Agriculture is not the first thing that comes to mind when you’re in Bay County, especially when you’re enjoying a day at the beach! In the 2022 Census of Agriculture, 139 farms were reported, covering more than 70,324 acres. Much of what’s counted as farmland in Bay County is forested land managed for timber rather than traditional row-crop agriculture. Other commodities include hay, berries, livestock, honey and aquaculture. Together, agricultural sales generated $3.69 million dollars in 2022. Agriculture exists here, but it is not the primary economic driver. Tourism plays a much larger role, bringing $3.1 billion in visitor spending and supporting over 35,000 jobs.
This can be a common in areas where there is a large amount of tourism. Both systems depend on healthy natural resources, for different but equally important reasons. This is especially true when it comes to water, which makes up 27% of the county by area. Large scale producers use Best Management Practices (BMPs) to reduce the amount of chemical and nutrient runoff into our water systems.
If an area does not have a lot of agriculture does that mean we are safe from pollution in our water? No. Runoff isn’t just a problem in agricultural systems. A single lawn may not contribute much on its own, but when you add them up they can become a significant source of water pollution.
One of the easiest ways you can reduce impacts on our water resources is with how you fertilize your lawns. Here are some residential BMPs you can follow in your own yard. If you are fertilizing next to a body of water, leave a 10-foot strip unfertilized on the water’s edge. Don’t apply more than 1 pound of slow release nitrogen per 1,000 square feet at a time or exceed 4 pounds per 1,000 square feet per year. If you are using a quick release nitrogen do not apply more than ½ pound at one time for the same area. This chart below can be used to calculate how much fertilizer that is based on the percent of nitrogen. Nitrogen is always the first number, followed by phosphorus and potassium. Remember that right now your lawn doesn’t need any fertilizer. Dormancy is a protection from winter freezes, and fertilizer put out now will not be taken up effectively by dormant grass.
Nitrogen percent in fertilizer
Pounds of fertilizer to apply 1lb of nitrogen / 1000 sqft
5%
20 lbs
10% (10-10-10)
10 lbs
20%
5 lbs
U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Statistics Service. (2022). 2022 Census of Agriculture, Bay County, Florida. https://quickstats.nass.usda.gov/
Bay County Chamber of Commerce. (2025). Business & community profile. https://panamacity.org/tourism-business/
With cold temperatures having arrived in the Panhandle last week, we’re finally getting close to prime landscape planting season. But why is winter the best time to install landscape trees and shrubs? Shouldn’t we plant when things are leafed out and growing? While it’s counterintuitive to think bitter cold, dreary days are significantly better to plant landscape plants in than the warm, sunny days of summer, it’s usually true! Let’s explore why winter is the time to plant woody trees and shrubs and then look at some of the best woody plants no Panhandle landscape should be without.
Most people from elsewhere think that Florida is always lush, green, and tropical. Those people have clearly never been to the Panhandle – heck it snowed last year! Our region of Florida has more in common, climate wise, with the rest of the south – subtropical with long hot, humid summers and wet, mild winters (though rain has been hard to come by recently), occasionally wracked by intense cold fronts. Because of those cold fronts, tropical plants cannot survive, and woody plants enter a dormant stage where above ground growth ceases. This cold-forced dormant season is the perfect time to plant woody plants because the planting process is stressful (the root system is purposefully damaged to remove circling and J-shaped roots and encourage outward growth) and regular rainfall and cool temps means conditions are right for plants to get a solid root system re-established before growth and transpiration begins in the heat of spring/summer.
Now that you know why we plant woody landscape plants when we do, let’s select a few quintessential, versatile Florida-Friendly trees and shrubs (2 each, one native and one non-native) to install in our landscapes this planting season.
Nuttall Oak (Quercus texana) is one of the most adaptable landscape trees around. The species is tolerant of many soil types, native to moist bottomland areas but tolerating drier spots well once established. While it’s a large tree – up to 70-80’ tall, I find its rounded upright habit to often be more in scale with landscapes than the wide spreading Live Oak (Quercus virginiana). Nuttall Oak certainly has many positive attributes (tough, wind-resistant, pollinator friendly, etc), but its fall color is probably my favorite. For the Panhandle it is quite good, delivering autumnal hues of red and orange.
It’s not North Carolina Sugar Maple color but Nuttall Oak possesses attractive foliage. Photo courtesy of Daniel Leonard.
