Show Title: Environmental Landscaping
Producers: Linda Kubitz and Erin Easterling
Time: 27:40
Show begins here: ---(music)---
>>>TODAY ON IMPACT... LANDSCAPING FOR THE ENVIRONMENT.
---(Why should we use ELM in our landscapes? Well it really depends on the kind of Florida that we want to have in the future for us and for our children and grandchildren. The use of ELM practices will help to conserve our very precious resources and help protect the environment here in Florida, to make a better Florida for all of us.)---
---(Really it's basically a common sense approach to landscaping. It helps to conserve water and energy, reduces the yard trash that you generate on site, and also reduces the amount of pesticides and fertilizers that are going into the environment. So simply it's just environmentally friendly landscaping.)--- Music/Animation
>>>THIS IS IMPACT. A WEEKLY LOOK AT ISSUES AND ANSWERS THAT IMPACT OUR LIVES AND THE WORLD AROUND US. PRODUCED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA'S INSTITUTE OF FOOD AND AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES.
---(ax chopping)---
>>>IF YOU'RE INTERESTED IN GETTING THE MOST OUT OF YOUR PROPERTY, THEN YOU NEED TO PUT YOUR MONEY WHERE YOUR GARDEN IS. UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA RESEARCHERS HAVE FOUND POOR LANDSCAPING CAN COST THE HOMEOWNER WHEN IT COMES TIME TO SELL. WHEREAS A WELL LANDSCAPED YARD CAN PAY BIG DIVIDENDS WHILE YOU STILL OWN IT. BUT BEFORE YOU DECIDE TO "GREEN-UP" YOUR YARD, YOU NEED TO LEARN THE ABC'S OF E.L.M. OR ENVIRONMENTAL LANDSCAPE MANAGEMENT.
>>>DR. BOB BLACK-UF ENVIRONMENTAL HORTICULTURIST: I think ELM has the advantage in low maintenance. So we spend a lot less time in maintaining the yard. Everybody's looking for that. A lot less money's involved, you're not spending as much money on water and fertilizer, and the main thing, you're helping to protect our fragile environment.
>>>ELM CAN BEST BE DESCRIBED AS A SERIES OF GUIDELINES FOR HOMEOWNERS INTERESTED IN LANDSCAPING THEIR YARDS IN AN ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY MANNER.
>>>DR. GARY KNOX-UF ENVIRONMENTAL HORTICULTURIST: It came about because we found that Florida was facing a lot of different environmental issues. Things like water conservation, water quality, waste management, trying to dispose of yard waste, regulations, on top of our normal problems of pests and diseases that we have in Florida here. So for all these reasons put together, we kind of came up with this idea of ELM to give a comprehensive, holistic way to take care of your yard and landscape.
>>>ALMOST EVERY ASPECT OF THE YARD IS INCORPORATED IN THE ELM PROGRAM STARTING WITH THE PLANT MATERIAL TO THE MULCH USED AND EVEN THE IRRIGATION SYSTEM.
---(This sprinkler right here? Yes. The one down there by the side of the house--we're going to put that on that riser. Put that on a riser in the hedge. Right.)---
>>>THE BEST WAY TO INSTALL AN IRRIGATION SYSTEM IS TO START OFF WITH A GOOD DESIGN. ONE THAT TAKES INTO ACCOUNT THE NEEDS OF VARIOUS PLANT MATERIALS IN YOUR YARD.
>>>BRYCE BURGER-GAINESVILLE LANDSCAPE CONTRACTORS: First of all, we want to try get some kind of design done and that's just basically as simple as a layout drawing showing pipes and head locations, to all the way to specifying the size of the pipe and where the bushes are, where the lawn areas are, so that a good cost estimate can be done and then installation in the field can go smoother.
---(digging trench)---
>>>BRYCE: Other things you need to think about are locating underground utilities, and there's a one-eight hundred number you can call and they're generally pretty good about that, and then the home owner's knowledge of where they have underground lights, wires to outdoor lights, and such as that.
