Water-Friendly Yard Strategies [Gilchrist]

A New Relationship with Your Yard

Water-Friendly Yard Strategies

by Hilda Gilchrist, Bachelor Landscape Architecture, University of Florida

| I CLEARLY REMEMBER a late summer afternoon as I approached the confluence of the Ichetucknee with the Santa Fe River along with two neighbors who had floated down just behind me. We exchanged “hello” and they added, ”we spent all afternoon mowing; so finally we get to reward ourselves with a float.” Yes indeed, I thought to myself, I too had spent some time tending to my garden; however a mowed lawn was on my list of what to AVOID when we decided to build our dream home 400’ from the spring run.

If you would like to cultivate a new relationship with your open spaces and to reclaim areas of your yard to reduce mowing and watering, there are many directions to take. This article will use the example of how we approached our building site, just east of wetlands protecting the Ichetucknee Spring Run, to show a process and explore important principles leading to water friendly yard strategies.

Site planning GOALS include:
• Preserve the site’s character.
• Identify and protect and preserve significant trees.
• Reduce the “impervious footprint” on the site.
• Maintain natural overland sheet flow for good drainage.
• Minimize irrigation (collect rain water for trees)
• Plant for low maintenance.
• Choose plantings that require little to no fertilizer so you don’t add to the nitrogen levels of adjacent water bodies.

You may have an already developed site; if so, start by assessing open space functions you might desire:
• Where are the lawn areas you’d like to reclaim….Front, side or back yards?
• Is potential flooding an issue? If so, you will need to choose options that tolerate inundation.
• Does your open space abut the spring run or other body of water (usually rear yard); can you identify a buffer to the waterway to do your part in preserving water quality?
• Do you want more outdoor enjoyment and entertainment space?
• Do you need additional parking areas or other vehicle access that could be other than lawn?

Once you identify areas to be “reclaimed”, you can research ways to eradicate existing grasses including:
1. Stop mowing lawn areas and let them slowly transform into tall grasses and sedges.
2. Cover grassed areas with black plastic to kill existing vegetation (this may take up to 3 months or more).
3. Use a selective post emergent herbicide that is labeled safe to use near water bodies.

Many options are available for reclaiming areas with mulch, pavers or decks. They include:
• Mulches that may float away when flooded.
• Pine needle (I prefer “Long Leaf”; bales, avg cost $4.50 per bale, covers 25 sq. ft.).
• Cypress needles (that can be raked from your (and your willing neighbor’s) decks and boardwalks)

Many options are available for reclaiming areas with mulch, pavers or decks. They include:

Mulches that may float away when flooded.
• Pine needle (I prefer “Long Leaf”; bales, avg cost $4.50 per bale, covers 25 sq. ft.).
• Cypress needles (that can be raked from your (and your willing neighbor’s) decks and boardwalks)

Mulches or stone that have enough weight to stay in place when flooded.
• Crushed rock such as granite, river gravel, limerock, etc.
• Pavers consisting of stone or brick, (preferably over prepared pervious subgrade, not concrete)
• Decks

If you’d like to plant (not just mulch), some areas, realize there is NO such thing as a “MAINTENANCE FREE” landscape. You’ll need to make a commitment to care for your garden especially until established root systems and natural growth is evident. Select NATIVE PLANTS to make up the majority of your water friendly yard.

NATIVE plants are best because they:
• Are NOT INVASIVE and thus will not create problems for you, your neighbors, nor the surrounding natural environment.
• Once established, they require irrigation only during droughts.
• Are adapted to the soil and climate of our area.
• Provide food and shelter for wildlife and pollinators.
• Require the least maintenance once established.
• Require a minimum, if any, fertilizer once established.
•No pest control

Creating an aesthetic and sustainable design where your efforts pay off in the long term may require assistance from a Landscape Architect; a master gardener or landscape designer whose landscapes appeal to you and who can assist you with a plan. My clients get the advantage that I can purchase plants at wholesale costs and I pass on those savings.

In many ways the creation and establishment of our water friendly native yard is an ideal case study. I’ve been a Landscape Architect for over forty years and we had purchased unimproved land that had to be cleared for new construction. Thus, no lawn areas existed that would need eradication (only weeds). I could start off with a fairly clean site…’tabula rasa.’

The first step was to identify trees of value that we could retain and protect during clearing. This includes a Swamp Chestnut Oak, a Winged Elm, and a Cedar at the street side (front yard), a Live Oak, and White Oak at the wetland side (rear yard). We also had the good fortune of two neighboring Oaks one to the south and another to the north that provided part of our framework. This got us off to a good start with site planning and garden design.

Beautyberry and Red Buckeye (great native shrubs/small trees), settled in on their own during construction, at locations near the street frontage where they provide some visual screening. This worked well with our plan, and they remain to this day. Although not “invasive”, the Beautyberry sends long roots that create shoots which I selectively have to remove yearly. The Buckeye fruit is plentiful and seeds easily; there will come a time I need to remove some. Selective removal and trimming applies to most plant maintenance!