Crape Myrtle (Lagerstroemia indica) is the most widely grown landscape tree in the South for good reason! They’re tough, widely adapted, offer excellent summertime flower displays, and possess interesting architecture and unique bark. The primary consideration with Crape Myrtle is simply picking the right one. Do you need an upright, compact tree? Choose ‘Sioux’ or ‘Apalachee’. Do you want a big crape that can double as a small shade tree? Choose ‘Natchez’ or ‘Muskogee’. Do you want a new dwarf variety or one with black foliage? There’s now plenty of those to choose from as well. There’s truly a Crape Myrtle for every yard.
Oakleaf Hydrangea (Hydrangea quercifolia) is a wonderful native flowering deciduous shrub that’s at home in all Panhandle landscapes. It prefers moist soil with a little afternoon shade but can tolerate most conditions thrown at it. Growing 5-7’ in height, sporting footlong white flower panicles each summer, and beautiful foliage each fall, Oakleaf Hydrangea is a must. You can find unnamed seedlings of the species or look for named varieties such as ‘Snow Queen’, ‘Semmes Beauty’, and ‘Alice’. In my experience, you can’t go wrong with any of them.
Camellia Sasanqua is without a doubt my favorite fall flowering shrub. Impossibly durable (it’s common to find specimens over 100 years old), incredibly beautiful in flower and form, and coming in all shapes, sizes, and flower color, a Sasanqua of some kind belongs in ever yard. A few of my favorites are ‘Leslie Ann’ (upright form, white/pink bicolored flowers), ‘Shi Shi Gashira’ (dwarf that makes an excellent informal hedge), and ‘Yuletide’ (compact plant with red flowers & showy gold stamens).
So, as the weather continues to be mild with those cold front swings occasionally and rain begins to be more regular, think about getting some woody trees and shrubs planted into your landscape this winter. Keep in mind the excellent above selections and be sure to check out the Florida-Friendly Landscaping Plant Guide for more possibilities! Happy Gardening!
Spanish bayonet plants growing on the back side of a dune at Grayton Beach State Park. Photo credit: Carrie Stevenson, UF IFAS Extension
When you think of self-defense in the natural world, it’s normal to lean towards the animal kingdom. Between their intimidating teeth, claws, horns, and venom, animals can hold their own in a physical battle for dominance or survival.
But plants are no slouch in this department, either. In the book, “Wicked Plants: The Weed that Killed Lincoln’s Mother & Other Botanical Atrocities,” the author discusses no fewer than 200 plants with deadly poisonous properties. Many plants have also evolved spines and thorns, rash-inducing toxins, and thick bark or waxy coatings that keep disease, water, and anything attempting to feed on them out.
The sharp spines of yucca plants serve as self-defense, but can also be used for making tools. Photo credit: Carrie Stevenson, UF IFAS Extension
Yucca plants display several examples of vegetative self-defense. Even the common names of several Florida species; Adam’s needle, Spanish dagger, and Spanish bayonet, signal their obvious danger. They are native to deserts and desert-like conditions, including the dry, sandy dunes of Florida beaches. Dry habitats lend themselves to tough plants, as they adapt thick leaves to keep water in and needles or thorns to collect and condense water and ward off herbivores that might seek their stored water resources. Yucca are of course highly salt and drought tolerant, so they make great landscape plants for coastal properties.
Brown seed pods visible on a yucca plant in the fall. Photo credit: Carrie Stevenson, UF IFAS Extension
Spanish bayonet, one of several species common to Florida, is so intimidating that I regularly see homeowners plant it under windows as a burglary deterrent. Its leaves taper into a stiff and potentially painful point. If you look around online, there are numerous instructional videos and articles from survivalist or “bushcraft” enthusiasts explaining how to strip the leaves, leaving only the point and several fibers for a DIY needle and thread. This technique has been passed down for generations and is useful for building and repairing shelters or clothing. The tough filamentous fibers were used for weaving blankets and baskets.
The bell-shaped flowers are highly attractive to butterflies, and also edible for humans (although be careful, some people report itchy reactions). After spring blooming, brown seed pods will remain on the upright stalks through the fall.
Talking about a live oak might bring to mind pictures of grand, old, stately trees, limbs dripping with Spanish moss. The Southern live oak is a staple of the coastal south, but it prefers to live inland from our beaches. It leaves the salt-sprayed beach sand to its cousin, the sand live oak.