---(working on pipe)---
>>>INSTALLATION OF AN IRRIGATION SYSTEM CAN TAKE A MATTER OF DAYS OR EVEN WEEKS DEPENDING UPON THE COMPLEXITY OF THE SYSTEM. FEATURES CAN RANGE FROM POP-UP SPRINKLER HEADS TO MICRO-JETS.
>>>BLACK: A new system is what we call micro-irrigation, in which there's little, little heads or emitters going to each plant, and applies just the right amount of water around the base of that plant, so we're not wasting a lot of water. And that is probably the best system. You see more and more of it being used, it'll probably take a little longer to put in, there can be some problems with the clogging of the heads, but it's a system that we should be looking at really, really well.
>>>KNOX: If you're going to have a permanent irrigation system, try to make sure that your lawn is irrigated on a separate zone from the trees and shrubs and annuals in your landscape. Because your lawn gets irrigated most frequently, it has the highest water requirements because it has a shallow root system, and because of that if you had it in the same zone with your trees and shrubs, you'd be over-irrigating your trees and shrubs. So that's a very important concept right there. The next step would be to have as many zones on your irrigation system as you can, so that you can water, for example, sunny areas separately from shady areas, because obviously sunny areas are going to need more frequent watering than a shady area.
---(sprinklers)---
>>>THE DEMAND FOR IN-GROUND IRRIGATION systems IS INCREASING TODAY BECAUSE THE OLD-FASHIONED APPROACH USING A HOSE AND SPRINKLER HEAD USE WATER LESS EFFICIENTLY.
>>>HENRY WILLIAMS-GAINESVILLE LANDSCAPE CONTRACTORS: You bring the hose out, you set it out, you let it run for an hour here, you might let it run for a half an hour, or you go in the house and forget about it, might run four hours. You got irrigation system, that's coming on with the controller, the controller is set everyday. It's going to be like, it's going to be clockwork. It's going to come on, it's going to water that special part of the yard, or what-so-ever it's supposed to be watering, at that certain time, all the time. So it's on a set rate, and it will just keep it where it's supposed to be. But if you come out with a hose and you're going to water, you might water here, you might water there, you might not water the whole yard, because of the amount of time it takes according to what you're doing. This week you might water good, next week you might not. So then things don't grow as good as they should and that's because you're not getting it watered evenly.
>>>THE WAY YOU GROUP PLANTS TOGETHER ALSO EFFECTS YOUR WATER USAGE.
>>>KNOX: Just about any plant can be included in an ELM landscape, the key is where you place the plant and how you group it with other plants. One recommendation for example, if you want high water requiring plants, like impatiens and azaleas, would be to put them in high-impact areas like near the front door of your house, and group them all together so that they could be on the same irrigation zone, and all get watered at the same time or watered so that they would be satisfy their requirements and not over water other plants in the landscape. But the other aspect of things is that there really are a lot of plants that are very drought tolerant with low water requirements that are excellent to use in a landscape. Crepe Myrtle for example is one of these. It is very drought tolerant and produces beautiful flowers in the summertime. Day lilies, or Indian Hawthorn, the different heathers, all of these plants have their place in the landscape, in the ELM landscape, because they've got good drought tolerance and they're just good, tough plants with few disease problems.
>>>BESIDES PLANTS, SELECTING THE RIGHT TREES CAN MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE IN AN ELM YARD.
>>>JEFF BUTLER-GAINESVILLE TREE FARM: The longer lived trees, like the hardwoods, Hickories and a whole host of Oak, there are several oaks and too many to get into again. Elms are wonderful trees. These are just all strong trees that most are native.
>>>THERE ARE ALSO SOME MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT LANDSCAPING WITH NATIVE PLANTS AND TREES.
---(This is one of our evergreen shrubs lionia or featherbush gets covered with white pink blossoms in the spring. You can see the seed pods forming right here. Very tolerant of many different kind of conditions. Just loves Florida acid, sandy soil.)-
>>>JOE DURANDO-POSSUM HOLLOW NURSERY: There's a lot of misconceptions that they look weedy is probably the most common which is completely untrue. The other common misconception unfortunately is that people think if it's native all I have to do is slap it in the ground and forget it. Well, that's not true either because they're raised under nursery conditions. They've been forced to grow fast with water and fertilizer just like any commercial plant and you need to give them time to acclimatize to the new conditions before they're fully hardy to the yard. And lack of knowledge mostly and lack of knowledge of the diversity and the choice that's out there. The choice out there is tremendous in terms of native plants.
