Dr. Gail Hansen and the folks at U of F Extension have produced many great documents at their Solutions for Your Life Website. If you want to evaluate your landscape take a look at this Publication.

Consider adding a border to tie your landscape together and give it a finished look. At most Florida Home Depot stores you will find SausEdgeTM. You can use this innovative tube to cut your work and cost in half and get an edge on your beds.

 

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The University of Florida has a new tool on their Florida Automated Weather Network FAWN

that shows the predicted temperature, winds and rainfall amounts at agricultural research centers around the state. Under the Tools tab you select Forecast and then select the center closest to you and you will get a better idea for your local weather than the regional averages from the weather channel.

Yet another reason to endow our education system and this great land grant university.

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Temple Terrace, located on the East Side of Tampa,  is designated by the Arbor Day Foundation as a Tree City USA. Some of our Florida Native Trees are the best choice for longevity and structure.

Trees make gardening in Florida much more enjoyable. I can’t imagine gardening without the partial shade of trees. Plants growing in the full sun all day require so much more water to look their tropical best.

 

Trees create a micro climate as we see on days like today after a freezing night like last night. Trees prevent some radiation heat loss. As you look around your neighborhood this week you will see how much better plants growing under the trees survived this extreme cold snap of 2010.

 

 

The Temple Terrace Garden Club, the city of Temple Terrace and Tampa Electric Co. have produced a full-color Temple Terrace Tree Guide That is available with in formation on how to select the right tree for the right spot.

 

The guides are at the Temple Terrace Public Library, 202 Bullard Park way, and Temple Terrace City Hall, 11250 N. 56th St. Similar information can be found on the web at:

Tampa Electrics Florida Tree Planting Guide

TECO also has information about tree trimming. Learn much more about all the Florida Trees at this University of Florida Extension Service site.

 

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Polk County Florida Yards and Neighborhoods slideshow. Plan to add some flowers to your Florida Friendly Landscape in 2010. See all their images at http://www.flickr.com/photos/polkfyn/

Links to Help from FYN and The Cooperative Extension Service.

 

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Start with a Piece of permeable ground cloth in a sunny spot near a water source.

The Easy Garden Box assembles in minutes and lasts for years.

Add your compost or planting mix.

Wet it down and you are ready to fertilize and plant.

Make sure you plant Varieties for Florida and at the right time for success.

2 by 4 lumber can be stacked and bracketed for a similar garden.

 

Community Gardens are a great place to see examples of Raised Gardens.

Kids love to learn and do when it comes to growing anything. Get outside and have some fun!

 

 

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Experience a beautiful garden and learn what grows well in Florida and how to grow it. Open 7 days a week for you to wander in and enjoy the park like setting while observing some very diverse garden and plant types.
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A very informative site is being developed to help you determine what might grow in your environment. Natives for Your Neighborhood (beta)

Gardeners looking to integrate wild species into their landscape for the benefits of attracting butterflies and birds to the garden will find this tool helpful. The images are clear and the information insightful.

Corkystem passionflower This is the native passion vine that is well behaved. Be careful where you plant the pretty Passiflora incarnata. It suckers and sprouts up far from where you plant it and become a dominant invasive plant in your gardens and your neighbors.  

The site helps you figure out what your preexisting habitat was before it became subdivision on deep sand fill dirt. Be aware that the natural soil is gone from the subdivision as drainage and water shedding was improved and retention has been altered and moved to a central site when the bulldozers and dump trucks created the streets and home sites. This means that what was growing on the site previously will not perform the same way if you try it again. Always consider Right Plant - Right Place weather you design your garden with natives or other Florida Friendly Plants that attract wildlife and are more attractive to gardeners. Look around similar neighborhoods for plants doing well in settings similar to your own. You won't have to look far. Take a digital camera with you and capture local plants you would like in your yard. Discuss the plants with other gardeners, neighbor, friends, or your local County Extension agents whose job it is to help you get it right.

