The Neighbor Gardener – January
Happy New Year!
Supporting Wildlife with Diverse Landscapes
You don’t have to work in conservation to help wildlife; your own yard can play a vital role in the surrounding ecosystem. Certain landscape design strategies can create habitat for birds, amphibians, mammals, insects, and other wild creatures. To successfully build a habitat garden, the design needs to recreate features and plant arrangements that occur naturally in the wild. A new Gardening Solutions article offers tips for supporting wildlife with various layers and design elements.
Gardening Meets AI
Artificial intelligence (AI) is being widely used and has even found its way into gardening. What was once science fiction has now become a part of our daily lives. From innovative “smart garden” networks, plant identification apps, and AI-generated botanical images, there’s a lot to sort through in the modern world. There is an immense opportunity for knowledge and research, such as the use of AI to collect and analyze data on crops. But misinformation—and even danger—lurks as well.
Recognition for Your Florida-Friendly Yard
Home landscapes can be a tool for wildlife conservation and serve an important role in the local ecosystem. Bringing in certain plants and other elements to your yard or garden can have a positive effect on the local environment and provide food, water, and shelter for pollinators and other wildlife. Whether you already have a yard that embraces these qualities, or you wish to make an impact by transforming your landscape, there are multiple organizations that can recognize your achievements or help you get there.
Wendy’s Wanderings
It is not uncommon to see over-sheared shrubs in landscapes. I often joke that the new guy on the landscape crew gets handed the gas-powered shears and is just let loose. However, this practice isn’t a laughing matter. Over-pruning, sculpting, or topping shrubs is detrimental to plant health and deeply offends my sense of aesthetics. If a shrub needs to be pruned into the shape of a large meatball or a big box, is it really the right plant in the right place?
Plant of the Month: Needle Palm
Native to the southeastern United States, needle palm works well as an accent plant or security hedge, due to its namesake sharp, black “needles” on its trunk. Rhapidophyllum hystrix will slowly grow into a clump up to eight feet tall and equally wide. Appreciated for its cold hardiness, needle palm can tolerate temperatures several degrees below freezing. The palm can be grown in zones 6b to 10b; it prefers partial shade, with rich, moist well-drained soil, but can be grown in full sun.
January in Your Garden
Florida Arbor Day is the third Friday of January. Contact your county Extension office to see if there are Arbor Day tree sales or giveaways in your area. With recent cold weather, some of your plants might not look their best. While it may be tempting to start pruning, it’s best to wait until spring. Many vegetables can be planted this time of year, including potatoes.
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.