A grove of sand live oak trees.
Sand live oak can potentially grow as tall as its relative, but is rarely seen reaching such heights. Growing on beach dunes, it is constantly pruned back by the wind and sometimes remains as a low shrub. When given some relief from the elements, it will happily grow taller.
The leaves of a sand live oak.
Its scientific name, Quercus geminata, comes from latin, meaning ‘twinned‘. This refers to its acorns, which are typically borne in pairs. The tree’s leaves are tough, leathery, and relatively small, with the edges curled downward. The bottoms of the leaves are gray to whitish, often with a fuzzy texture to them. While the sand live oak stays green all year, it does drop its leaves in the spring and immediately replaces them. It often grows in clusters, sometimes due to its ability to regenerate from its roots after a fire. This can lead to groves of wavy, leaning trunks that spread out widely, each reaching for its own patch of sunlight.
Very little seems to harm a sand live oak. They are sturdy in intense wind, able to withstand extreme drought, tolerant of salt spray, and do not mind intense sun and blazing hot temperatures. They are usually pest and disease free, though overwatering can damage their roots and cause dieback in the above ground parts.
Sand live oaks pruned by salt spray and constant wind.
Potential drawbacks of this species include their copious pollen production, and their tendency to stain surfaces with their tannin-rich leaves and acorns. In all, however, they are incredibly hardy and beautiful trees when planted in their native habitat. They require little to no maintenance and offer benefits to wildlife, who will snack on their acorns. For a shade tree near the beach, make sure to put the sand live oak at the top of your list.
With the holiday season fast approaching, many folks are reaching for store-bought decorations. But what if your yard could supply some of the festiveness this season? You can turn your landscape trimmings into creative DIY ideas, turning what some might consider waste into holiday charm while being kind to the environment.
Going the more natural route for holiday décor aligns with one of our Florida-Friendly Landscaping™ Principles #7: Recycle Yard Waste. Some items you may already have or can collect from your yard can make great decorations such as evergreen branches like pines or cedars, pinecones, acorns, dried leaves, twigs, herbs, old tree limbs, and much more. Utilizing what you have to bring holiday cheer to your home can also help minimize single-use plastics or mass-produced items. If created properly and depending on the item, you may be able to reuse what you create for multiple holiday seasons.
MGVs utilizing grape vines and tree clippings to make beautiful wreaths. Photo by Abbey Smith, UF/IFAS Extension
Evergreen trimmings are some of the easiest things from your yard to re-purpose if you have access to them. You can make wreaths, mantle decorations, and even beautiful bouquets. To make a wreath base, utilizing dried muscadine grape vine makes the process a lot easier. You can add your trimmings once the vine base has been assembled. For table or mantle pieces, you can utilize a mix of evergreen branches, pine cones, and few bundles of tree trimmings of your choice. Herbs, pinecones, and certain seed pods can also add some holiday aroma to your home by emitting their natural scent. For decorating outside, consider using thicker trimmings or logs.
We’ve discussed how you can utilize you yard-waste for holiday décor, but how do you collect the materials? You can first start by surveying your yard looking for fallen branches, pinecones, etc. When you’ve made a collection, prune and inspect for any broken, diseased materials and shake off loose debris or insects to ensure what you’re utilizing is clean for indoor use. For indoor use materials, possible rinsing with water and allowing them to dry before you take the material inside can be helpful. After the holidays are over, you can turn your green materials back into nature if possible or make additions to your compost pile.
Holiday citrus wreath displayed on a fence in front of a home. Holiday wreaths, citrus fruit, oranges, lemons, picket fence. UF/IFAS Photo: Tyler Jones.
Going green this holiday season can be simple. Using what’s on hand or growing nearby reduces the need to purchase new decorations. Decorative materials like glitter or plastic tinsel often contribute to high waste volumes during the holidays. Combat this by avoiding plastics and microplastics. If you use real trees or large trimmings, know how your local yard-waste or recycling system handles them. For example, many municipalities mulch Christmas trees picked up at curbside. Creating DIY projects is a great way to involve the whole family, so use your kids to help scout your lawn for those hidden gems.
By tapping into what your yard already offers, you’ll not only create memorable, natural holiday décor but also do your landscaping and planet a favor. Sustainability doesn’t mean skimping on style– it means thoughtful choices, repurposing what you have, and wrapping the season in green (literally).
