This year’s Home Show, sponsored by the Building Industry Association of Okaloosa & Walton Counties, will include lawn and landscape seminars. The Home Show will be held March 8 and 9 at the Emerald Coast Convention Center on Okaloosa Island.
On Saturday, March 8 at 11am, Master Gardener Margaret Stewart will provide a seminar on herb gardening in Florida. Then at 1:30 pm, I’ll provide a seminar on what to do with all those cold injured plants due to the freezes that we experienced this winter. The tendency for most homeowners is to react too quickly. It’s best to have patience and delay pruning and fertilization until new growth occurs come spring. I’ll explain the reasoning behind this in the process of discussing how to diagnose cold injured plant tissue and what to do in dealing with cold damaged palms, sagos, perennials as well as woody ornamentals such as bottlebrush and oleander plants. I’ll also cover some things to be aware of with secondary problems that very well may occur on these cold injured plants such as bacterial diseases.
On Sunday, March 9 at 1 pm, local author and Master Gardener Marie Harrison will provide a seminar on caring for cold damaged plants, including suggestions on selecting replacement plants for your landscape. You would be wise to consider plants that are better suited for our North Florida climate. Then at 2 pm, I’ll provide a seminar on lawn grass alternatives. A lush lawn can be an appealing part of a home landscape, providing many important benefits, like reducing stormwater runoff and cleaning the air. But sometimes turfgrass doesn’t perform as well as you would like. I’ll provide ideas on groundcover type plants for you to use in those areas where lawn grass performs poorly or where lawn grass just does not want to grow. There are many lawn grass alternatives.
Also, Okaloosa County Master Gardeners will have an educational booth to help answer gardening questions and provide lawn and landscape publications to attendees. Master Gardeners will staff the booth throughout the entire Home Show.
Tickets for the event are on sale now at all locations of Eglin Federal Credit Union Branch locations for only $2 in advance. Tickets at the door are $5 per person with children 12 and under admitted free when accompanied by an adult.
The 2014 Home Show hours are Saturday 9 am – 5 pm and Sunday 11am – 4 pm.
The Home Show features around 100 indoor and outdoor exhibits of products and services for the home and the homeowner.
Larry Williams, UF/IFAS Extension Agent, Okaloosa County, February 28, 2014
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