Florida-Friendly Landscaping
Imagine having a beautifully landscaped outdoor living area while able to enjoy your free time. Beautiful landscaping and free time for most homeowners do not go hand in hand, but it can with creating a more Florida-Friendly Landscaped Yard. A Florida-Friendly Yard is an environmentally sound yard that protects and conserves Florida's waterways, wildlife, soil and energy.
There is not one plan that fits all when it comes to creating your Florida-Friendly landscapes. Florida-Friendly Landscape can incorporate native and non-native plants, flowering plants, trees, or any combination of these, as long as you follow the 9 Principles of Florida-Friendly Landscaping, which includes:
- Right Plant, Right Place
- Watering Efficiently
- Fertilizing Appropriately
- Mulching
- Attracting Wildlife
- Managing Yard Pests Responsibly by using only
pesticides when necessary and according to the label
- Recycling Yard Waste
- Preventing Storm Water Runoff
- Protecting the Waterfront
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Right Plant, Right Place means ensuring the groups of plants have similar needs such as soil, water, light and fertilizing. Creating tiers as you look at the plan, textures, and colors that complement each other. Florida-Friendly plants survive with LITTLE maintenance. Use of these plants in your landscaping reduces the need for water, fertilizer, and pesticides and also reduces the energy required for landscaping.
Watering Efficiently: Water early in the morning. Perform regular irrigation system maintenance. Possibly convert to a drip irrigation system, allowing the water to go directly to the roots of the plants, where needed, and lose minimal water to evaporation or to wind. Mulch (or Rock) helps keep moisture in the soil around your plants.
Fertilizer can help plants thrive, if used appropriately. If applied incorrectly, it can harm the plants as well as the environment. Look for fertilizers with slow-release nutrients that should include potassium and little or no phosphorus. If the fertilizer gets on any hard surfaces, (driveways, sidewalks) sweep it up and dispose of properly. Fertilizers can wash in storm drains and from there, getting into the nearby waterways. Preventing stormwater runoff!
Attracting Wildlife: With the rapid development in Florida, we are destroying the natural wildlife habitat. But with a Florida Friendly Landscaped lawn and garden, it can become a sanctuary for wildlife, as well as part of a migratory passage between one wild space and another. They have trouble traveling in heavily urban and suburban landscapes, but you can help by joining your Florida Friendly yard with others in the neighborhood, creating a safe route between woodlands, wetlands or other wild areas.
Managing yard pests today has changed from heavy use of heavy chemicals to an Integrated Pest Management strategy, which emphasizes smart planning, proper maintenance, and natural or low-toxicity controls in ensuring plants stay healthy and resist insect and disease infestation.
Re-use your yard waste by leaving the clippings on your lawn, as they will decompose, returning nutrients to the turf.
Contact Yard Transformers to create your Florida-Friendly landscaping.
