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A Greener Garden in 2018

Wayne Hobbs
Posted 12/27/17

GREEN COVE SPRINGS – As News Year’s Eve approaches, many people make the decision to set New Year’s resolutions. It may be to change a habit, modify a diet, learn something new, or bring your …

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A Greener Garden in 2018


Posted

GREEN COVE SPRINGS – As News Year’s Eve approaches, many people make the decision to set New Year’s resolutions. It may be to change a habit, modify a diet, learn something new, or bring your life to new heights. However, if you find you have a passion for our environment and protecting it for future generations of Floridians, why not resolve to make your landscape Florida-Friendly?

What is Florida-Friendly Landscaping?

Florida-Friendly Landscaping is a series of nine principles that should be used to guide lawn and landscape care in Florida. At their heart they are meant to protect our most vital resource: water. By putting plants in their proper location, watering efficiently, fertilizing responsibly, mulching, managing pests properly, reducing stormwater run-off and protecting the waterfront, we can try to keep our water resources plentiful and clean. Even in the face of an ever-growing population.

Also found within these principles is the ideal of landscaping to provide a great place for wildlife to exist. Wouldn’t it be amazing to see butterflies, birds and all sorts of beautiful creatures within your landscape too?

You can also rest assured that the recommendations made through these principles will lead to a successful garden as well, if you follow proper research based recommendations you can save money, use less resources and have your landscape be as beautiful as ever.

Making 2018 Florida-Friendly

How can you easily make 2018 a more Florida-Friendly year?

One of the first things you can do is contact your local University of Florida/IFAS Extension Office to see if they offer a Florida Yards and Neighborhoods certification program. Through this program, a representative from UF/IFAS Extension visits your house and uses a simple score sheet to determine if your yard meets the standards of the program and if so, you will be awarded a sign and be given recognition as one of the premier examples of having a sustainable landscape.

In Clay County, I am the main contact for this program and will happily do an initial visit to determine what issues may exist your yard and help you move towards becoming more Florida-Friendly and certified through the FYN program.

Some other great simple things you can do in your yard to help the environment are:

• Make sure the required rainfall or soil moisture cut-off device on your irrigation is working.

• Calibrate your irrigation.

• Water only as needed and follow water management district guidelines.

• Choose landscape plants well adapted to your yard and plant them in the proper locations.

• Use plants that provide shelter or food to wildlife and insects.

• Spread mulch in beds to conserve water and add organic matter to the soil.

• Only fertilize your lawn between April and September.

• Identify pests and diseases and treat them with the proper product.

• Keep a buffer zone of low maintenance plants around waterways to stop run-off.

• Recycle landscape waste as mulch or compost.

• And many more…

If you have any more questions about horticulture, any other landscape topics, or need plant or pest materials identified, contact the University of Florida/IFAS Extension Office online at http://www.clay.ifas.ufl.edu, follow us on Facebook, or call by phone at (904) 284-6355.

We will also be holding a class on choosing plants for your landscape entitled “Right Plant/Right Place” on Jan. 22 from 6-8pm. Cost is $10 and you must register online at www.clayextension.eventbrite.com to attend.