Find Your Inner Dirt-Jill
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Pamphlet Info On XeriscapingCREATE A FLORIDA FRIENDLY YARD!
1. Right Plant, Right Place. Sun-shade wet-dry soil type-PH sized
2. Water efficiently. Early Morning, drip, soaker, or mist. Water turf when it shows stress
3. Mulch, Mulch, Mulch. But NOT RED MULCH PLEASE!!! Our environment doesn’t need Red Dye number 5, and your yard shouldn’t depend on Mulch for color.
4. Recycle. Reuse yard wastes on site. Grass Clippings leaves and Pine needles make good mulch.
5. Fertilize Appropriately. Or should I say cautiously? Organic Fertilizers preferred, slow release nitro, and perhaps Iron for green.
6. Manage Yard Pests. Identify beneficial insects, use biorational pest controls, with pesticides as only a last resort.
7. Provide for Wildlife. Plants for cover, a food source, water source and shelter
8. Stormwater Runoff. Direct Downspouts to plant beds, Ground cover on slopes, create swales (lows) and berms (hills) to direct storm water runoff.
9. Protect the Waterfront. Keep all fertilizers and pesticides 20 feet from the High water mark. Leave native vegetation along the shoreline. Establish a border of low maintenance plants between the lawn and the shoreline. Ref. Eleanor Flood, FY&N Program Assistant, Putnam county, 1999
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