Category: Lawn

Support Your Local Bugs: Leave the Leaves (Get a FREE Bumper Sticker!)

by Jackie Lebouitz
March 19, 2025

You may have heard the phrase "leave the leaves" before. It was first coined by the National Wildlife Federation, then popularized by the Xerces Society. After that, many other groups followed suit. Before we dive into what that phrase means, ... READ MORE

Category: Conservation, Farm Management, Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Home Landscapes, Horticulture, Lawn, Natural Resources, UF/IFAS Extension, Wildlife
Tags: Arthropod, Bug, Drop, Entomology, Insect, Invertebrate, Leaf, Leave The Leaves, Leaves, Mulch, Pgm_Chemicals

Spring Forward – Like a Springtail!

by Jackie Lebouitz
March 14, 2025

All across the state, many disgruntled denizens adjusted their clocks this past Sunday, March 9, to accommodate daylight savings time. While this lets us have longer days, a historically helpful tool for farming...it can be a bit disruptive ... READ MORE

Category: Agriculture, Conservation, Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Fruits & Vegetables, Home Landscapes, Lawn, Natural Resources, UF/IFAS Extension, Wildlife
Tags: Collembola, Entomology, Garden, Insect, Pgm_Chemicals, Soil, Spring, Springtail

What Is That Lawn Ornament? Native Purple Powerhouse, Lyreleaf Sage!

by Forest Hecker
March 12, 2025

Welcome to our Lawn Ornament blog series, where we explore the plethora of micro-plants that can help create a biodiverse, predominantly green, yet also delightfully colorful lawn that requires much less maintenance than a traditional grass ... READ MORE

Category: Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Home Landscapes, Lawn, Work & Life
Tags: FFL, Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Garden, Horticulture, Landscape, Landscaping, Lawn, Nature, Pgm_HortRes

The Spooky Bug Brigade: Spiders

by Jackie Lebouitz
October 17, 2024

As our community continues to recover from recent storms, find helpful resources and information at tiny.cc/ufsaraext_disasterprep, tiny.cc/saraco_disasterprep, and scgov.net/government/emergency-services/storm. This blog is part of ... READ MORE

Category: Conservation, Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Home Landscapes, Home Management, Lawn, Natural Resources, Pests & Disease, Pests & Disease, UF/IFAS, UF/IFAS Extension, Wildlife
Tags: Beneficial, Bugs, Crawlies, Creepy, Halloween, Integrated Pest Management, IPM, Pgm_Chemicals, Scary, Spooky

Join the 2025 Master Gardener Volunteer Training Program!

by Ashley Ellis
August 2, 2024

I am delighted to announce registration is open for the 2025 Master Gardener Volunteer training program! If you're a Sarasota County resident, this is your chance to expand your horticultural knowledge, engage in meaningful community service, ... READ MORE

Category: Coasts & Marine, Community Volunteers, Conservation, Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Fruits & Vegetables, Home Landscapes, Horticulture, Lawn, Natural Resources, Pests & Disease, UF/IFAS Extension, Work & Life
Tags: Florida Friendly, Gardening, Master Gardener Volunteer, Pgm_HortRes, UF/IFAS Extension Sarasota County

Backyard Bugs: Identifying Insects in the Landscape

by Jackie Lebouitz
July 15, 2024

There are more than 12,500 species of insects...in Florida, alone! For the average person, it can be difficult to distinguish between common, garden-variety ladybugs. And, it can be just as difficult to understand the difference between a "good" ... READ MORE

Category: Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Home Landscapes, Lawn, Pests & Disease, Pests & Disease, Turf, UF/IFAS, UF/IFAS Extension, Wildlife
Tags: Bug, Garden, Insects, Landscape, Pests, Pgm_Chemicals, Plants, StarterKit

Hot & Dry: Landscape Management for Florida’s Dry Season

by Michael D'Imperio and Ashley Ellis

June 27, 2024

Florida's dry season can be a challenge for residential lawns and landscapes. The hot dry conditions can quickly deplete moisture from our sandy soils, leaving turf brown and landscape plants wilted. Because of these conditions, the dry season ... READ MORE

Category: Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Home Landscapes, Horticulture, Lawn, Turf, Water
Tags: Conservation, FFL, Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Irrigation, Landscape, Pgm_HortRes, Pgm_Water, Plants, Water

Discover Florida: Flip My Yard Season 3 – A Must-Watch for Creating Sustainable Florida-Friendly Landscapes!

by Ashley Ellis and Forest Hecker

June 24, 2024

Introduction to Florida-Friendly Landscaping™ (FFL) Whether you’ve recently moved to Florida or have lived here for years, you’ve likely faced gardening challenges. To help, local governments, regulatory agencies, landscaping professionals ... READ MORE

Category: Conservation, Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Home Landscapes, Horticulture, Lawn, Pests & Disease, Turf, UF/IFAS, UF/IFAS Extension, Water, Wildlife, Work & Life
Tags: FFL, Florida Friendly, Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Native Plant, Pgm_HortRes, Sarasota County, UF/IFAS Extension Sarasota County, Wildlife

Mosquito FAQs

by Jackie Lebouitz
June 21, 2024

Mosquitoes can be a nuisance, especially the species that pose a public health risk. Below are some of the common questions we receive from our clients at UF/IFAS Extension Sarasota County and Sarasota County's Mosquito Management Services. Why ... READ MORE

Category: Home Landscapes, Home Management, Invasive Species, Lawn, Natural Resources, Pests & Disease, Pests & Disease, UF/IFAS Extension, Water, Wildlife
Tags: Awareness, Control, Entomology, Management, Mosquito, Pgm_Chemicals, Treatment

What Is That Lawn Ornament?! Frogfruit? Florida lawn of the future?

by Forest Hecker
May 16, 2024

A handful of the "lawn ornaments" that will be featured in this blog series. Top row (left to right): sunshine powderpuff, perennial peanut, frogfruit, and daisy fleabane. Bottom row (left to right): manyflower pennywort, bay lobelia, Florida ... READ MORE

Category: Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Home Landscapes, Lawn, UF/IFAS Extension, UF/IFAS Research
Tags: FFL, Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Horticulture, Landscape, Landscaping, Lawn, Pgm_HortRes

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