A Guide to Florida-Friendly Landscaping A Guide to Florida-Fr ...

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CHOOSING A LAWN GRASS Grass is a good choice for areas with high recreational use, for erosion control or for use in a swale to manage stormwater runoff. The table on page 39 provides specifics on lawn grass types in Florida. When planning a grass area, be sure to carefully consider which type is best for your site conditions and how much maintenance each type will require. Groundcovers may be more successful and practical in heavily shaded areas (such as under trees) or on steep slopes where grass is difficult to maintain. Keep the factors below in mind when choosing a lawn grass: ■ Drought tolerance. St. Augustinegrass will not thrive in some sites without supplemental irrigation in dry times. Bahiagrass will survive without supplemental irrigation by going into drought-induced dormancy, but it may not form a lawn as dense as other grasses. Centipedegrass and zoysiagrass can go for some time without water but require supplemental irrigation during extended drought. ■ ■ ■ Shade tolerance. St. Augustinegrass is generally the best lawn choice for shady spots, but it does better with at least 6 hours of sunlight per day. Dwarf St. Augustinegrass cultivars such as ‘Delmar’ and ‘Seville’ are best for shaded areas. For an area with less light than this, consider a more shade-tolerant groundcover. Wear tolerance. St. Augustinegrass and bahiagrass will show signs of wear with repeated heavy use in the same spots. Most zoysiagrass cultivars wear better. Fertility requirements. Centipedegrass and bahiagrass have lower fertilizer needs than St. Augustinegrass and zoysiagrass. A grass with higher fertility needs generally requires more watering and pest control. When choosing a grass type, the time and money you are willing to spend on maintenance is an important consideration. ■Salt tolerance. St. Augustinegrass and zoysiagrass generally tolerate some salt spray or saline water application, although a lot may hurt the grass over time. Bermudagrass and seashore paspalum are more salt tolerant, but these species are often too high maintenance for home lawns. Salt from some irrigation sources will limit the use of bahiagrass in coastal areas. ■ ■ ■ Climatic conditions. All the warm season grasses perform well in most parts of Florida, although most centipedegrass cultivars do best in the northern parts of the state. Width of grass blade. Leaf textures may be coarse, medium or fine. Although often preferred, the fine-textured leaf blades have higher maintenance requirements. Pest problems. Each species has some insect or disease problem that can limit its use. St. Augustinegrass can have problems with chinch bugs, while zoysiagrass is prone to hunting billbugs and brown patch disease. Bahiagrass and centipedegrass typically have fewer pest problems. Turfgrass Selection: 38
FYN Glossary Box Swale: A swale is an open channel with gently sloping sides that collects and slows the flow of water, moving it to a defined area or allowing it to soak into the soil. Maintaining swales with thick vegetation prevents erosion and helps in filtering pollutants from stormwater runoff. Table 1. Comparison of Florida turfgrass species for home lawns.* Characteristics Area Adapted To Mowing Height (inches) Species Bahiagrass Centipedegrass St. Augustinegrass Statewide N FL and Statewide Panhandle 3-4 1.5-2.5 3.5-4 (2-2.5 for dwarf cultivars) Zoysiagrass Statewide 1.5-2.5 Soil Acid, sandy Acid, sandy or Wide range Wide range clay Leaf Texture Coarse-Medium Medium Coarse-Medium Fine-Medium Drought Excellent Medium Fair Medium Tolerance Salt Tolerance Poor Poor Good Good Shade Poor Fair Good Good Tolerance Wear Tolerance Poor Poor Poor Good-Excellent Nematode Very Good Poor Good Good-Medium Tolerance Maintenance Levels Low Low Medium Medium *Table adapted from Trenholm, L.E. and J.B. Unruh, eds. 2005. The Florida Lawn Handbook. University Press of Florida, Gainesville. 172 pp. http://yourfloridalawn.ifas.ufl.edu/selection.htm 39
Page 1 and 2: A Guide to Florida-Friendly Landsca
Page 3 and 4: TABLE OF CONTENTS About the FYN Pro
Page 5 and 6: This FYN handbook provides helpful
Page 7 and 8: Florida Neighborhoods: Connecting O
Page 9 and 10: Creating Your Florida-Friendly Yard
Page 12 and 13: drawing. If you have a sprinkler sy
Page 14 and 15: Don’t forget to list other landsc
Page 16 and 17: Florida Yard Tip: Site Analysis To
Page 18 and 19: Soil Know-How In much of Florida,
Page 20 and 21: Plant Sorting: To Keep or Not to Ke
