The Neighborhood Gardener
July 2025
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A Green Oasis
When designing a garden, many people focus on colorful displays of vibrant blooms. A pallete of bright colors can be pleasant and energizing, but using various shades of green provides its own benefits. Not only is this hue easy on the human eye, it can also have a calming effect. Making this life-affirming color a primary feature in the landscape can create a tranquil scene for anyone to enjoy.
Ten Ideas for Saving Time and Money in the Landscape
Some people might be overwhelmed by the prospect of designing their landscape, with concerns about the effort and expense it will require. But there are many strategies you can use to create a low-care, low-cost landscape — methods that can decrease the amount of time required for maintenance and reduce the need for water, energy and chemicals. We narrowed it down to ten techniques to simplify landscape planning and make your garden more efficient.
The Great Southeast Pollinator Census
What’s the “buzz” all about with the Great Southeast Pollinator Census? Bees, moths, butterflies and more are about to become celebrities on August 22-23, 2025. Get your lemonade and clipboard out because this census is open to everyone to participate. The annual event is a community science project created by the University of Georgia that rallies people in the southeast region of the U.S. to document pollinator activity. Read on to learn how you can get in on the fun.
Wendy’s Wanderings
Recently, I had the pleasure of visiting the UF/IFAS Extension Columbia County demonstration garden for a cut-flower field day. Master Gardener Volunteers and Extension agents were invited to evaluate a beautiful trial of sunflowers, zinnias, snapdragons and marigolds. Columbia County agent Erin Harlow and her team of MGVs did a fantastic job. The blooms were stunning and the whole event left many of us inspired to grow more cut flowers in our own gardens. As I admired the garden layout, I noticed something particularly clever about the construction of the raised beds.
Plant of the Month: Sweet Potato
Sweet potatoes are known for their colorful and tasty tubers. The flesh is generally orange but certain cultivars come in white, yellow or purple. They’re an excellent source of calcium, potassium and vitamins A and C. The purple-fleshed tubers even contain anthocyanins, which provide many antioxidant health benefits. A warm-season crop in Florida, sweet potato thrives in hardiness zones 9a through 11b. Sweet potatoes can be planted in the spring in a sunny, well-drained location.
July in Your Garden
Use the summer heat to solarize the soil for fall vegetable planting. It takes 4–6 weeks to kill weeds, disease and nematodes, so start now. You can still plant a few heat-tolerant vegetables like amaranth, chayote and tropical spinaches. Continue planting palms while the rainy season is in full swing.
For more month-by-month gardening tips, check out the Florida Gardening Calendar. Three different editions of the calendar provide specific tips for each of Florida’s gardening regions—North, Central, and South.
What’s Going On?
If your Master Gardener Volunteer program or Extension office is having an event, be sure to share it with us.