 19.13 In Fort Pierce, median dates are May 25 for the wet season and Oct. 20 for the dry season.13 Tell the companies you choose when you want the work to start.