Page 22 and 23: Landscape Design Landscape design c
Page 24 and 25: Proper Tree Planting Once you deter
Page 26 and 27: special strapping mechanisms constr
Page 28 and 29: SAMPLE Watering Schedule To establi
Page 30 and 31: ■ Follow an Integrated Pest Manag
Page 32 and 33: RIGHT PLANT, RIGHT PLACE Have you e
Page 34: Plant Selection Choosing plants is
Page 37 and 38: Florida Yard Tip:
Page 39: ■ ■ ■ ■ Visit the library o
Page 43 and 44: WATER EFFICIENTLY 12LANDSCAPING PRI
Page 46 and 47: ■ Experiment with gradual reducti
Page 48 and 49: Florida Yard Tip:
Page 50 and 51: with appropriate drought-tolerant p
Page 52 and 53: FERTILIZE APPROPRIATELY At the most
Page 54 and 55: How much phosphorus and potassium s
Page 56 and 57: 4. Refer to Table 3 (below) to find
Page 58 and 59: How do I water-in fertilizer? Most
Page 60 and 61: Fertilizing Palms Palms have differ
Page 62 and 63: Mulch A mulch layer around trees, s
Page 65 and 66: attract wildlife 5 LANDSCAPING PRIN
Page 67 and 68: FYN Glossary Box
Page 69 and 70: MANAGE YARD PESTS RESPONSIBLY 6 LAN
Page 71: ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ Keeping you
Page 74 and 75: FYN Glossary Box
Page 76 and 77: Common Landscape Pests and Their Ma
Page 78 and 79: Other controls: Spray with horticul
Page 80 and 81: What About Plant Diseases? Many org
Page 82 and 83: RECYCLE Landscape maintenance activ
Page 84 and 85: Florida Yard Tip: Ideal Grass Heigh
Page 86 and 87: What does heading back do? Produces
Page 88 and 89: Florida Yard Tip: Reduce Your Pruni
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A great way to supply some of these
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■ ■ ■ Always bury kitchen was
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REDUCE STORMWATER RUNOFF Since the
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proves especially useful to capture
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Table 6. Comparison of Surfaces for
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PROTECT THE WATERFRONT Waterfront p
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Those Marvelous Mangroves Beauty, w
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uilding one. A pond is relatively e
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Seasonal Ponds A common pond type
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Create Create a Florida-Friendly Fl
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Florida Region and Cold Hardiness Z
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Use this list to choose plants base
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Scientific name Common Name(s) Larg
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Scientific name Common Name(s) Regi
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Scientific name Common Name(s) Quer
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Scientific name Common Name(s) Euge
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Scientific name Common Name(s) Ceph
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Scientific name Common Name(s) Euge
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Scientific name Common Name(s) Itea
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Scientific name Common Name(s) Tabe
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Scientific name Common Name(s) Smal
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Scientific name Common Name(s) Trip
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Scientific name Common Name(s) Livi
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Scientific name Common Name(s) Trac
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Scientific name Common Name(s) Asim
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Scientific name Common Name(s) Zami
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Scientific name Common Name(s) Just
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References and Additional Informati
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Common Name Scientific Name Page Af
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Common Name Scientific Name Page Co
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Common Name Scientific Name Page Ja
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Common Name Scientific Name Page Pu
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Common Name Scientific Name Page To
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This publication was funded in part
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