Landscape Maintenance
December Lawn and Tree Tasks
December, with its cool temperatures and largely rain-free days, is a great time for Florida gardeners and homeowners to get landscaping projects done. Transplant a tree. Remove mistletoe. Plant winter grass. Don’t forget to water lawn turf and monitor for brown patch fungus!
Plant Terms You Should Know
Do you know your plant words? Check out our list. You’ve no doubt heard some of these words, like annuals and deciduous. Others are a little more obscure (palmates and noxious weeds). Ever heard of an end-of-the-hose plant? That’s on the list too.
To Stake or Not to Stake
Most young trees do not require staking. A few do, however. These include eucalyptus, oleanders and acacias; trees planted in windy places or in saturated ground; trees with trunks that need support to stand straight; and top-heavy trees with a small root ball.
October Outdoor To-Do’s
October: that in-between month that feels like one foot is still in summer while the other foot steps into fall. Some citrus varieties have ripe fruit now. It’s a good month to add new turf, trees, and shrubs and to start planning for cool-season annuals.
Take These August Landscape Actions
Responsible for your own lawn care and landscaping? There are things you should do in August for maintenance and upkeep. We break down your August tasks by plant type: lawn, citrus, annuals, bulbs, fruit plants, perennials, roses, shrubs, trees, palms, and water garden/bog garden plants.
Disease: Coming to a Lawn Near You?
Florida lawn diseases include Rust, Fairy Ring, Gray Leaf Spot, Brown Patch Fungus, Dollar Spot, and Take-All Root Rot. Hot, humid, wet summers create hospitable growing conditions for these diseases, which must be managed by fungicides and cultural controls such as proper mowing.
Invite These Bugs to Stay
Many garden bugs are beneficial to the landscape in that their diet consists of harmful insects. From lady bugs to dragonflies to earwigs, beneficial insects will consume mosquitoes, lawn-destroying chinch bugs, and soft-bodied pests that compromise leaf health and appearance.
Control Landscape Pests Naturally: Insects, Oils, Soaps, and Minerals
From oil sprays to plant products to beneficial bugs, a wide array of natural pest controls is available to the environmentally conscious homeowner or landscaper. Most are easily found online or can be found at garden centers or nurseries.
Ground Covers: Beyond Bark and Chips
While pine bark nuggets and red cypress chips are typical ground cover choices for Florida property owners, a host of other options are available: hardwood mulches, pine straw, rubber mulch, rock, lava, plants, pine cones, nut hulls, and tumbled glass chunks.