Wish your home had a Florida-Friendly landscape? You can apply now for the chance to get your yard “flipped” on a TV and web program called “Flip My Florida Yard.” The goal is to make the yards conform to Florida-Friendly Landscaping™ guidelines while creating a beautiful oasis at your home.
With Florida-Friendly LandscapingTM, your yard has a better chance to protect and conserve Florida’s natural resources through efficient, science-based landscape practices so that its longevity and biodiversity will increase.
From now to July 30, you can submit your yard for consideration by going to the program’s website.
The yards selected to be flipped on the show will be chosen through an application process and will feature diverse residential landscapes throughout the state, said Tom Wichman, the statewide Green Industries Best Management Program coordinator for UF/IFAS Extension.
“Flip My Florida Yard” is a Florida-based gardening-themed show. Each of the 10 episodes in the first season will feature a landscape — or a segment of a landscape — being flipped to feature FFL principles, Wichman said.
As you envision “Flip My Florida Yard,” think of it like the popular TV shows where houses are flipped, but for yards. The new show starts airing in March 2021.
The series is developed by FFL – headed at UF/IFAS by Esen Momol — and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). “Flip My Florida Yard” premiers next spring on TV stations across Florida.
Each flip will be completed while the owners are away, visiting a state park. Crawford Entertainment will film the series in Florida locations and distribute produced episodes in first-run network, syndication and web formats, Wichman said. Chad Crawford from Crawford Entertainment will host the show, with on-air help from UF/IFAS Extension faculty.
“Flip My Florida Yard” will emphasize the nine FFL principles, including Right Plant, Right Place.
“This is a great way for Florida residents to learn more about the Florida-Friendly LandscapingTM program and how to design, plant and maintain landscapes while protecting Florida’s natural resources,” Wichman said. “The nine FFL principles are a holistic way of looking at and managing a landscape, and residents will learn that they can have a profound effect on our environment by following them.”
FFL is a 26-year partnership between UF/IFAS and DEP, which will be the sole sponsor of the series, Wichman said.
“DEP is proud of its long-standing partnership with FFL,” said Trina Vielhauer, director of DEP’s Division of Water Restoration Assistance. “DEP has partnered with UF/IFAS for over two decades and provided approximately $12.5 million in grant funding to administer the successful statewide FFL program, encouraging Floridians to use low-maintenance plants and environmentally sustainable practices to save time, energy and money while protecting the state’s unique environment. We look forward to the positive impact ‘Flip My Florida Yard’ will have for our state.”
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The mission of the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS)
is to develop knowledge relevant to agricultural, human and natural resources and to make
that knowledge available to sustain and enhance the quality of human life. With more than
a dozen research facilities, 67 county Extension offices, and award-winning students and faculty
in the UF College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, UF/IFAS brings science-based solutions
to the state’s agricultural and natural resources industries, and all Florida residents.
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