Preserve Florida's Natural Beauty

The environment is our responsibility and we all must do our part if we are to preserve Florida's natural beauty for generations to come. The University of Florida's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences has a program which could help you maintain a healthy, attractive landscape in an environmentally responsible manner. The program is called Environmental Landscape Management (ELM) and its goal is to encourage the development of environmentally sound landscapes by appropriate design and maintenance practices.

Landscape irrigation can account for up to 50 percent of a home's water use. Conservation practices such as stretching the intervals between watering to as long as possible, spot watering those plants which require frequent irrigation, watering in the early morning hours and applying 1/2 to 3/4 inch of water per application can significantly reduce this amount without affecting the quality of the landscape.

Over fertilization can have dire consequences for the landscape and the environment. Research has shown that several lawn pest problems are increased when the lawn is overstimulated with excessive fertilizer. In addition, too much fertilizer promotes excessive growth which greatly increases the rate of thatch build up in lawns and the amount of mowing and pruning required to keep the landscape attractive.

When purchasing fertilizers, look for those which have at least 30 percent of the nitrogen in a slow-release form. These fertilizers provide nitrogen to the roots of plants for a long period of time and less is available to pollute our lakes and streams.

You can improve the appearance and health of your lawn and save water, fertilizer and work by sharpening your mower blade and increasing the blade height. Mowing with a dull blade produces a lawn with a ragged appearance. Continuous low mowing drastically reduces the leaf surface needed to absorb sunlight and produce food.

Large quantities of pesticides are used each year on landscape plants. Such wide use of chemicals to control pest is not without risks. Their is always a chance of environmental contamination, destruction of beneficial organisms, pest resistance, and outbreaks of secondary pests. There is another approach to dealing with plant pests. The ELM approach begins with selecting plants which have few pests problems. It avoids cultural practices such as overwatering and overfertilizing which make lawns and landscape plants susceptible to pests. It may also require frequent monitoring of your landscape for pests.

If a pest problem is detected, spray only the affected plant or plants. On lawns, spray the affected area and a 5 foot buffer area around it. Blanketing the lawn or landscape with pesticides is wasteful and could be environmentally damaging.

We need to recycle grass clippings, leaves and pruning clippings instead of having them transported to our already over burdened landfills. Grass clippings can be left on the lawn and leaves and pruning clippings can be shredded and used as mulch or composted and used as a soil amendment.

Environmental landscape management is a common sense approach to landscape maintenance which can conserve energy and water, recycle yard wastes, and reduce inputs of fertilizers and pesticides into the environment.