>>>BUT BEFORE YOU PLANT YOUR FIRST NEW TREE, THERE ARE MANY THINGS TO CONSIDER.
>>>BUTLER: Considerations for planting trees near your home is, first off, you need to consider how far away from the home you will be putting a tree, what you're trying to do with the tree, whether you want to throw shade or accent an area with a special species of tree. Pest problems and that type of thing are extremely variable, depending on the species, the genus of the tree.
>>>APPLYING FERTILIZERS AND PESTICIDES ARE ALSO IMPORTANT CONSIDERATIONS IN THE ELM LANDSCAPE.
>>>KNOX: We have to remember that everything is linked, so in the case of fertilizing and spraying pesticides we have to remember about our irrigation and rainfall. We don't want the irrigation or rain to wash away the fertilizers or pesticides we might be spraying, because that will just contaminate the environment, and it'll also waste money, because it doesn't do the job it's supposed to do. So that's one of the ways that it's linked in with some of the other aspects of ELM.
---(adding mulch)---
>>>USING MULCH IN YOUR LANDSCAPE HELPS PROMOTE THE ELM CONCEPT THROUGHOUT YOUR YARD.
>>>BLACK: Well, mulching helps a plant because it helps to hold the moisture around a plant, so we won't have to water as frequently. It also reduces the weed problem, which nobody likes to go out there and pull weeds. So that helps out a lot. And there are different kinds of mulches you can buy. Probably the two most popular is pine bark, which is kind of a by-product of the pine industry. When they saw up the pine logs they have to do get rid of the bark. So this makes an excellent mulch. And then there's cypress mulch, which is used quite frequently. It has an advantage in that it lasts a long, long time. And all of them will help hold moisture around the soil.
>>>ALTHOUGH PINE BARK AND CYPRESS MULCH ARE USED QUITE A BIT AMONG FLORIDA HOMEOWNERS, IN AN ELM LANDSCAPE, RECYCLED YARD TRASH IS PROBABLY THE BEST MULCH YOU CAN CHOOSE. BESIDES REDUCING YOUR WATER USAGE, IT ALSO REDUCES THE BUILD-UP OF YARD TRASH ESPECIALLY AFTER MAJOR STORMS.
>>>RANDY HOBGOOD-HOBBY'S TREE SERVICE: When it comes to trees and tree debris, leaves, every year there's tons and tons of stuff produced. I know myself, you know, I'm a small business, and we produce just on a daily basis anywhere from 6 to 10 tons a day.
>>>ONE WAY THE YARD TRASH CAN BE RECYCLED IS BY USING A CHIPPER. ALTHOUGH MUCH SMALLER ONES ARE AVAILABLE FOR THE AVERAGE HOMEOWNER, THIS CHIPPER IS DESIGNED FOR LARGE SCALE PROJECTS.
>>>KNOX: Another real advantage of using yard trash for mulch is that it prevents us from hauling all this trash to the landfill and using up valuable landfill space. So it really helps us with the environment and save energy at the same time.
---(mowing)---
>>>GRASS CLIPPINGS CAN ALSO BE USED AS MULCH AROUND PLANTS OR EVEN ON THE LAWN.
>>>KNOX: We strongly encourage the use of organic mulches, and in the case of mowing we strongly encourage the that you recycle the grass clippings back onto the yard. You don't collect them, or that you use a mulching mower. Both of these practices leave organic matter on the soil, which breaks down into fertilizer elements, and so it provides its own fertilizer for the plants.
>>>THE ELM PROGRAM WAS DEVELOPED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA TO HELP HOMEOWNERS MAINTAIN HEALTHY, ATTRACTIVE LANDSCAPES IN AN ENVIRONMENTALLY RESPONSIBLE MANNER. BUT IT DOESN'T MEAN THEY HAVE TO SACRIFICE BEAUTY TO BE ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY.
