Category: UF/IFAS Extension

New Invasive Turfgrass Pest: Pasture Mealybug

by Susan Haddock
July 15, 2026

There’s a new invasive insect that may invade your turfgrass…The Pasture Mealybug has been found in 15 south Florida counties in pastures including bahiagrass and bermudagrass pastures, other forage, and sugarcane. It has not been documented ... READ MORE

Category: Horticulture, Lawn, Pests & Disease, Pests & Disease, Turf, UF/IFAS Extension
Tags: Invasive Pest, Landscape Insect, Landscape Maintenance, Landscape Pests, Pasture Mealybug, SW ProHort, SWProHort, Turfgrass Insect, Turfgrass Pest

The Landscape Order of Operations: Water. Test. Fertilize—if needed.

by Lauren Spaduzzi
July 15, 2026

A simple guide to diagnosing landscape problems before reaching for fertilizer. When plants start looking unhealthy, it's tempting to reach for a bag of fertilizer. Yellowing leaves, stunted growth, or poor flowering often seem like obvious ... READ MORE

Category: Agriculture, , Conservation, Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Fruits & Vegetables, Home Landscapes, Horticulture, Lawn, Natural Resources, UF/IFAS, UF/IFAS Extension, UF/IFAS Teaching, Water
Tags: Central Florida, Fertilizer, Fertilizer Ordinances, Florida, Florida-friendly Landscaping, Fruit, Garden, Gardening, Hillsborough, Hillsborough County, Home Landscapes, Irrigation, Landscape, Master Gardener, Soil Ph, Soil Test, Uf/ifas Extension, Vegetable, Vegetable Gardening, Watering Efficiently

How to Create a Drought-Tolerant Sandhill Yard in Central Florida

by Michael J. Masucci
July 13, 2026

Have you ever looked outside at your sunbaked patch of sandy soil in your yard and wondered why keeping turfgrass green fells like a full-time job? In Tampa and unincorporated Hillsborough County, urban development often leaves us with ... READ MORE

Category: Conservation, Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Home Landscapes, Lawn, UF/IFAS Extension, Wildlife

More Than a Tree Count: Understanding the Value of Urban Forests

by Alyssa Vinson
June 30, 2026

More Than a Tree Count: Understanding the Value of Urban Forests When people hear the phrase tree value, they often think of dollars. They picture property values, timber prices, or perhaps the cost of removing a large tree after a storm. But ... READ MORE

Category: Home Landscapes, Horticulture, Natural Resources, UF/IFAS Extension
Tags: Urban Forestry Extension

Getting the Most Out of Compost in Your Home Landscape

by Tia Saracino
June 28, 2026

How to using compost in a home landscape?Compost can be applied to various garden and landscape areas, including vegetable gardens, landscape beds, turfgrass, especially before installing sod, flower beds, grow boxes, container gardens, and ... READ MORE

Category: , Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Fruits & Vegetables, Home Landscapes, Lawn, UF/IFAS Extension
Tags: Central Florida, Compost, Fertilizer, Home Landscapes

The Heartbeat of Hillsborough: Celebrating Our 2026 4-H Award Winners

by ambernorris
June 25, 2026

Every thriving community has a heartbeat—driven by people who show up, step out of their comfort zones, and quietly work behind the scenes to make the world around them a better place. In 4-H, we talk a lot about the four H’s: Head, Heart, ... READ MORE

Category: 4-H & Youth, , Events, Relationships & Family, UF/IFAS, UF/IFAS Extension
Tags: Florida 4-H, Geomatics Extension, Hillsborough County, Hillsborough County Extension Office, School Of Forest Fisheries And Geomatics Sciences

Every Count Counts: Why Local Pollinator Observations Matter

by Lauren Spaduzzi
June 16, 2026

When people think of scientific research, they often picture Bunsen burners, beakers, and scientists in white lab coats hunched over microscopes. But some of the most valuable data comes from community members observing the world around ... READ MORE

Category: , Conservation, Events, Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Home Landscapes, Natural Resources, Relationships & Family, Research, UF/IFAS Extension, UF/IFAS Research, Wildlife
Tags: Central Florida, Citizen Science, Citizen Scientist, Florida, Florida-friendly Landscaping, Garden, Great Florida Pollinator Census, Greatsoutheastpollinatorcensus, Hillsborough, Hillsborough County, Uf/ifas Extension, Youth

Chop and Drop Gardening: Turning Plant Waste into Healthy Soil

by Lauren Spaduzzi
May 29, 2026

Nature doesn’t waste nutrients, and your garden doesn’t have to either! What is ‘chop and drop’ gardening? Chop and drop gardening involves ‘chopping’ plant material, and then ‘dropping’ it in place, where it decomposes naturally ... READ MORE

Category: Agriculture, , Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Fruits & Vegetables, Home Landscapes, Horticulture, Lawn, UF/IFAS Extension
Tags: Central Florida, Chop And Drop, Compost, Florida, Florida-friendly Landscaping, Garden, Gardening, Home Landscapes, Mulch, Uf/ifas Extension, Vegetable Gardening

Growing Everglades Tomato

by Tia Saracino
May 26, 2026

Everglades tomato is a wild type of current tomato that thrives in Florida's hot humid summers. The small red fruits, about the size of a dime, are abundant and tasty. This is an indeterminate type of tomato and can easily grow 6 to 10 feet ... READ MORE

Category: , Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Fruits & Vegetables, Home Landscapes, Horticulture, UF/IFAS Extension
Tags: Central Florida, Edible Landscaping, Everglades Tomato, Florida-friendly Landscaping, Fruit And Vegetables, Home Landscapes, Tomato, Vegetable Gardening, Video

Growing Citrus in the Florida Home Landscape

by Tia Saracino
May 25, 2026

Growing citrus in your home landscape is challenging. The citrus disease greening affects much of the citrus in Florida and requires extra attention to insect management and fertilization. Getting Started with CitrusIf you are ready to plant ... READ MORE

Category: , Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Fruits & Vegetables, Home Landscapes, Horticulture, Pests & Disease, UF/IFAS Extension
Tags: Citrus Fruits And Vegetables, Florida-friendly Landscaping, Food Forest, Garden, Hillsborough County, Home Landscapes, Orange, Tsilvasy, Video

Subscribe For More Great Content