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Five Tips for Safe Working Outside
Working outside in Florida winter weather is generally delightful. Gardeners who take a few simple safety precautions can enjoy work days throughout the winter without injury or accident. It comes down to protective clothing, proper lifting, awareness, and respecting machinery and wildlife.
Mistletoe: Friend or Foe?
Mistletoe, the stuff of legend and tradition, grows in two varieties: dwarf mistletoe, found in the western United States, and leafy mistletoe, found in the southwest and Florida. While leafy mistletoe is not as deadly as its western counterpart, it can severely impact a tree’s health and vigor.
Protect Your Plants from the Cold
Some areas of Florida experience freezing temperatures during the winter. This can kill or damage tropical or temperate plants. Bring potted plants inside or group them together outside against a wall. Cover cold-sensitive plants and shrubs with sheets or garden blankets.
Do You Know Your Soil?
Knowing a property’s soil type and its pH level enables landscape companies and gardeners alike to install plants that thrive in those soil conditions. Soils can be amended to improve their nutrient value and their ability to hold water, as well as to adjust their pH levels.
How to Prevent Sooty Mold
Sooty black mold on shrubs and trees indicates the presence of sap-sucking pests such as aphids or scales. These pests excrete honeydew—a substance on which sooty mold grows. Prevent black mold by eradicating sap-sucking pests. There are a variety of natural controls you can implement.
Spanish Moss: Fact and Fiction
Spanish moss grows throughout Florida and the southeast United States. Contrary to common belief, it does not harm trees and generally does not need to be removed. It provides cover for insects and small animals and today is used mostly for mulch and craft materials.
From Home to Field: Florida’s Turf Grasses
Florida turf grasses must be relatively robust and able to tolerate high temperatures and high humidity. In coastal locations, turf grasses must also tolerate salt air and, often, salt water irrigation. Grasses that meet these demanding requirements include Bermuda, Zoysia, St. Augustine, Bahia, Centipede and Seashore Paspalum.
Your Trees: Before and After a Storm
Homeowners should select wind-resistant trees for their landscapes. After a storm has passed, assessing tree damage quickly is important. Homeowners must decide which trees will benefit from restorative pruning, which trees can be righted and re-planted, and which trees must be removed.
Create Your Own Water Garden
Water gardens are delightful additions to a backyard. They can be assembled easily as above-ground container features or as in-ground, lined pools. A variety of aquatic plants, from tall, showy cannas to flat, floating lilies, grow effortlessly and quickly in these gardens.
Florida Irrigation: How Much, How Often
Florida homeowners entering the fall season should set their sprinkler systems to deliver three-fourths inches of water two days per week. Set empty cans around the yard, run sprinklers, and then measure the collection to determine if turf is receiving adequate, consistent delivery.