6. MANAGE PESTICIDES RESPONSIBLY

Chemical pesticides kill beneficial insects, leach into aquifers causing water pollution and are potentially harmful to wildlife, pets and humans.

Localize: If you have a pest problem with a specific plant in your yard that must be treated with a chemical pesticide, then spot-treat only that plant, thereby minimizing the potential for harmful residues to leach elsewhere.

Insects: Some insects, such as lady beetles, are beneficial and help to control harmful pests in your yard. Visit: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/IN002 to identify some other beneficial insects found in Florida.

Organic: Use organic pesticides, or natural products such as diatomaceous earth, plant-based botanicals or insecticidal soap.

Right plant/right place: Plants growing in optimum conditions are more likely to be healthy and therefore less likely to succumb to pests and disease. Try to choose plant varieties that are resistant to insects and disease.

Weeding: Pull weeds by hand rather than spraying. Mulching plant beds helps to minimize weed growth.

Native plants: Because native plants have evolved over time, they have adapted to survive both extremes of climate and many local pests. It is unlikely that they would need to be treated with any pesticides.

Right Plant, Right Place Important to the success of a Florida-friendly yard is planting the right plant, in the right place. For example, group plants that require more sunlight together.


Water Efficiency Planting Florida-friendly plants helps to conserving precious water resources. There are some other innovative ways in which we can help to conserve and reuse the water that falls in our yard!


Fertilize Appropriately Pollution from fertilizers and pesticides in storm water run off from yards, contributes to excessive levels of nitrogen and phosphates in our waterways, often resulting in harmful algal blooms.


Mulch Mulch is natural organic material that is laid down in your yard to help retain moisture in the soil and prevent weeds from growing. It’s decomposition helps to greatly enrich topsoil.


Attracting Wildlife Many of Florida’s birds and butterflies are intricately connected to the native flora. Including Florida native plants in your yard will most definitely attract them to come and visit!


Managing Pesticides Responsibly While there are some plants that are difficult to manage without pesticides and herbicides, most Florida native plants do not need applications of either.


Recycle Much of what is in our yard can be recycled and put to good use! Here is an innovative way in which to use up branches from a nuisance exotic tree.



Storm Water Runoff Tropical summer rains produce torrents of water that flow through urban neighborhoods absorbing chemicals from yards and driveways along the way. This toxic runoff pollutes all waterways, and needs to be reduced.


Protect the Waterfront Many homes in Florida are situated on a lake, canal, wetland or the ocean. Certain kinds of vegetation can help to minimize the effects of storm water runoff while providing important habitat for birds and small aquatic animals.


Benefits of a Florida-friendly Yard There are numerous benefits to planting Florida-friendly plants in your yard, from saving money to minimizing the amount of time spent on maintenance; not to mention the beauty of the birds and butterflies that come to visit!