>>>BLACK: What you can do is you can sprinkle perennials, flowering perennials, and annuals in the landscape in certain areas, along close to the house where you can water these by hand, and you can add color. And you can pick trees and shrubs that are also very colorful.
>>>KNOX: We do for example encourage the use of native plants in the yard but the more important point is to choose the right plant for the right spot in your yard. You don't want to choose a drought tolerant plant for an area that's very wet and soppy. You want to choose a plant that's adapted to those wet conditions, and vice versa.
>>>AS FLORIDA'S POPULATION INCREASES AND WATER RESTRICTIONS TIGHTEN, THE POPULARITY OF ELM IS EXPECTED TO GROW AND EVERYONE FROM WEEKEND GARDENERS TO MASTER GARDENERS WILL BE INVOLVED. THE WHOLE IDEA IS TO HELP PRESERVE FLORIDA'S PRECIOUS NATURAL RESOURCES FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS WHILE BEAUTIFYING LANDSCAPES FOR CURRENT RESIDENTS TO ENJOY. UF RESEARCHERS ARE CONFIDENT THAT GOAL CAN BE MET BY PUTTING THE ELM CONCEPTS INTO ACTION THROUGH COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT.
---(shovel)---
>>>THESE RESIDENTS ARE A GOOD EXAMPLE OF PEOPLE PUTTING ELM TO WORK, AS THEY RE-LANDSCAPE THEIR COMMUNITY.
>>>GIGI NOLAN - EASTLAKE RESIDENT- We have a civic association right here on the lake - people come down with their boats and the children, and a real community type place and we just wanted to make it look nicer. We have an area behind us that we've tried to plant several times, and we've had no luck, so we decided that we'd get some expert help.
>>>BILLIE LOFLAND, WITH UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA'S HILLSBOROUGH AND MANATEE COUNTY EXTENSION SERVICE, HAS BEEN WORKING WITH THESE RESIDENTS TO GET THEM INVOLVED IN A PROGRAM CALLED FLORIDA YARDS AND NEIGHBORHOODS .
>>>BILLIE LOFLAND - UF FLA. YARDS AND NEIGHBORHOODS COORDINATOR: They've worked with us to select plants that are suited for the site - the right plant for the right place, plants that won't take a lot of water once they're established -shouldn't use much pesticide most of these are proven to be pretty pest tolerant or rather resistant, and they won't need much fertilizer. Nothing's more frustrating for a community to do a planting and two years later find that everything is dying on them - because wrong plant wrong place, too much water, a whole myriad of things come in, and then they've lost that money, So I really think that we've designed a landscape here that will do them well for many years.
>>>THE TAMPA BAY NATIONAL ESTUARY PROGRAM CREATED FLORIDA YARDS AND NEIGHBORHOODS TO PROVIDE A HANDS-ON PREVENTION TECHNIQUES TO HOMEOWNERS AND BUSINESSES, FOR HAVING MORE ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY YARDS WHILE REDUCING THE FERTILIZERS AND PESTICIDES GOING INTO TAMPA BAY.
>>>SYDNEY PARK-BROWN - UF ENVIRONMENTAL HORTICULTURIST: Florida Yards and Neighborhoods is like ELM in action. It's taking all the concepts and principles of ELM and-and people actually applying it in their yard and-and we're able to actually see if these concepts work. And we're finding that they do.
>>>PARTICIPANTS LIKE JANIS LILLESTON GOT INVOLVED WITH THE PROGRAM TO DO HER PART FOR THE ENVIRONMENT.
>>>JANIS LILLESTON - FLA. YARDS&NEIGHBORHOODS PARTICIPANT: I'm into the environment. I want to leave this environment for the grandkids. They can enjoy it, whether or not, you know, where it's not contaminated. And I realize a lot off wash-off goes down to the bay, and so this way you learn what to do, the right practices, where it is good for the environment. That's the main thing. It's for the environment.
