Monthly Meeting & Program
Garden Party!

By Us, for Us! A Virtual Tour through Our Neighborhoods
Monday July 13, 2009

Get out your cameras! The rain is helping your thirsty landscape recover, and its a great time to document the plants that won the drought-resistant reward.

We all know that Florida's native plants can play an important role in home landscapes, reducing need for water, fertilizer and pesticides. However it takes time to learn what grows best in our neighborhoods. Each July, members of the Hernando Chapter host the Garden Party to share experiences in using native plants, and offer suggestions for which plants work best for what places.

This program features slideshows of plants and their placements–many of the plants discussed will be available via a Florida native plant auction.

Monthly meetings and programs of the Hernando Chapter are held on the first Monday of the month, and are open to the public, free of charge. Meetings are held at the Hernando County Cooperative Extension Office – 19490 Oliver Street (next to the County Fairgrounds) in Brooksville. We gather for delicious food and fellowship at 6:30pm, meeting and program starts at 7:00pm. For more information about this program or the Florida Native Plant Society, contact the Hernando Chapter Board at hcfnps@gmail.com.

Landscaping for Before and After

We all think about turf replacement, especially in the throws of a 3-year drought! The Florida Native Plant Society is collecting examples of before and after projects that demonstrate techniques for restoring the Florida feel to Florida's yards.

Below, we see a high-end example of a residential remake, and it is clear that the owners were interested in replacing their turf and introducing a natural feel to their home.

While you may not have the resources for a total makeover, careful plans and the renewing rains can give you great results this summer.

Here are some tips--a repeat of an article we did in May 2005--but we all can use the reminders.

Right Plant in the Right Place

There’s nothing more important to a carefree landscape than this: know what wants to grow there anyway, and plant it. Visit surrounding natural areas that seem like your yard, or local vacant lots; you’ll get to know the typical residents you should try to invite to your yard.

But first, identify your assets. If a plant is there, and doing well, let it be and build around it. Think twice before removing those pines and palmettos. If you have an interesting thicket, get to know it. Although blackberries may be a thorny subject, birds will be distraught at their departure. Tame your thicket and make it a functional part of your landscape. Each of Florida’s ecosystems has its foundation plants; for sure success, be sure to include them. Although some do well almost everywhere, like the Cabbage Palm, Sabal Palmettos, Wax Myrtle, and live oak; others are more picky. The Yaupon Holly will love your sandhill, but drown in your swamp. Walter’s Viburnum will love your ditchline. There are plenty of choices for all systems; learn yours and enjoy your lawn chair and a good book while your neighbors work.

Reduce the Turf

Florida’s climate and soils are not suitable for many turfgrass choices. As a result, folks use lots of irrigation, fertilizer and pesticide to maintain a plush green lawn look. Worse yet, traditional mowed lawns offer little biodiversity for beneficial insects, songbirds or other elements of our natural environment. Boring! Leave the lawn where you need it, and replace it where you don’t. Make your beds. Native bunch grasses, interspersed with specimen trees and bushes and colorful perennials are much more interesting than lawn. Neglect mowing to create a wildflower meadow if you’ve got the room. Start this year with one bed design, learn from it, and subtract more lawn next year. You’ll be glad you did–as will your friends the birds, butterflies, and the Florida aquifer.

The Right Mulch for your Place

Part of your success in lawn replacement is linked to thoughtful mulching. Mulch keeps those weedy interlopers from germinating in disturbed soil and keeps the water where your plants like it in the dry spells. Mulch also paints a visual division between your beds and the lawn you left. Look around those natural places again. What is the “natural” mulch made up from? A sandhill yard planting doesn’t want the mulch a hydric hammock does. In any case, your best mulch is free; like oak leaves, which are better off in your beds than in the landfill. To supplement, go for the free compost from your local transfer station. Or invest in Flora-brand Mulch, ground from the invasive exotic Melaleuca that’s eating south Florida. NEVER, repeat, NEVER buy Cypress mulch. Whole trees are harvested to make it; its not a byproduct like pine bark, and its popularity is impacting the cypress population that is our state’s heritage.

Plan for the Seasons

With a bit of forethought, you can have color year round. In Florida, there are spring bloomers, fall bloomers, and those who persist all year. When you know what plants will like your yard, make sure something’s in bloom all the time. You will delight in anticipating what will appear each month. This isn’t the work of a single season, but a rewarding long range plan. Ask anyone who’s established native rhododendron or blazing star. And plan for changes over time. Though your yard is now sunparched, when your canopy is established, it will change the sun patterns and expand your options. Think overstory, understory, and herbaceous layers. Avoid planting in straight lines, unless you like lots of pruning and babying. If one plant in the line-up doesn’t perform, it throws the whole show off. It you clump or cluster, the sad demise of a single plant won’t be noticeable.

Bring in the Birds and Butterflies

Now look around. Where do you spend your time outdoors? What window do you admire the view from? Entice the wildlife you like to watch into those views. Add plants that provide food and cover in your line of sight, and the birds and butterflies will follow. Cover the fence with Coral Honeysuckle and Passionflower. Plan your butterfly garden around a Firebush, which blooms most of the year. If you’ve got a sandy patch, it’s meant to harbor butterfly weed and liatris. For small specimen trees, use Sparkleberry or Walter’s Viburnum with berries that draw in the birds. And those bunch grasses in your beds serve as natural birdfeeders. And if you can be inconspicuous to the neighbors (or educate them to the value), tuck some extra cover in; leave the snags, cavity trees and make a brush pile for resident wildlife.

Hernando Chapter tours SWFWMD Seed Source in the Green Swamp

This Florida native Gailardia aestivalis was a favorite.

Notes from the June 6th Chapter Field Trip to SWFWMD Green Swamp Wilderness Area

Several lucky members braved rain clouds to participate in the follow-up field trip to Mary Barnwell's June talk on Sandhill ground cover restoration methods.

Intrepid plant searchers Jason LaRoche, Sue Blakeman, Rita Grant, and Jim Clayton in a rare upright moment on the SWFWMD seed source parcel.

In fact, the group traveled to ground zero: the large parcel in Greenswamp West where SWFWMD harvests seed material for restoration work. As we learned at our Chapter meeting, the seed material, along with the stems, is harvested by a large machine that moves across the landscape. The resulting mix is spread on the target site, where the stems and leaves serve as mulch for the new seed bed. Over the course of a few years, the seeds take hold and native plants adapted to the site push out the pioneers, especially with the help of fire.

The Hernando gang enjoyed a 4-wheel drive tour of the backroads of the Greenswamp properties, appreciated the cloud cover that kept them cool without producing rain, and were thoroughly engaged by the botanical treasure hunt at the seed site. The favorite plants discovered included a infrequent and beautiful native Gailardia aestivalis; Jason LaRoche was on the hunt for things that do not yet occur on his property.