Category: Lawn

Join the 42nd annual Master Gardener Volunteer training class in 2025.

by Paul Schumaker
December 4, 2024

By Ralph E. Mitchell Are you a candidate for the Charlotte County Master Gardener Volunteer Program? Do you enjoy meeting and talking with people? Do you like searching for answers to gardening questions that you or others have? If so, ... READ MORE

Z is for Zoysia

by Ralph Mitchell
November 21, 2024

Two universal truths about lawns – there is no perfect grass, they all have their advantages and disadvantages, and lawns go from order to disorder over a period of time unless you step in and make corrections while they are small. St. ... READ MORE

Category: Home Landscapes, Lawn
Tags: Grass, Groundcover, Turfgrass, Zoysia

A native “weed”

by Ralph Mitchell
July 21, 2023

It is likely impossible to walk out into a landscape and not see this plant. Although the bane of gardeners as a successful weed, this plant is also a friend of pollinators and butterflies, and the larval host plant of a certain butterfly. ... READ MORE

Category: Home Landscapes, Lawn
Tags: Bidens Alba, Dainty Sulphur, Larval Host Plant, Spanish Needles, Weed

Sedges have edges

by Ralph Mitchell
July 21, 2023

When we look at turf weeds, they generally fall into three categories – grassy weeds like Common Bermuda grass, broadleaf weeds such as dollarweed, and then there are sedges. Sedges appear almost grass-like in nature but are very different ... READ MORE

Category: Home Landscapes, Lawn
Tags: Globe Nutsedge, Grass-like, Purple Nutsedge, Sedges, Weeds, Yellow Nutsedge

Tuff turf – Bahia grass

by Ralph Mitchell
May 30, 2023

Lawns can be an integral part of our landscape, but they also take a lot of time and energy to maintain to a degree of acceptability. Some of us want a turf that is drought tolerant, requires less labor and has low fertilizer requirements. ... READ MORE

Category: Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Home Landscapes, Lawn
Tags: Bahia Grass, Grass, Turf

Plant Topics

by Paul Schumaker
October 24, 2022

New topics each month, presented by Master Gardeners and other experts who provide helpful information and answer general landscaping questions. There is no cost for the presentations. November through April on the 3rd Tuesday of each month, ... READ MORE

Category: Events, Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Fruits & Vegetables, Home Landscapes, Lawn

The perennial peanut as a turf alternative groundcover

by Paul Schumaker
April 1, 2020

By Ralph E. Mitchell Why would anyone want to plant peanuts in their landscape? I'm not recommending that you plant regular peanuts as a landscape groundcover alternative to turf, but rather perennial peanuts which feature butter-yellow ... READ MORE

Category: Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Home Landscapes, Lawn
Tags: Arblick, Drought-tolerant, Ecoturf, Groundcover, Perennial Peanut

Orchids underfoot

by Paul Schumaker
February 19, 2019

By Ralph E. Mitchell Unawares, you could be walking on a Lilliputian orchid in your own lawn and not know it! This orchid is known as the Soldier’s Orchid or Lawn Orchid. I have always known it as the Soldier’s Orchid as I for years have ... READ MORE

Category: Home Landscapes, Horticulture, Lawn
Tags: Lawn Orchid, Nuisance, Soldier’s Orchid, Zeuxine Strateumatica

When is a jasmine not a jasmine?

by Ralph Mitchell
September 13, 2018

Common plant names once again can be confusing and often relate best to how a plant looks at a glance, or even how the flowers smell. Asiatic jasmine is a good example. Not related to a jasmine, Asiatic jasmine is a common and well-loved groundcover ... READ MORE

Category: Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Home Landscapes, Lawn
Tags: Asiatic Jasmine, Groundcover, Trachelospermum Asiaticum

Soil testing is fundamental

by Ralph Mitchell
January 30, 2018

I have heard that one of our soil’s best attributes is for keeping plants upright - our Florida terra firma takes a great deal of ridicule! “Moon sand” or “beach sand” are common terms used to describe our local soil conditions. Did ... READ MORE

Category: Agriculture, Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Fruits & Vegetables, Home Landscapes, Horticulture, Lawn, Pests & Disease
Tags: Clay, LANDSCAPE & VEGETABLE GARDEN TEST FORM, Myakka Fine Sand, Organic Matter, Sand, Silt, Soil Testing, University Of Florida/IFAS Soil Lab

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