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At the University of Florida Museum of Natural History Butterfly Gallery you will find images of more butterflies than you probably knew existed. These are searchable by common and scientific name, country, photographer and other classifications so you can learn and find what you are seeking. This is a good bookmark for anyone starting their backyard or community butterfly garden or anyone who appreciates the beauty in nature.

Monarch and Queen Butterflies Nectaring on Scarlet Milkweed which is also their larval food source.

This year has been particularly good for butterflies. Traveling around Florida I have noticed more species in a larger quantity than previous years. They seemed to be everywhere. It could be that Florida had above average rainfall and the dry season ended earlier than normal this year. Hoe and Shovel has some excellent new images (Butterflies Galore) of different life stages that are worth a look.

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Gardening Basics

As Penny Carnathan, Tampa Tribune Garden Writer - The Dirt, is fond of saying about one of her gardening friends. "Her thumbs are so green she can grow rocks".

Some folks rely mostly on organics. Why do they work so well for these green thumbs? Plant-soil-microbe-fungus relationships are highly complicated and studied but the truth is science has a hard time quantifying and isolating the tremendous number of complex interactions involved. We do know quite a bit about many interactions. We know that the good fungi and bacteria outnumber the bad many times over and when good fungi and good bacteria loose their overwhelming advantage things can go wrong. Compost and organic matter support good fungi good bacteria good nematodes and many other good microorganisms and earthworms with the good bacteria in their hyperactive gut. Too much salt based fertilizer upsets the balance and kills the good guys that are working in the organic system.

Compost and Organic Matter support the good micro organisms that naturally control bad nematodes. Most of the nematodes in the world are good guys. Nematodes account for 90% of the living multi-celled organisms on the planet yet you can't see them with the naked eye. They are really small but interrelated to the natural processes in more ways than we will ever know. So you have to take it on faith or experience that relying on organic processes will help turn your brown thumb green. Here is the scoop on Nematodes for Bedding Plants in Florida.

In contrast to gardening in soil rich in organic matter, we can grow plants in our nutrient poor sandy soils that have very little organic matter. This is where you need to add timed release salt based fertilizer. This is always more cost effective than liquid or fast release 6-6-6 granular that only seem cheap. Don't feed your plants a 3 month's supply of the cheap stuff only to have it wash away in one rain when you can give them a 3 month supply of timed release fertilizer in one application that releases a little with each irrigation. and not pollute the downstream environment!

Pot-in-Pot Landscaping is a great way to turn a brown thumb green. You should try this and report back on the color of your thumb. Ask away and we will answer questions to get you on the right garden path.

9 Principles of Florida Friendly Landscaping

We share through numerous posts our enthusiasm and experience as long-time Florida gardeners and horticulturists. Our hope is that your gardening efforts will be successful and enjoyable.  We share ways to make your yards and patios beautiful while following the University of Florida's Nine Principles of Florida-Friendly Landscaping:

1) Right Plant, Right Place: Plants selected to suit a specific site will require minimal amounts of water, fertilizers and pesticides.

2) Water Efficiently: Irrigate only when your lawn needs water. Efficient watering is the key to a healthy yard and conservation of limited resources.

3) Fertilize Appropriately: Less is often best. Over-use of fertilizers can be hazardous to your yard and the environment.

4) Mulch: Maintain two to three inches of mulch to help retain soil moisture, prevent erosion and suppress weeds.

5) Attract Wildlife: Plants in your yard that provide food, water and shelter can conserve Florida’s diverse wildlife.

6) Manage Yard Pests Responsibly: Unwise use of pesticides can harm people, pets, beneficial organisms and the environment.

7) Recycle: Grass clippings, leaves and yard trimmings composted and recycled on site provide nutrients to the soil and reduce waste disposal.

8) Reduce Storm water Runoff: Water running off your yard can carry pollutants, such as fertilizer, pesticides, soil and debris that can harm water quality. Reduction of this runoff will help prevent pollution.

9) Protect the Waterfront: Waterfront property, whether on a river, stream, pond, bay or beach, is very fragile and should be carefully protected to maintain freshwater and marine ecosystems.

More details can be found here: http://fyn.ifas.ufl.edu/homeowners/strategies.htm

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