>>>JANIS'S USE OF THE ELM CONCEPTS IN HER YARD IS EVIDENT THROUGHOUT THE LANDSCAPE, FROM THE REDUCED AREAS OF TURF TO HER LIMITED USE OF PESTICIDES.
>>>LILLESTON: It's easier, easier once you get it established, you don't have nearly the problems with weeds, or bugs. There's not nearly as much up keep as their is, when you're trying to go with, really against nature.
>>>BILLIE LOFLAND - UF FLORIDA YARDS&NEIGHBORHOODS COORDINATOR: We're going to go to the back yard, and look at some of the things that she's done. I think one thing that's really neat, is, she's got this wonderful mulch path, instead of using impervious surfaces like concrete, she's got the mulch and that just let's the water soak down and percolate into the soil. And you can see, once you walk into the backyard, it's just great, she's put in a wonderful array of plants and actually has very little turf area.
---(music)--- --(The number two zone which is the grass in the front yard came out at .2 for 15 minutes)--
>>>THE LILLESTON'S MAKE THE MOST OF THE WATER THEY USE IN THEIR YARD BY CALIBRATING THEIR IRRIGATION SYSTEM REGULARLY, HAVING A RAIN GAGE, SO THEY KNOW HOW MUCH WATER THEIR YARD IS RECEIVING. THEIR SPRINKLERS HAVE A RAIN SENSITIVE SHUT OFF DEVICE, SO IT WON'T TURN ON WHEN IT'S RAINING, AND THEY USE A RAIN BARREL.
>>>LOFLAND: The important thing about having a rain barrel is that it really helps with the storm water component of Florida Yards&Neighborhoods. Instead of having this rush down into a driveway or even into part of the landscape where you don't want to have excess water, you can trap it in this rain barrel, store it up for a while, and then use it for your house plants, or other areas of the yard that have plants that need more water, so we're really excited by it, because I think it really could decrease the amount of water that people need to use for their yards, if they could have their own personal rain barrel.
>>>THIS TRAINING SESSION BEING LED BY ALLEN GARNER FROM SARASOTA'S COUNTY EXTENSION, IS HELPING TO PROVIDE MASTER GARDENERS WITH A STANDARD FOR EVALUATING A LANDSCAPE FOR FLORIDA YARD CERTIFICATION.
>>>ALLEN GARNER - UF FLORIDA YARDS&NEIGHBORHOODS COORDINATOR: The thing the master gardeners are learning today is how to consistently fill out the evaluation forms - what we call the yardstick, its our criteria where people can earn inches for positive things they have done in their landscape. And if it adds up to 36, they have a certified Florida yard, if they meet certain ones that are required criteria.
>>>ALL OF THE MASTER GARDENERS INVOLVED IN THE PROGRAM ARE VOLUNTEERS, OFFERING THEIR TIME AS A PAYBACK TO THE COMMUNITY AND ENVIRONMENT THEY LIVE IN.
>>>BRENDA HAWES - UF MASTER GARDENER: We have to have people that want to work out there to change the ecology , want to save water, and are willing to work with the public for no pay. So basically that is what we do and we do this in return the county has provided the training for us which is very intense and its ongoing . Through my involvement with the neighborhood, it's been tremendous, and people really do appreciate it.
>>>GARNER: People seem to really enjoy doing these things and the fact that we have a program spelled out for people, it makes it much easier for people to know the actions they should take to create a yard that's beautiful, environmentally friendly and in many cases cheaper and easier to maintain.
>>>FOR PATRICIA NEEMEH, HER RECENT MOVE FROM A FLORIDA YARD CERTIFIED HOME, MEANS SHE'LL BE STARTING THE PROGRAM OVER FROM THE BEGINNING.
>>>PATRICIA NEEMEH - FLA. YARDS&NEIGHBORHOODS PARTICIPANT: In sense, although it's stressful to change perspective so drastically, on the other hand, it's like being an artist with a fresh palette. I can start all over and have all this sunshine so I have plenty of places to grow plants. My first plan of attack is I would like to put in a butterfly garden and get rid of some of this grass, and also to attract some wildlife to the area. It is a very sterile area. We do get some wading birds in through here, but other than that there's no planting along the retention pond there.
