A month-by-month schedule for Hawaii lawns — when to fertilize, overseed, aerate, apply pre-emergent, mow, and water, keyed to the state's climate and grass types.
Dominant grasses: Bermuda, Zoysia, St. Augustine, Seashore paspalum
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Current month
Hot and dry for most. Maintain irrigation, mow on schedule, and keep feeding lightly.
Mow: Stay on the mowing schedule
Growth continues through the heat. Keep the blade sharp — torn blades invite disease even in the drier season.
Fertilize: Light regular feeding
Keep up the six-to-eight-week feeding rhythm. Don't skip it — there's no dormancy, so the lawn never stops needing nutrients.
Scotts Turf Builder EdgeGuard DLX Broadcast Spreader →Next Saturday Loadout
Planning date: this Saturday
In Hawaii, the next Saturday job is active warm-season maintenance. Water early, feed only growing turf, and skip cool-season seed unless you are intentionally planning a winter overseed.
Step 1
Run irrigation before heat and wind climb, then fix dry edges or overspray before the next mowing cycle bakes the pattern into the lawn.
Step 2
Warm-season grass can use a maintenance feeding while it is actively growing. Keep the spreader pass even and skip dormant or drought-stalled areas.
Step 3
Use Bermuda or zoysia seed only where it matches the existing lawn. Cool-season patch seed is the wrong basket for a summer warm-season repair.
Hawaii is unlike anywhere else in this guide: it's tropical, the grass never goes dormant, and there's no real winter to plan around. Warm-season grasses grow year-round, so the calendar isn't about waking the lawn up and putting it to sleep — it's about managing constant growth, the wet and dry seasons, and the islands' dramatic microclimates. Bermuda and zoysia dominate sunny yards, St. Augustine handles shade, and seashore paspalum is the standout for coastal and salt-exposed lawns because it tolerates salt spray and even brackish irrigation.
Two things define lawn care in Hawaii. The first is the microclimates — they're extreme. A windward, rainy side can get ten times the rain of a leeward, dry side just a few miles away, and elevation changes everything again. So 'Hawaii' advice is really island-and-side specific: wet windward lawns fight fungus and constant growth, while dry leeward lawns lean on irrigation. The second is salt and pests. Coastal lawns face salt spray that only paspalum and, to a degree, Bermuda shrug off, and the islands have year-round pest pressure — armyworms, sod webworms, and grubs cycle continuously without a winter to knock them back.
Because there's no dormancy, the 'season' is the rhythm of growth and rain rather than the calendar. The wetter winter months (roughly November to March) bring heavy growth on the windward sides and more fungal pressure; the drier summer months lean on irrigation, especially leeward. Mow on a consistent schedule year-round, feed lightly and regularly rather than in big seasonal pushes, water to the actual rainfall, and scout for pests every month — they never take the winter off here.
Wet season (heavy growth)
November – March
Windward and higher-elevation lawns grow hard and face more fungus. Mow more often; ease off irrigation.
Dry season (irrigation)
April – October
Leeward and low lawns lean on irrigation. Water deeply and watch for drought stress.
Year-round feeding
Every 6–8 weeks
No dormancy means light, regular feeding beats big seasonal pushes. Spoon-feed nitrogen.
Year-round pest scouting
Monthly
Armyworms, sod webworms, and grubs cycle all year with no winter to knock them back.
Spring
Transitioning from the wet to the dry season. Keep mowing on schedule, feed lightly, and begin leaning more on irrigation, especially leeward.
Summer
The drier season for most lawns. Irrigate to actual rainfall, mow consistently, and scout for armyworms and webworms in the constant warmth.
Fall
Transitioning back toward the wet season. Watch for the return of heavy windward growth and fungal pressure as the rains build.
Winter
The wet season. Windward lawns grow hard and fight fungus; ease off irrigation. There is no dormancy — the lawn never stops.
Wet season. Windward and upcountry lawns grow hard in the rain; leeward stays drier. Mow on schedule and watch fungus.
Mow: Keep mowing on schedule
With no dormancy, the lawn keeps growing through January, hard on the wet windward sides. Stay on a consistent mowing rhythm year-round.
Still the wet season. Heavy growth windward, fungal pressure up. Ease off irrigation where it's raining.
Water: Match water to rainfall
On the wet windward and upcountry sides, turn irrigation down or off — the rain is doing the work, and overwatering breeds fungus. Leeward lawns may still need irrigation.
The wet season starts to ease. Feed lightly, keep mowing, and begin the shift toward irrigation as the rain tapers.
Fertilize: Light regular feeding
Spoon-feed nitrogen every six to eight weeks year-round rather than big seasonal pushes — the lawn grows constantly and uses it steadily.
Scotts Turf Builder EdgeGuard DLX Broadcast Spreader →Into the drier season. Lean more on irrigation, especially leeward, and scout for the year-round pests.
Water: Increase irrigation (leeward)
As the rain tapers, dry leeward and low-elevation lawns need more irrigation. Water deeply in the early morning.
Rachio 3 Smart Sprinkler Controller (8-Zone) →Weed Control: Scout for armyworms
With no winter to break the cycle, armyworms and sod webworms can flare any month. Scout for chewing damage and treat affected zones.
Dry season for most lawns. Irrigate to rainfall, mow consistently, and feed lightly.
Mow: Mow consistently
Keep the year-round rhythm. Mow Bermuda lower, zoysia and paspalum moderate, St. Augustine tall — to the grass, not the calendar.
Fertilize: Light regular feeding
Continue spoon-feeding every six to eight weeks. Coastal paspalum lawns are heavy feeders relative to their salt tolerance.
