by Mary Salinas | Dec 16, 2014
This is the time of year when leaves are turning shades of yellow and red and falling from the trees. And this spurs homeowners to get out there with their rakes and rid them from their lawns. This is a good practice as too many leaves will shade out the grass and decrease the quality of the lawn come next spring. So, go ahead and rake them up. However, think about using as many as you can as mulch in other parts of your yard.
Leaves as mulch. Photo credit: Mary Derrick UF/IFAS Extension.
Leaves can be placed as mulch in landscape beds “as is” or chopped up with your mower or shredder into finer pieces and then spread around perennials, shrubs and trees. When chopped up or shredded, they tend to stay in place much better and don’t blow around when it gets windy. As the leaves break down over time, their nutrients are released and become available; that’s free fertilizer for your landscape plants. Leaves as mulch do have a natural look in the landscape, so if you prefer a more formal or polished look, you can spread a thin one-inch layer of a commercial mulch over the leaves.
Organic mulches (those made from plants) offer many benefits. They add organic matter and improve soil fertility as they decompose, thus reducing the need for added fertilizers. Mulch helps to maintain soil moisture so less frequent irrigation may be needed. Soil-borne disease can also be prevented as the soil does not splash up on the bottom leaves of plants during periods of rain. One of the favored reasons to use mulch is to prevent weeds in your landscape beds. And, of course, mulch is much prettier to look at than bare ground!
So how deep should you apply mulch? University of Florida experts advise a 3 to 4 inch layer of mulch around shrubs and trees. However, keep mulch from setting against the stems and trunks as that can cause moisture and pests to adversely affect them. Place just a thin one-inch layer of mulch over the rootballs of your plants.
Using leaves as mulch recycles a natural resource and saves you money, enriches your soil, fertilizes your plants and keeps them out of the local landfill.
For more information:
Landscape Mulches: What Are The Choices in Florida?
Mulch Recommendations
by Beth Bolles | Jun 23, 2014
In our area of Florida, soils will vary in the amount of nutrients they hold. In general, we think of our soils as nutrient poor because sand is often the highest component. Sandy soils have large pore spaces and the particles themselves do not ‘attract’ many of our nutrients. Therefore needed plant nutrients can leave a sandy soil quickly, especially when rainfall or irrigation is prevalent.
There are areas along the Panhandle that do have more quality soils that have the ability to retain some nutrients. Also, frequent fertilizer or lime applications in home landscapes can create soils with abundance of certain nutrients over time .
One nutrient that may become prevalent in routinely fertilized soils is phosphorus. We know that phosphorus is one of the big three nutrients needed by plants in order to grow and flourish. When we routinely apply phosphorus to garden beds or lawns, it can build up. Phosphorus is a nutrient that does not leave the soil as readily as other nutrients. It binds to other elements to hang around. If we keep adding phosphorus to the soil, even though there is plenty there, problems can occur. One negative impact is the potential for soils with phosphorus to wash away and pollute local water systems.
Phosphorus is absolutely necessary for plant growth. It is needed for the energy transfer which is involved in plant growth functions. Phosphorus is also important for flower and fruit formation, and root growth.
Flowering plants benefit from fertilizer but make sure your soil needs the nutrients before an application. Photo: Beth Bolles, UF IFAS Escambia Extension
There can be too much of a good thing. The key to remember, as with any nutrient, is make sure it is needed before applying it to your soil. Plant growth will not be improved beyond what is normal by adding more of any nutrient. Before you grab the bloom promoter or starter fertilizer with high phosphorus, run a soil test to accurately determine what is really needed in your soil.
by Sheila Dunning | Jun 17, 2014
The old cliché is “April showers bring May flowers”, but April deluges create weak plants and yellow grass. You were following the UF/IFAS recommendations and waited until April 15th to fertilize. You followed the Urban Turf Rule and applied a low-phosphate fertilizer with slow-release nitrogen. Yet, your grass is yellow and the shrubs haven’t put on any new growth. What happened? The 18” + of rainfall that we experienced at the end of April flushed nearly everything out of the soil, including any fertilizer you applied. Nitrogen and potassium are highly leachable. Phosphorus is also depleted under saturated soil conditions.
If you haven’t submitted a soil test since the storm, now is the time to do so. It’s time to apply a summer fertilizer, but it needs to address all the nutrient deficiencies created from the excess rain. Soil test kits can be obtained from your County Extension office. When you get the results from the University of Florida Lab, it is important to remember the 4 Rs when applying fertilizer. It needs to be the Right Source, applied at the Right Rate, at the Right Time, and over the Right Place.
Best Management Practices (BMPs) have been developed to allow individuals to make conscientious decisions regarding fertilizer selection that will reduce the risk of water contamination. The Right Source for a BMP-compliant fertilizer is one that contains a portion of slow-release (water insoluble) nitrogen with little to no phosphorus, and a potassium level similar to the nitrogen percentage (e.g. 15-0-15, that contains 5% coated nitrogen). However, a soil test is the only way to accurately identify the specific nutrients your landscape is lacking. Many soil tests indicate a need for phosphate and currently it is illegal to apply more than 0.25 pounds per 1,000 sq. ft. without a soil test verifying the need.
Next, the fertilizer must be applied at the Right Rate. In order to do that, you must know the square footage of your property and how much you can spread using the settings on your equipment. Individuals walk at varied speeds and the product recommended rates are based on 1,000 sq.ft. areas. For information on calibrating application equipment refer to 
the publication, “How to Calibrate Your Fertilizer Spreader”. Using the 15-0-15 fertilizer mentioned earlier, the Right Rate for one application would be 3 pounds per 1,000 sq.ft.. That 35 pound bag is all that is needed for a nearly 12,000 sq.ft. yard (a large corner lot).