>>>PATRICIA WILL ALSO BE PLANTING SOME TREES AND SHRUBS ON THE WEST SIDE OF HER HOUSE, WHERE THE AIR CONDITIONER IS LOCATED. THIS WILL HELP SHADE THAT AREA FROM THE SUN DURING THE HOT SUMMER MONTHS AND REDUCE ENERGY COSTS IN HER HOME,
>>>PARK-BROWN: It's a win/win situation. You've got, you can save money, because you're going to be probably watering less, spraying less, fertilizing less. You're going to end up with a healthier lawn, because people just don't believe this, but most of the problems that they have in their lawns are problems that they aggravate, with improper practices. So we move them to proper practices, and at the same time we'll save them money and we'll also save on impacts to the environment.
>>>THE FLORIDA YARDS AND NEIGHBORHOODS PROGRAM IS ALSO TRYING TO START THE EDUCATIONAL PROCESS EARLY BY WORKING WITH SCHOOL CHILDREN. DEMONSTRATIONS LIKE THIS ONE BEING TAUGHT BY UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA'S MASTER COMPOSTERS, ENCOURAGING THE USE OF A COMPOST PILE TO GET RID OF EXCESS YARD WASTE, INSTEAD OF SENDING IT TO THE LANDFILL.
>>>JANINE CORELL - UF MASTER COMPOSTER: People are realizing that there's limited resources in the world, we're going to have to recycle, reuse, and it's good. It's superior in a lot of ways to commercial fertilizer, chemical fertilizer, many advantages. It's economical, saves money.
>>>MOST PEOPLE ARE FAMILIAR WITH THE IDEA OF HAVING A COMPOST PILE FOR YARD TRASH, BUT THERE'S ANOTHER MORE SPECIALIZED FORM OF COMPOSTING, DESIGNED SPECIFICALLY TO RECYCLE FOOD SCRAPS. IT'S CALLED VERMICULTURE OR WORM COMPOSTING.
>>>PAIGE GRIFFIN - UF POLK CO. EXT.- YOUTH DEVELOPMENT: Boys, of course like to play with worms, and girls like to play with worms too, just not as much. Maybe if they have gloves on. So, it gives them an opportunity to go in and play with these worms and see that the process of composting in a little worm bin.
>>>TO BUILD A WORM COMPOST BIN, YOU NEED A 12 TO 18 GALLON CONTAINER WITH A LID. A FEW HOLES MUST BE DRILLED IN THE SIDES FOR AIR. THESE HOLES ARE THEN COVERED WITH A CLOTH SCREEN SO THE WORMS WON'T GET OUT. NEXT YOU FILL THE CONTAINER WITH SHREDDED NEWSPAPER, WET IT DOWN THOROUGHLY, ADD A CUP OF SAND WHICH THE WORMS WILL USE TO DIGEST THE FOOD, AND THEN YOU'RE READY TO ANY TABLE SCRAPS. OF COURSE THE MOST FUN PART FOR CHILDREN... IS ADDING THE WORMS.
>>>JESSICA THABARAJAH - 4-H PARTICIPANT: It's fun, and a little gross. One thing we're helping the worms eat and grow and produce, and for another thing that we're getting rid of garbage while helping an animal.
>>>CARL SPRINGFELS - 4-H PARTICIPANT: The only thing is, is when you put kitchen scraps in there you can't put any meat or any dairy products, so, cause that would be bad for them and you can't put any of that shiny magazine newspaper because that's bad for them and the soil.
>>>CORELL: I think it's something that kids can really get into. They like handling the worms, it's exciting for them, and it's immediate because it's their own food scraps that are being composted, and it's something that they can handle, it doesn't take a lot of strength or tools and-or high tech, so they can be in charge of the worm compost.
>>>ANOTHER BENEFICIAL COMPONENT THE FLORIDA YARD AND NEIGHBORHOOD PROGRAM IS TEACHING HOMEOWNERS HOW TO CREATE A WILDLIFE HABITAT IN THEIR YARD. DEBBIE GRIMES' FRONT YARD LOOKS LIKE A TYPICAL NEIGHBORHOOD SETTING, BUT HER BACKYARD IS LIKE STEPPING INTO NATURE.