Choosing a successful plant palette and design (the right plant for the right place), depends on many factors.

• The the natural soil pH of your site will be a defining and confining factor of what plants will thrive. A pH of 7 = neutral <7 = acid; >7 = alkaline. Submit samples of soil to your agricultural agent or soils testing lab to assist in determining plants that are compatible with your soil.

I was able to landscape our yard at the Ichetucknee without getting a soil test, since the excavations for the footers of our house were mostly pure lime-rock and thus I assumed that the soils are at least slightly alkaline.

This has been confirmed by the quality of the figs produced by the two Brown Turkey Fig trees I planted here. Their fruit takes much longer to ripen and has a “pasty” taste, very different from the juicy, sweet, ripe fruit from the Fig tree I planted up in Tallahassee on the clayey, acid soils of the Piedmont.

Other factors to consider when choosing a plant palette include:
• Light/orientation: do the spaces get morning, afternoon or all day, or hardly any sun?
• Shade: are there existing trees that provide protection from the harsh Florida sun?
• Function: are you a bird watcher and would you like to plant pollinator foods?
• Size: do you have adequate area for trees (large medium, evergreen, deciduous, understory, fruiting, or flowering?)
• Vegetables: do you want to grow and harvest food from your garden? Do you want an herb garden?
• Maintenance: do you want to plant exotic or native plants?

Let me take a moment here to warn against planting invasive plants including: Ardesia, Bamboo, Nandina and vines such as Wisteria, Asian Jasmine and Confederate Jasmines. These plants are high maintenance and will otherwise grow out of bounds, they will affect not only your yard, but those adjacent and throughout your neighborhood. I’ve seen forested areas overtaken by Jasmine, entire lots covered in Bamboo; and ecosystems affected by intrusion of invasives choking out native ground cover, shrubs and trees. Please do not fall prey to this just because someone gives you one of these; thinks they’re pretty; or suggests you plant them!

The “imported” plant palette I chose for our water friendly yard landscape includes:

Screening Trees and Shrubs (great wildlife habitat):
• Southern Magnolia
• Cedars
• Wax Myrtle
• Native Yaupon Holly

Entry, Access and Interest:
• Coontie
• African Iris
• Dwarf Yaupon Holly
• Pink Muhly

GrassPollinators:
• Native Milkweed
• Wildflowers (Guillardia, Zinnia, Rudbeckia, Mexican Sage)

Fruiting/Healing/Herbs:
• Fig trees
• Citrus tree (gift from neighbor)
• Blueberries (in pots)
• Aloe Vera

Groundcover, Low shrubs, Herbs:
• Perennial Peanut
• Liriope, Mondo Grass
• Ferns
• Variety of herbs & veggies (some in pots).

Photos are dated to show how quickly plants grow and get established and to illustrate some of the delightful changes the seasons can bring. The photo on the left was taken January 2021. The first 2 to 3 years required mainly weeding and watering during droughts. As of 2020 much less maintenance was required! I will be very carefully treating the Perennial Peanut with a broadleaf post emergent herbicide in late spring. Removal of volunteer Beautyberry, Muhly Grass and Milkweed is always a summer chore.

The REAR YARD of our house is subject to inundation approximately every two years. It abuts a 350´ deep wetland, with the Ichetucknee spring run to the west. Code calls for the bottom beam of the living level floor to be one foot above the 1% (100 year) flood. Our floor elevation is 35’ (one foot higher than that required by code). The “bridge” to the spring run is at elevation 29’ so we can avoid flooding cycles. As you can see by the photo below, inundation of this area restricts what we can do with it.

A grass lawn is an option that many choose, and it seems that St. Augustine grass is most frequently used by residents along the waterways. Unfortunately, this species requires fertilizer which then sheet flows into the waterway increasing already high nitrogen levels. It also requires frequent summer mowing and irrigation. In winter I’ve noticed that many overseed with Rye Grass to have a green vibrant look.

If I were to have a lawn near the spring run or near a river, I would choose CENTIPEDEGRASS. It requires NO FERTILIZER, is slow growing, and needs the least mowing and watering of all Florida grasses.

In our rear yard, I could avoid lawn grasses, but not mowing all together. I could restrict mowing to the 35’ x 76’ wide buffer that provides a good setting for our fire ring (between the wetland, our house, and the Ichetucknee). This area consists of whatever establishes in it: wildflowers, grasses, and sedges that tolerate flooding and only require mowing prior to bonfire season (maximum 3 times per year).

In conclusion, living in spring country is a privilege!
Treat the environment with respect.
Become a steward of the land and waterways.
Compost, collect rain water, and mulch!

Hilda Gilchrist has a Bachelor’s degree in Landscape Architecture,
University of Florida 1976. She spends most of her time enjoying the
Ichetucknee Spring Run and working on her garden.

Note: See also this excellent information from the Howard T. Odum Florida Springs Institute about springs-friendly yards: https://floridaspringsinstitute.org/springs-friendly-yards/

A New Relationship with Your Yard