Florida Landscape Plants
Florida Trees
Florida Shrubs
Why Landscape with Natives?
Integrating native plants into your homes landscape will greatly
reduce the amount water, fertilizer & pesticides used in
maintenance. This equals less time and money spent on landscaping,
and proportionately reduces the amount of storm water runoff
containing these yard chemicals, a leading source of pollution
in Florida's waters.
Natives are generally more resistant or resilient to the bugs &
diseases found in Florida than most exotic plants, they also
attract wildlife - from birds to butterflies, and using native
landscape plants helps preserve our
natural bio-diversity.
Plan for Success!
The first step to success with native landscaping is really no different
than that for any plant, choosing the right plant for the
intended location.
Soil characteristics, amount of moisture available to a plant,
the amount & type of sunlight a location receives will determine
the native plants that can be successfully cultivated with
little to no maintenance.
Basics of Soil Composition & pH.
About half of South Florida consists of poorly drained, acidic
sandy soil, this is the soil of the Pine Flatwoods. South of
Lake Okeechobee where the lakes waters historically flowed is
the Everglades Marsh, a wide band of peat & other deposited
organic materials over marl & limestone. The remainder of South
Florida's soils are coastal dunes or thin, poorly drained sandy
soils & marl
over shallow limestone. Limestone and seawater are alkaline, so
soils which are influenced by them will also be alkaline by
nature.
The Atlantic Coastal Ridge, which parallels the east coat is
made up of ancient deposits of deep, well drained sandy soils
that retain little moisture and contain very little in the way
of plant nutrients.
Soil pH is measured on a scale from 0-14, with 0 being acid & 14
being alkaline. A pH of 7.0 is that of pure water and is
considered neutral. Less than 7.0 is acidic, above 7.0 is
alkaline.
This is important because many plants require a slightly acidic
to acidic soil pH to get needed nutrients from the soil. A
couple of examples are Gardenia's and some Palm's which will
develop chlorosis ( yellowing of foliage ) on alkaline soils.
Soil pH has a huge effect on the nutrients that are available to
plants, too high ( alkaline ) or too low ( acid ) causes
iron, manganese as well as micronutrients to be
chemically bound-up in the soil, that is, they are not in a
soluble form that plants can take up & use.
Appreciable variations in soil pH occur naturally or as a result
of proximity to concrete structures which leach lime solutions
into the soil making it alkaline.
Soil pH can be amended through
the application of lime to raise pH or the use of elemental
sulfur to lower it.
Be sure to test your soil before
applying or re-applying either.
Soil
Moisture Content & Retention
The amount moisture a soil receives and retains is an important
feature, are the areas you intend to plant perpetually wet,
moist or dry? Remember that this relates to the underlying soil
rather than the top few inches.
Buying Healthy Plants
As more people have expressed an interest in native landscape
plants suppliers have responded, most retail garden centers have
a least some native species & a few now specialize in
native landscape stock. When you purchase plants of course you
want to choose individual plants that are robust, with a good
amount of healthy green growth.
What many people fail to do is to check the roots of a plant.
Look for roots coming out of the drainage holes of the pot, this
is an indication of being root bound.
When a plant has outgrown
its container the roots begin to circle, trying to expand their
reach, if this continues over a long enough time the plant
becomes stunted in its growth. If possible, slip the plant out
of the pot. What you want to see is many fine white roots,
rather than a few thick ones, if you do get plants with
encircling roots these should be removed when planting.
Plants only absorb
nutrients from these fine growing tips, not the entire root.
Also, avoid plants in soil with an unpleasant, sour smell, this
indicates disease and root rot.
Best Planting Practices
Following are some general guidelines for planting trees
& shrubs in a manner to insure they get off to a
good start. Try to avoid planting in summer, when high
temperatures put more stress on the plants' root systems ability
to supply water to the foliage.
Before digging make sure there are no underground utility lines
or irrigation
pipes! The hole should be slightly shallower than the existing
root ball and 2 -3 times as wide, if the roots are compacted
gently loosen and spread them out before backfilling the hole. (Figure1)
Fill the hole with the original soil to a depth equal to that of
the surrounding soil, adding water as you do to ensure there are
no air pockets
Build up a small ridge of soil at the perimeter of the hole, 2 -
3 inches for small ( 6 - 8 ft. ) trees up to 6 inches for larger
( 10 - 20 ft. or more ) trees, to better direct water to the
root ball.
Adding mulch to a depth of 2 - 3 inches will reduce evaporation,
mediate soil temperature and reduce weeds in the root zone, but
keep it back from the trunk 6 inches or so. If needed use stakes
or guy wires to stabilize the plant
as excessive
movement will damage new root growth.
 When tying guy wires or
rope protect the tree with burlap or rubber tubing, sections of
an old garden
hose work well for this. (Figure 2)
Pruning
When you do plant it helps to do a little selective pruning,
reducing the amount of foliage in turn reduces the amount of moisture
lost through transpiration, this helps to
prevent undue stress, wilting and die-back.
 Prune deadwood, branches that rub together & branches that cross
the trunk or main stem first then if needed prune for the
overall shape of trees & shrubs alike. Remember that the lowest
branches should be the longest and each branch
above should be
progressively shorter all the way to the top!
This ensures that upper branches don't shade out the lower ones.
Figure 3 shows the correct pruning angle, which is parallel to
the parent branch. On larger branches cut the bulk of a limb
first then make a second final cut, this will prevent a partially cut
branch from pulling & tearing the bark on the main limb or
trunk. You should always leave a small stub rather than trying
to cut right against the parent branch to prevent damage &
lessen the chance for infection.
Fertilizers
Native plants don't require much, if anything in the way of
supplemental fertilizers when grown in their native soils. They've adapted over countless generations to use only
what's available in that soil.
New
plantings whether native or exotic should not be fertilized for
6 weeks anyway, as it tends to create more problems than it
solves. If you feel you
must fertilize, use a slow release formula with low numbers,
especially nitrogen.
Fertilizing too soon after planting can burn tender new roots or cause a flush of new growth which those roots may have a
hard time supplying with adequate water, an overabundance of
tender new leaves attracts hungry bugs like ringing a dinner
bell.
When you look at fertilizer bag or box, you'll notice three
numbers which indicate in order, from left to right the Nitrogen-Phosphorus-Potassium
content, commonly referred to as N P K. On the bag to the right are
the corresponding numbers 15-20-10. This tells you that this
formula contains, by weight, 15% nitrogen, 20% phosphorus and
10% potassium.
These are the three main nutrients that plants
need, and as such are most quickly depleted from
soils.
Any fertilizer containing all three is a
"complete" formula. Some fertilizers only have two of
these and are
referred to as "incomplete". There are also "straight"
fertilizers, these consist of just a single element.
Other major nutrients are
Calcium, Magnesium, and Sulfur. There are generally sufficient
amounts of these present in the soil that adding them is not
necessary, however most commercially produced mixes do contain
small amounts.
Micronutrients, also referred to "minors", "minor elements" or
"trace elements", although needed in much smaller amounts are
also important to a plants health. They are - Manganese,
Molybdenum, Copper, Chloride, Boron, Iron and Zinc. In most
cases these can be supplied in sufficient amounts by simply
adding leaf litter or grass clippings to the soil.
-
Nitrogen - Increases a plants growth rate, important for healthy
green foliage
-
Phosphorus - Increases a plants resistance to stress, aids in
the development of flowers & roots
-
Potassium - Increases quality of fruit & resistance to disease
Florida
Trees
Florida Shrubs
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