>>>DEBBIE GRIMES - FLA. BACKYARD HABITAT PROGRAM: Mostly, I wanted to attract birds and butterflies, and I like to have color, and I like to have things moving around out there, flying around, flitting around, and eating. Look there's a polydemas on the red salvia, that's for the hummingbirds.
>>>AS ONE OF HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY'S MASTER GARDENERS, DEBBIE HELPED DESIGN THE FLORIDA BACKYARD WILDLIFE HABITAT PROGRAM, USING GUIDELINES FROM FLORIDA FRESHWATER FISH AND GAME COMMISSION.
>>>GRIMES: First you need to decide what you want to attract, and then you try to find plant materials that are going to be useful to those animals, or birds, or butterflies. And if you want to provide food, water, and cover, and in compliance with our backyard wildlife habitat program, you need to put in 50 percent native plant species. I tried to make it look like the woods look with the upper canopy of trees, and understory of shrubs, and bushes, that provide cover.
>>>PARK-BROWN: One of the things that I think is really neat about backyard habitat is that it connects people to their yard once they begin to appreciate the life that's in their yard then they begin to appreciate, well, if I spray this pesticide, I'm going to wipe out the butterflies and the birds and the, you know, the insects that the birds eat. And so once you can the homeowner connected to their yard, then all of a sudden they begin to appreciate the bigger picture, you know, the systems idea, that yeah, if I do this, you know, this may happen.
>>>DEBBIE SAYS SEEING THE WIDE VARIETY OF CREATURES IN HER BACKYARD HAS MADE HER EFFORTS WORTHWHILE.
>>>GRIMES: I know the butterfly garden's a success when I find caterpillars and chrysalis', even though the caterpillars will eat all the leaves off the plants, it's still rewarding when they make their chrysalis and they-they-they, butterflies come out. And then you have new butterflies flitting around.
>>>WITH THE SUCCESS OF THE FLORIDA YARDS AND NEIGHBORHOODS PROGRAM IN THE TAMPA AND SARASOTA BAY AREA, SEVERAL COUNTIES SURROUNDING THE EAST COAST'S INDIAN RIVER ARE STARTING THEIR OWN PROGRAMS. ORGANIZERS HOPE THE PROGRAM WILL CONTINUE TO EXPAND STATEWIDE, BRINGING INDIVIDUALS AND NEIGHBORHOODS TOGETHER TO MAKE POSITIVE CHANGES FOR FLORIDA'S ENVIRONMENT.
>>>HOMEOWNERS TODAY EXPECT THEIR YARDS TO BE BOTH ATTRACTIVE AND ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY. THEY WANT LOW MAINTENANCE LANDSCAPES THAT CONSERVE WATER, USE LESS FERTILIZER, AND ATTRACT WILDLIFE. ENVIRONMENTAL LANDSCAPE MANAGEMENT IS DESIGNED TO MEET ALL OF THOSE NEEDS AND PROTECT OUR NATURAL RESOURCES FOR THE FUTURE.
>>>FOR MORE INFORMATION ON SUBJECTS SEEN TODAY ON IMPACT, AND A FREE SUBSCRIPTION TO IMPACT MAGAZINE, WRITE TO IMPACT, P.O. BOX 110190, GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA, 32611-0190. OR CALL 352-392-0437. TRANSCRIPTS ARE ALSO AVAILABLE FOR SIX DOLLARS. VIDEO COPIES ARE TWELVE DOLLARS. VISA AND MASTERCARD ARE ACCEPTED. AND REMEMBER TO VISIT OUR WEB PAGE FOR MORE ON UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA RESEARCH AND EDUCATION.
>>>IMPACT... A WEEKLY LOOK AT ISSUES AND ANSWERS THAT IMPACT OUR LIVES AND THE WORLD AROUND US. IT'S PRODUCED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA'S INSTITUTE OF FOOD AND AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES.