Lawn care for a rental home in Winter Garden and Horizon West: who mows, what the lease should say, and how to avoid HOA fines

By the Orlando West editorial team · Reviewed October 20, 2026 · Updated October 20, 2026 · Sources: UF/IFAS Lawn, UF/IFAS EDIS, NWS Melbourne, FDACS

Rental homes are everywhere in Horizon West and Winter Garden: newer HOA streets, townhome rows, and single-family houses that owners bought to lease out. And one question comes up on almost every one of them sooner or later: who is supposed to mow the lawn?

The answer matters more here than in many places. Most of these homes sit inside an HOA with strict curb, edge, and turf standards, and St. Augustine grass in a Central Florida rainy season can go from neat to “courtesy letter” in a few weeks. When the yard slips, the letter usually goes to the owner, even if the tenant agreed to mow.

Orlando West Lawn Care is a matching service. We connect Winter Garden, Horizon West, and Clermont-corridor homeowners and rental owners with a local licensed lawn crew, and that crew sets its own scope and price. This guide is general information, not legal advice. For a specific lease or dispute, talk to a Florida attorney or your property manager.

The short answer

Florida’s residential landlord-tenant law does not assign lawn mowing to either side. For a single-family rental, the lease decides. If the lease is silent or vague, both sides can end up arguing while the grass keeps growing.

In practice, rental owners around Winter Garden and Horizon West tend to pick one of three setups:

Tenant mows, and the lease spells out the standard and what happens if it slips
Owner provides lawn service, usually a weekly or biweekly route, with the cost built into the rent or charged as a set fee
Split: the tenant handles watering and day-to-day care, while the owner pays for mowing, edging, and hedge trimming

Whichever you pick, write it down. The rest of this guide explains why.

What Florida law actually says

Part II of Chapter 83 of the Florida Statutes covers residential tenancies. Two sections set out the basic duties, and neither one mentions grass.

The landlord’s side. Section 83.51 requires the landlord to comply with applicable building, housing, and health codes, or where none apply, to keep structural parts of the home and the plumbing in good repair. For buildings other than a single-family home or duplex, it adds items such as extermination, locks and keys, garbage removal, and the clean and safe condition of common areas. Importantly, the statute says the landlord’s obligations under subsection (1) may be altered or modified in writing with respect to a single-family home or duplex.

The tenant’s side. Section 83.52 requires the tenant to follow applicable codes, keep the part of the premises they occupy clean and sanitary, remove garbage, use the home’s systems reasonably, and not damage the property.

Lawn mowing, edging, and hedge trimming aren’t listed in either section. That is why the lease is where yard duties really get settled for a rented house in Winter Garden or Horizon West. A lease that just says “tenant maintains the yard” leaves plenty of room for disagreement about how often, how high, and whether hedges and beds count.

Why the owner usually carries the risk

Even when a tenant has agreed to mow, the owner is often the one who hears about it when the lawn slips. Two sets of rules make that likely.

HOA rules

Most Horizon West neighborhoods and many Winter Garden subdivisions are governed by a homeowners’ association. Under Florida Statutes section 720.305, each member and the member’s tenants, guests, and invitees must comply with the community’s governing documents and rules.

The same section lets an association levy reasonable fines. Unless the governing documents say otherwise, a fine may not exceed $100 per violation, may be levied daily for a continuing violation, and may not exceed $1,000 in the aggregate. Before a fine or suspension can be imposed, the board must give at least 14 days’ written notice of the right to a hearing, and a committee of at least three members who aren’t officers, directors, or employees must approve it. A fine under $1,000 can’t become a lien on the parcel.

The notice goes to the parcel owner, and where it applies, to the occupant too. So a tenant’s missed mowing can still put a fine on the owner’s account. Our guide to handling an HOA lawn violation letter walks through what a typical letter asks for and how to cure it in one visit.

County and city overgrowth rules

Separate from the HOA, local codes set a hard limit on how tall grass can get.

Unincorporated Orange County, which covers much of Horizon West, defines excessive growth as grass, weeds, or brush that has reached a height of at least 18 inches. Orange County’s Code Enforcement says that if an owner doesn’t correct it, the County can send a contractor to clean the lot at the owner’s expense, and an unpaid bill becomes a lien.
The City of Winter Garden also treats grass and weeds at 18 inches as overgrown. The City’s code enforcement FAQ says the owner of record is given 10 days after notice or posting to have the property mowed, after which a contractor can mow it, the owner is invoiced plus administrative costs, and a lien can be placed on the property.

If your rental is in Clermont or elsewhere in Lake County, check the City of Clermont or Lake County code, since the rules and timelines differ.

An HOA letter usually arrives long before grass reaches 18 inches. But a home sitting empty between tenants during the summer rains can get there faster than most owners expect.

How fast a rental lawn gets out of hand

UF/IFAS mowing guidance gives a mowing interval of roughly 5 to 14 days for St. Augustinegrass and 7 to 17 days for Bahiagrass, and recommends removing no more than one-third of the leaf blade at a time. Its example: a St. Augustine lawn kept at 3 inches should be cut when it reaches about 4 to 4.5 inches.

That is the whole problem with “the tenant will get to it.” Skip two or three weeks in June, July, or August and a St. Augustine lawn can blow well past the one-third mark. Cutting it straight back down scalps it, and UF/IFAS warns that mowing below the recommended height is a primary cause of turf death. Then the owner pays twice: once for the catch-up cut and again for patching thin or browned turf before the next HOA walk.

Our guides to rainy-season mowing frequency and St. Augustine mowing height explain the timing and height targets in more detail.

Option 1: the tenant mows

This works well for some households, especially longer-term tenants who already own a mower and like yard work. If you go this way, put the standard in the lease rather than relying on “keep the yard neat.” Useful items to spell out:

Frequency: for example, at least weekly from roughly May through October and at least every two weeks the rest of the year, or “often enough to meet HOA standards”
Scope: mowing, edging driveway and sidewalk, string trimming, and blowing clippings off hard surfaces
Hedges and beds: whether they are the tenant’s job or the owner’s
Watering: who runs the system and who reports broken heads or leaks, following the St. Johns River Water Management District watering restrictions for your area
HOA rules: a copy of the relevant rules attached or acknowledged in writing
What happens if it slips: for example, that the owner may arrange a cut after written notice and charge the cost, as allowed under the lease and Florida law

The weak spot is equipment and timing. A tenant who moves in without a mower, works long shifts, or travels in summer can fall behind quickly, and the owner may not find out until a letter arrives.

Option 2: the owner provides lawn service

Many rental owners in Horizon West and Winter Garden simply put the lawn on a professional route and build the cost into the rent. The reasons are practical:

One standard, every week. The curb appeal the HOA expects doesn’t depend on who is living there
Fewer surprises. No courtesy letters for overgrown turf or unedged curbs, and no catch-up cuts
Protects the turf. Regular cuts at the right height keep St. Augustine dense, which is cheaper than replacing sod between tenants
Easier turnovers. The yard already looks cared for when the home is listed or shown
Fewer disputes. There is less to argue about at move-out when the yard was never the tenant’s job

A typical weekly mowing visit covers mowing, edging, string trimming, and blowing. Through the drier, cooler months, many crews switch to a biweekly rhythm, which our guide to switching from weekly to biweekly mowing covers. For what a fair quote should include, see what a weekly lawn service should include.

If you choose this route, say so plainly in the lease, including whether the crew needs side-gate access, the visit day, and that the tenant should keep pets inside or the gate clear on that day.

Option 3: the split

A common middle ground is that the owner pays for mowing, edging, and periodic hedge trimming, while the tenant keeps the yard clear of toys and debris, runs the irrigation within district rules, and reports problems. This keeps the HOA-visible work on a reliable schedule and leaves the daily items with the person who lives there.

Mulch bed care is often added once or twice a year, especially before a new lease starts or when the HOA does its annual walk-through.

What is not a mowing crew’s job

Whoever pays, keep the scope realistic. A mowing crew typically handles mowing, edging, trimming, blowing, and add-ons such as hedges and beds. Fertilizing, weed control spraying, and insect or disease treatments are separate services in Florida that require the right certification or license, and sprinkler repair is a different trade again. If your lease mentions “lawn treatment,” be clear about who arranges it and with whom.

Between tenants

The gap between one lease ending and the next starting is when rental lawns most often get away from owners. A few weeks of empty house in the rainy season is enough to trigger an HOA letter, and it makes the home look neglected in listing photos.

If you normally have the tenant mow, consider a short professional route that covers the turnover period. Mention the move-out date when you request a quote so the crew can plan a first cut that brings the height down gradually instead of scalping it.

What to put in your request

When you ask us to match you with a lawn crew for a rental, a few details help the crew quote accurately the first time:

City or ZIP, plus whether it is a standard HOA lot, corner lot, townhome, or larger lot
Grass type if known: St. Augustine, Bahia, or not sure
Occupied or between tenants, and the move-in or move-out date if relevant
Weekly or biweekly, or “whatever the season needs”
Gate, pet, or access notes, and whether the tenant needs to be told of the visit day
Extras: hedges, mulch beds, or a one-time catch-up cut
Any HOA deadline, such as a cure date in a courtesy letter

No street address is needed to start. City or ZIP is enough.

Where we match

We focus on three west Orange and Lake corridor areas, each with its own page:

Horizon West lawn care, with dense HOA streets and many newer rental homes
Winter Garden lawn care, with established neighborhoods and a mix of lot sizes
Clermont lawn care, with larger lots, more Bahia, and Lake County communities

Sources and further reading

The bottom line

For a rental house in Winter Garden or Horizon West, Florida law leaves lawn duties to the lease, while HOA rules and local overgrowth codes can still put the consequences on the owner. Decide who mows, write the standard down, and plan for the gap between tenants. Many owners find that a weekly or biweekly professional route is the simplest way to keep the yard at HOA standard no matter who lives there.

If you want a route set up for a rental, request a local lawn crew and mention whether the home is occupied or between tenants. We will match you with a local licensed crew, and they will confirm scope, price, and schedule directly.

Request a local lawn crew ↗