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Jessica Schwartz
Hurricane Season 2021: Predictions & Landscaping Tips
The 2021 Atlantic hurricane season starts today, so what can we expect? NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center anticipates a 60% chance of an above-normal Atlantic hurricane season. However, experts do not anticipate the historic level of storm activity seen in 2020. “Although NOAA scientists don’t expect this season to be as busy as last year, it only takes one storm to devastate a community,” said Ben Friedman, acting NOAA administrator. For 2021, a likely range of 13 to 20 named storms (winds of 39 mph or higher), of which 6 to 10 could become hurricanes (winds of 74 mph or higher), including three to five major hurricanes (category 3, 4 or 5; with winds of 111 mph or higher) is expected. NOAA provides these ranges with a 70% confidence. “Now is the time for communities along the coastline as well as inland to get prepared for the dangers that hurricanes can bring,” said Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo. Last year’s record-breaking season should serve as a reminder to all residents in coastal regions or areas prone to inland flooding from rainfall to be prepared for the 2021 hurricane season. Hurricane-Resistant Landscapes So how can you make a landscape more hurricane-resistant? Here are some basic tips from Gardening Solutions, a program of the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS): Right Tree, Right Place – Choose trees that are well-suited for the landscape. Plant larger trees away from homes, power lines, and other structures. This reduces the risk of ...
Neighborhood Influences On Water Conservation
Did you know “peer pressure” can affect lawn watering habits and conservation? University of Florida researcher Laura Warner studies the social behaviors that lead to water use and conservation. Her newest research, published in Urban Forestry and Urban Greening, shows that people are heavily influenced by what others do and what others expect—even with issues such as lawn irrigation. In other words, we take our lead from people beyond our significant other and friends. Using this data, Warner believes she can help communities lower their water use. “There is an opportunity to make water conservation more visible through conversations, with influential groups sharing conservation practices with those they influence,” said Warner, a UF/IFAS associate professor of agricultural education and communication. “To influence others, people who care about saving water need to explicitly share what they personally do to save water.” Conversely, she found that the less you think your neighbors conserve, the more likely you are to conserve water. Instead of aligning with neighbors’ actions, it appears people conserve to make up for a perceived lack of conservation in their neighborhood. Alternately, people might not conserve water because they think their neighbors are conserving enough for everyone. More research is needed to examine this complex community relationship, she said. Water scarcity is a statewide, national, and global issue. Domestic water demand grew more than 600% from 1960 to 2014. About 75% of U.S. residential water is used outdoor, with more than half of it going to landscape irrigation, according to ...
Isaias Clean-Up: Tree Evaluation After A Major Storm
As Hurricane Isaias wreaks havoc on the Eastern Seaboard, landscapers know that once the dust settles, they’ll be involved in clean-up activities on client properties. And while some practices are cut and dry, tree evaluation can be a tougher issue. Since not all trees damaged in storms need to be removed, how can you tell if an affected tree can be restored? Can It Be Saved? According to the downloadable Tree Care Kit from Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, the good news is that “trees have an amazing ability to recover from storm damage.” Here are areas they say to assess: Are major limbs broken? If most of the main branches are gone, the tree may have little chance of surviving. Has the leader (the main upward-trending branch on most trees) been lost? In species where a leader is important to upward growth or a desirable appearance, saving the tree may have to be a judgment call. The tree may live without its leader, but at best it would be a stunted or deformed version of the original. Is at least 50% of the tree’s crown still intact? This is a good rule of thumb on tree survivability. How big are the wounds where branches have been broken or bark has been damaged? The larger the wound is in relation to the size of the limb, the less likely it is to heal, leaving the tree vulnerable to disease and pests. A 2″ to 3″ wound on a 12″ diameter limb ...
Send In The Bugs! Brazilian Thrips Released To Fight Invasive Peppertree
Scientists from the University of Florida are betting on a tiny (.08 to .12 inches) winged insect to help protect the Florida Everglades. Why? Because the insects, Brazilian peppertree thrips, may be our best hope against combatting invasive Brazilian peppertree, which currently infests over 700,000 acres in Florida, including many sensitive habitats such as mangroves and sawgrass marshes in the Everglades. Introduced to Florida as an ornamental in the late 1800s, Brazilian peppertree is overtaking agricultural and natural areas of Florida, Hawaii, and Texas. A relative of poison ivy, it can cause allergic reactions in people and toxic effects when ingested by birds or animals. Despite the expenditure of millions of dollars, traditional methods have been unable to stem the spread of this weed. Between 2010 and 2011, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) spent $7 million in herbicidal controls. In 2011, the South Florida Water Management District spent $1.7 million to control Brazilian peppertree. (These budgets would have been larger if resources permitted.) While these control efforts continue, federal, state, and local land managers have been waiting for better options. For about 30 years, scientists searched for the right bug or combination of insects for a less-intrusive way to mitigate Brazilian pepper trees. Eventually, it was found the thrips, called Pseudophilothrips ichini, and a leaf galler, Calophya latiforceps, appeared to effectively consume the peppertree. To gain approval from the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) for release as a biological control agent, the insects first ...
Save Water During Shrub Establishment
By Ron Hall Installing and maintaining woody ornamentals (shrubs) is a popular and profitable green industry service. Many of you landscape pros provide it as part of your landscape design offerings or, perhaps, as an enhancement to your mowing/maintenance contracts. Even so, you realize there’s always the risk of plant failures, something you definitely want to avoid if you can. Failures are expensive. Do you offer your clients free plant replacements during the first year of establishment? Callbacks caused by dying or weakly performing woodies are profit and time killers. Consider also the expense incurred in sourcing and buying replacement shrubs. There are, of course, many reasons why woodies die or struggle due to mistakes made during establishment, but one of the most common is poor watering practices during their critical 20-to-28-week establishment period. Complicating the picture, at least for contractors or nursery retailers who offer free one-year plant replacements, is the fact that property owners are usually in charge of keeping their new shrubs watered. And that’s whether they have irrigation systems or not. Customer Education Is Vital For this reason, it’s always a good idea to give your customers easy-to-follow watering instructions for getting their new shrubs off to a strong start. Perhaps you can start that conversation by reminding them of how they’ll be saving water, which is a cost to them. “Horticulturists have observed that many landscapes with installed irrigation are overwatered. This is wasted water,” says Edward “Ed” Gilman (pictured here), a horticulture professor at ...
