It's supposed to drop below 32 degrees by 10:00 pm tonight and stay below freezing until after sunrise. The temp is projected to get down to 21 degrees at 6:00 am. Is there anything I should do to protect my grass, or should I just let it be? Will this send it into dormancy?

Thanks, I didn't do anything to it. Supposed to in the 50's during the day. It's been so warm this winter that it hasn't really stopped growing yet. Maybe now it will.

Bit late now, but if anything give it a good soaking of water. Worse thing that can happen is a dry hard freeze. What kind of grass is it?

If Bermuda or Zoysia no real problem, it should just go dormant. If SA might be a problem depending on what variety and how cold it really got.

I'm watering it as I type. The freeze is gone for now. I thought it was bad to have wet grass during a freeze.

Maybe applicable, maybe not, but I run my garden sprinklers during unusual frosts in May and October to preserve the gardens. It's not perfect, but does help.

I tend to have them go off before sunset to carry a bit of heat in, again around midnight, and a third time around 3 AM. That puts enough humidity in the air, and warm(er) water on the plants, to keep them alive.

Yep, although pipe freeze isn't an issue for an unusual frost. Mostly it's to weave a humidity dome over the garden and trap some heat. It works fairly well, but a severe frost (or more tender plants) still take damage.

Some of the really delicate stuff I put lunch bags over and free them in the morning.

Sure, orange trees are frequently water-sprayed before a freeze. Again, it's not perfect, but the water has to give up huge amounts of energy to freeze solid, and that released energy will hold the temperature at or near 32 degrees until everything solidifies. Only after that can the temperature continue to drop (but if the air's really cold it'll drop fast!)

The application of more water will stop the drop once again and force temperatures back to 32.

That's the same thing I do in my garden, except that I'm mostly creating a basic greenhouse effect with humidity plus forcing the water to freeze before temperatures continue to drop. My goal's always to keep temperatures as far above 32 as possible--most of my tropical annuals won't deal with it.

versstef1 wrote:You're right, Ron. Conflicting advice here in Florida.

Location has nothing to do with it. Aside from Morph's talking points the real issue is dry ground freezes much faster and deeper than wet ground.

The real threat to Bermuda and Zoysia grass is NOT freezing the grass blades and whatever is above ground, it is freezing their roots that is the killer. That is why you do not see Bermuda and Zoysia in northern states where the ground freezes.

When you hear the term Winter Kill with Respect to Bermuda and Zoysia, they are talking about the roots being frozen. There is only two things that can kill off Bermuda and Zoysia, frozen root zone, and shade...

I would wager a healthy amount of money, that the day before the freeze happened local golf courses watered heavily. They wanted the ground wet so it would not freeze.

True that. Before a frost, I've also been known to water the lawn at least a little to make sure the topmost half inch or so is wet. When I wake up the next morning, I can usually see exactly where my spray pattern stops from the frost on the ground on the neighbors' property--and none on mine.

versstef1 wrote:Crap. My grass was totally frosted over last night. I didn't water.

Unless it was a really hard heavy frost I doubt it did any real damage. I bet all it does is make your SA go dormant which is not a Bad Thing

Verssterf1, I don't think you have anything to worry about as far as your SA is concerned, my in-laws have lived in Orlando for over 20 years and they SA and they have a lawn service that takes care of their lawn and I don't think that it ever really gets cold enough there to cause the ground to freeze. Their lawn always looks decent and they barely ever do anything to it except water it and whatever the lawn service puts down. It takes several days of really cold weather to get the soil temp to get to 32F and that never happens in central FL.

texasweed wrote:That is why you do not see Bermuda and Zoysia in northern states where the ground freezes.

Zoysia lawns are quite common, actually, in Philadelphia, particularly in the northeast section of the city. They look like hell for about 6 months but otherwise suffer no ill effects from the cold. Most of the better looking, weed free lawns in my dads neighborhood are Zoysia.

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Zoysia lawns are actually not rare on Long Island. My sister has a lawn there that was Northern Mix, but was invaded by the neighbor's Zoysia lawn. It is transitioning to Zoysia.

Up here in the Hudson Valley, my neighbor across the street has a few very large patches of Zoysia in his 3-acre lawn, despite the fact that -10 degrees is possible here. It doesn't green up fully until almost Memorial Day and is straw-colored in early October.

versstef1 wrote: but what's good about SA going dormant? And what would it look like, brown and no more growing?

There is nothing good or bad about SA going dormant. It is just a reaction to cold weather to protects itself so it does not expend unnecessary energy trying to grow when it should be resting.

As to what it looks like varies. In Central Florida more than likely will turn from its normal bright green to a dull pale bluish-gray color. When it warms up it will turn green again and start growing.

If you live further north where most nights drop below freezing, it will go completely dormant, turning tan or straw color and will stay that way until it warms up again.

In Central Florida no problem, just relax and enjoy the cooler temps and take a break because the SA will slow way down in growth. That means less time, money and work. Enjoy it.