The Right Time for applying fertilizer is when the plants are actively growing and beginning to show nutrient deficiencies. Summer, when rainfall and irrigation is frequent, is often a typical application time. The Right Place is only on living plant areas. Be cautious to avoid getting fertilizer on the sidewalk, driveway and street. A deflector on your spreader is very helpful. Otherwise, be sure to sweep or blow the fertilizer back onto the grass or into the landscape beds. Avoid having fertilizer end up in any water body.
by Taylor Vandiver | Feb 25, 2014
So you have alkaline soil… What next?
Throughout the Panhandle, a common problem that often arises is finding a way to raise soil pH. This is due to the fact that we often encounter sandy, acid soils in this region. An often overlooked issue is explaining the process of gardening in a soil that tends to be more alkaline in nature.
Soil pH is measured using a scale from 0 to 14. On this scale, a value of 7 is neutral, pH values less than 7 are acidic, and pH values greater than 7 are alkaline. Soil pH directly affects the growth and quality of many landscape plants. Extreme pH levels can prevent certain nutrients from being available to plants. Therefore, a high pH may make it difficult to grow certain plants.
Often alkaline soils occur in the home landscape as a result of calcium carbonate-rich building materials (i.e., concrete, stucco, etc.) that may have been left in the soil following construction. Soils that contain limestone, marl or seashells are also usually alkaline in nature. There are a few measures that can be taken in order to combat high pH. Incorporating soil amendments containing organic material is the most common method implemented to reverse alkalinity. Peat or sphagnum peat moss is generally acidic and will lower pH better than other organic materials. Adding elemental sulfur is another common practice. A soil test will need to be performed often in order to add the correct amount of sulfur to reach an optimal pH level.
Lowering the pH of strongly alkaline soils is much more difficult than raising it. Unfortunately, there is no way to permanently lower the pH of soils severely impacted by alkaline construction materials. In these circumstances, it may be best to select plants that are tolerant of high pH conditions to avoid chronic plant nutrition problems.
Some plants that will tolerate alkaline soils:
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Shrubs
- Glossy Abelia (Abelia Xgrandiflora)
- Sweet Shrub (Calycanthus floridus)
- Flowering Quince (Chaenomeles speciosa)
- Burford Holly (Ilex cornuta ‘Burfordii’)
- Indian Hawthorne (Rhaphiolepis indica)
Firebush is wonderful butterfly attractant. Photo courtesy of UF/IFAS.
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Perennials
- Larkspur (Delphinium carolinianum)
- Pinks (Dianthus spp.)
- Firebush (Hamelia patens)
- Plumbago (Plumbago ariculata)
Zinnias come in a variety of colors, shapes and sizes. Photo courtesy of UF/IFAS.
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Annuals
- California Poppy (Eschscholzia californica)
- Zinnias (Zinnia spp.)
- Cosmos (Cosmos bipinnatus)
by Eddie Powell | Jan 27, 2014
A bountiful harvest
Every winter, many Florida homeowners enjoy growing their own vegetable plants. It is definitely cheaper to buy vegetable seeds than vegetable transplants, and some vegetables grow better when direct seeded.
One factor to take into consideration when planning a vegetable garden is that each vegetable has a different germination response to temperature. Some seeds germinate best under low soil temperature while other respond best under high soil temperatures.
When planting vegetable seeds, remember that cool season crops, such as cabbage, turnips, and cauliflower, will perform best under cooler soil conditions.
The key to getting the highest seed germination rate is to match the correct soil temperature to the vegetable seed of choice.
Below is a listing of correct soil temperatures needed for vegetable seed germination.
MINIMUM Soil Temperature for Germination in Degrees Fahrenheit
- 32- Endive, Lettuce, Onion, Parsnip, and Spinach
- 40 -Beet, Broccoli, Cabbage, Carrot, Cauliflower, Parley, Pea, Radish, Swiss Chard, and Celery
- 50-Asparagus, Sweet Corn, Tomato, and Turnip
- 60-Lima bean, Snap Bean, Cucumber, Okra, and Pepper
- 65-Eggplant, Muskmelon, Pumpkin, Squash, and Watermelon
OPTIMUM Soil Temperature for Germination in Degrees Fahrenheit
- 70-Celery, Parsnip, and Spinach
- 75-Asparagus, Endive, Lettuce, and Pea
- 80-Lima Bean, Carrot, Cauliflower, Onion, Radish, Tomato, Turnip
- 85-Snap Bean, Beet, Broccoli, Cabbage, Eggplant, Parsley, Pepper, Sweet Corn, and Swiss Chard
- 95-Cucumber, Muskmelon, Okra, Pumpkin, Squash, and Watermelon.
MAXIMUM Soil Temperature for Germination in Degrees Fahrenheit
- 75 -Celery, Endive, Lettuce, and Spinach
- 85-Lima Beans, Parsnip, and Pea
- 95-Asparagus, Snap Bean, Beet, Broccoli, Cabbage, Carrot, Cauliflower, Eggplant, Onion, Parsley, Pepper, Radish, Swiss Chard, and Tomato
- 106-Cucumber, Muskmelon, Okra, Pumpkin, Squash, Sweet Corn, Turnip, and Watermelon