Scotts Turf Builder EdgeGuard DLX Broadcast Spreader →Peak dry season. Irrigation carries leeward and low lawns; watch for drought stress and salt on the coast.
Water: Deep irrigation
Water deeply in the early morning through the dry stretch. On salt-exposed coastal lawns, deep watering also flushes accumulated salt past the roots.
Weed Control: Scout pests
Sod webworms and grubs stay active in the warm dry season. Monthly scouting is the cheapest pest control you'll do in Hawaii.
Hot and dry for most. Maintain irrigation, mow on schedule, and keep feeding lightly.
Mow: Stay on the mowing schedule
Growth continues through the heat. Keep the blade sharp — torn blades invite disease even in the drier season.
Fertilize: Light regular feeding
Keep up the six-to-eight-week feeding rhythm. Don't skip it — there's no dormancy, so the lawn never stops needing nutrients.
Scotts Turf Builder EdgeGuard DLX Broadcast Spreader →Still the dry season. Irrigate, mow, and scout pests. Coastal lawns manage salt with deep watering.
Water: Maintain irrigation
Keep deep, early-morning irrigation going through the dry late summer, heaviest leeward and at low elevation.
Weed Control: Continue pest scouting
Armyworm flare-ups are common in late summer. Scout weekly and treat the affected areas promptly before they spread.
Transitioning back toward the wet season. Feed lightly and watch for the return of windward growth and fungus.
Fertilize: Light regular feeding
Continue the steady feeding rhythm as the seasons turn. Ease nitrogen on lawns about to enter the heavy wet-season growth.
Scotts Turf Builder EdgeGuard DLX Broadcast Spreader →The rains begin to return. Windward growth picks up; start easing off irrigation where the rain resumes.
Water: Ease off irrigation as rain returns
As the wet season approaches, turn irrigation down on the windward and upcountry sides. Let the rain take over and avoid overwatering.
Weed Control: Watch for fungus returning
The returning moisture brings back fungal pressure on wet-side lawns. Improve airflow and keep evening watering low.
Wet season begins. Windward lawns grow hard in the rain; fungal pressure climbs. Mow more often.
Mow: Mow more often
Heavy wet-season growth on the windward sides means a tighter mowing schedule. Keep the blade sharp to limit disease entry in the damp.
Full wet season. Heavy windward growth and fungus; leeward stays milder. No dormancy — keep maintaining.
Water: Match water to the rain
On the wet sides, irrigation should be off — the rain is plenty, and overwatering breeds fungus. Leeward and dry lowland lawns may still need supplemental water.
Continue at Premium Grass Seeds
Start with the state guide. If it says to wait, do not buy starter fertilizer for immediate use; save the remaining links for the next viable warm-season establishment window, then check local fertilizer rules.
1 · Decide timing and seed
Confirm a viable warm-season establishment window before comparing Bermuda, zoysia, centipede, and other Hawaii options.
Open: Hawaii seed and timing guide → (opens in a new tab)2 · Later: starter
Do not apply now. Revisit this only after the state guide confirms an active seeding window, then check the soil test, label, and county fertilizer rules.
Open: Plan establishment fertilizer → (opens in a new tab)3 · Later: equipment
Compare tools only after the project timing is valid; a spreader or prep tool cannot make an off-season planting succeed.
Open: Plan the prep equipment → (opens in a new tab)The spreaders, controllers, seed, and tools that show up most often in the Hawaii calendar above — built around the green-up push after the last frost — spreaders, irrigation timing, and warm-season seed do the heavy lifting once the lawn wakes up.
Scotts
The default broadcast spreader recommendation for most homeowners. Especially for lawns with sidewalks, beds, and edges that need spread control.
Scotts
Southern homeowners in zones 7-10 with full-sun yards who want a tough, heat-loving, low-cost lawn.
Rachio
Anyone with an existing in-ground sprinkler system who wants to cut their water bill and stop hand-managing schedules.
Pennington
Homeowners establishing a new Zenith zoysiagrass lawn in full sun who can follow Pennington's late-spring or early-summer planting directions.
EGO
Homeowners with serious leaf load (mature trees, large lots) who want backpack-blower performance in a handheld form factor.
There isn't one in the usual sense — Hawaii is tropical, the grass never goes dormant, and the lawn grows year-round. Instead of waking the lawn in spring and resting it in winter, you manage constant growth around the wet season (roughly November to March, with heavy growth and fungus on the windward sides) and the dry season (April to October, leaning on irrigation, especially leeward). Mow, feed lightly, and scout pests every month.
It depends on the site. Bermuda and zoysia dominate sunny lawns, St. Augustine handles shade, and seashore paspalum is the standout for coastal and salt-exposed yards because it tolerates salt spray and even brackish irrigation. Hawaii's microclimates are extreme — a wet windward lot and a dry leeward lot a few miles apart need different management even with the same grass.
Choose a salt-tolerant grass first — seashore paspalum handles salt spray and brackish water better than anything, with Bermuda a distant second. Then water deeply rather than lightly: deep irrigation flushes accumulated salt down past the root zone instead of letting it build up at the surface. Avoid frequent shallow watering, which concentrates salt where the roots are.
Because there's no winter to knock them back. Armyworms, sod webworms, and grubs cycle continuously in Hawaii's constant warmth, so an infestation can flare in any month. The defense is routine monthly scouting — looking for chewing damage and thinning patches — and treating affected zones promptly before the pests spread across the lawn.
Hawaii is in the warm-season south group. These states follow similar seasonal logic, though local soil, elevation, and weather still matter.
Calendars are general regional guidance for The Lawn Report. Local microclimates, soil, and current weather always come first.