GAINESVILLE, Fla. —A new collaborative research project led by the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) is exploring how Florida’s urban landscapes can remain attractive while using significantly less water.
The project, known as Doing It Right, or DIRT, brings together researchers from the UF/IFAS Center for Land Use Efficiency (CLUE), UF/IFAS Extension County faculty, the landscape design company Quality By Design and compost manufacturer LifeSoils to address one of Florida’s most pressing environmental challenges: conserving water while supporting continued growth and development.
The work is being funded by CLUE and UF/IFAS’s private partners, the Nature Conservancy-Florida Chapter, and the Florida Nursery Growers and Landscapers Association (FNGLA). The two-year study is being led by Basil Iannone, an urban ecologist and associate professor in the UF/IFAS School of Forest, Fisheries, and Geomatics Sciences. Iannone works on reducing the environmental impacts of urbanization and on designing, constructing, and managing urban and residential landscapes that benefit both people and nature.
“Forty to sixty percent of our household water use is used to maintain our landscapes, and it’s impacting our water quantity and quality,” said Iannone. “But this water problem doesn’t begin with irrigation systems. It begins with the ground these landscapes are built on.”
The DIRT project is examining how different soil conditions, compost amendments and plant selections influence irrigation needs in residential landscapes.
The idea originated with James Watson, owner and president of Quality By Design. Watson’s company installs landscapes for high-end production builders across the state and has firsthand experience with the challenges of maintaining healthy plants in newly developed communities.
“For me, as a landscape contractor, I just want to give the homeowner a very nice-looking landscape,” Watson said. “We’re not interested in just the plant surviving. We want the plants to thrive; we want them to look great. But we also have a hunch that we’re overwatering in most cases.”
The research focuses on a challenge common to many new developments. During construction, native topsoil is often buried beneath compacted fill material that supports roads and buildings, and ensures proper stormwater drainage from the development site, but provides poor growing conditions for plants.
According to Mark Singleton healthy soils are essential for reducing irrigation demands.
“Before construction begins, there’s a natural layer of topsoil that is full of organisms that actually help feed the plants and hold water in the root zone,” Singleton said.
And he knows a thing or two about soil. Singleton is the territory manager for the company LifeSoils and a soil ecosystem restoration specialist.
To test potential solutions, UF/IFAS researchers collected soils from development sites across Central Florida and created 72 experimental plots. Half of the plots received compost supplied through LifeSoils, while the remaining plots were left untreated. Each plot was planted with a variety of drought-tolerant ornamental plants and equipped with irrigation systems similar to those installed in new residential communities. The entire experiment mimics new development conditions. Once the plants are established, irrigation will be dramatically reduced while researchers monitor plant health, growth and appearance with the help of Florida Master Gardener Volunteers. Iannone says the goal is to use “the least amount of irrigation possible.”
This research addresses a significant water conservation challenge. Iannone says that Florida homeowners use an average of 991 gallons of water during a single irrigation event, and about one-third of that water is lost through overspray onto driveways, sidewalks and other hard surfaces. Excess irrigation can also carry nutrients into Florida’s lakes, springs and rivers.
Through this collaboration, the project team will identify plant species that perform well with minimal irrigation across the different soil conditions found in development sites and determine whether compost can improve soil health and reduce water demand.
“Our findings will help us identify those specific plant species that could thrive with the least amount of water,” Iannone said. “We’ll also understand how amending the soil with compost actually helps improve the aesthetics of plants and the ability to reduce irrigation demand.”
Beyond the research, UF/IFAS will develop educational programs, site tours and practical guidance for developers, homebuilders, landscape professionals, regulators and local governments.
“We’re all working together to come up with a feasible approach where we can still provide an attractive landscape that people want, but doesn’t have as much harm on the environment,” Iannone said.
By combining scientific research with industry expertise, the DIRT Project is an example of how research and industry can work together to find practical solutions to real world problems.
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