Growing demand for water-wise, sustainable landscaping may start a new development trend. The first step to build new homes used to be to discard existing trees, shrubs, and other plants. But aspiring home buyers now want to preserve native ... READ MORE
Category: Home Landscapes
For every season and in all kinds of weather, it's a good idea to pay attention to your surroundings—specifically, your home. Air conditioning and light bulbs often come up in conversations about energy efficiency, but they are only two considerations ... READ MORE
Category: Home Landscapes, Home Management, Money Matters, Work & Life
It is New Year’s Day. In the cool gray dawn, you sleepily slide your feet into a pair of slippers, still half-dreaming of the night before. No one else has woken up; the first fruits of the year are yours, and yours alone. At that thought, ... READ MORE
Category: Fruits & Vegetables
Among the benefits of gardening are the butterflies that are sometimes attracted to garden flowers. But what if the flowers you planted aren't the ones butterflies like best? You don't have to simply hope butterflies will like your garden: you ... READ MORE
Category: Home Landscapes
Coastal southern Florida has long been home to green iguanas. They came first as stowaways on ships. Then people began importing them to keep them as pets. The wild population grew when pets escaped or when people intentionally released their ... READ MORE
Category: Home Landscapes, Invasive Species
This week is National Pollinator Week, which makes it a good time to learn about how birds, bees, hummingbirds, and other pollinators sustain our ecosystem! What is a pollinator? When some people hear “pollinator,” they immediately think ... READ MORE
Category: Home Landscapes, Wildlife
Fast-growing air potato, Dioscorea bulbifera, is a real problem in Florida. It has no native natural enemies in the state, so nothing to inhibit its growth. This speedily climbing vine can take over a fence line, shrubs, or a small group of ... READ MORE
Category: Home Landscapes
June 5 is World Environment Day. This year, to celebrate, why not think about the wildlife environment of your own backyard—literally? Recently, the article Landscaping Backyards for Wildlife: Top Ten Tips for Success was updated on AskIFAS. ... READ MORE
Category: Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Home Landscapes, Wildlife
Avocado trees are a popular choice in south Florida landscapes, and even farther north. When I first moved to Gainesville, my roommate had two trees, though the potted one disappeared one night, thus proving their popularity. Avocados are a ... READ MORE
Category: Fruits & Vegetables, Home Landscapes
Happy Arbor Day, Florida! Trees help us humans out in a lot of different ways. They take in our carbon dioxide and produce the oxygen that we breathe. They give us shade and hold the soil in place, preventing erosion. They provide animals ... READ MORE
Category: Forests, Home Landscapes