The Neighborhood Gardener – March

Happy Gardening!

• Sign up for our e-newsletter

Irrigation Advice from Your Smartphone

Have you ever wished you could get individualized information on watering your lawn sent straight to your phone? Well, there's an app for that. The Smartirrigation Turf app allows you to input information about your lawn, such as location, soil type, and irrigation system, and gives irrigation suggestions based on local weather conditions. The app is easy to use; there's even a step-by-step tutorial to get you started. The Smartirrigation Turf app is available for purchase from Google Play for Android users and from the iTunes store for iPhone users.

UF Insect ID Lab

With the warm weather coming back the bugs are becoming more noticeable. With so many species of insects, identification can be difficult. That's where the UF Insect ID Lab can help. A host of experts are available to help Floridians identify any insect or related arthropod. If your mystery creature has six or more legs, the UF Insect ID Lab is the place to call. More

Plant of the Month: Sweet Corn

Sweet corn is a favorite among home gardeners. As long as the space is available, it's not difficult to grow. Look for sugary enhanced varieties. Sweet corn needs at least eight hours of sun per day, and should be planted in blocks of four or more rows for adequate pollination. Be sure to plant only one kind. Sweet corn is ready to harvest when the kernels are filled and tightly packed. More

March in Your Garden

If you haven't yet fertilized palms and ornamental shrubs, now is the time. Make sure you use a fertilizer that has at least 30 percent of its nitrogen as slow release.

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.

Friend or Foe? Foe: Wisteria

Wisteria is a perennial vine with wonderfully fragrant flowers, often lavender, that grow in clusters, similar to grapes. But the wisteria common throughout the Southeast is actually an invasive from China. Chinese wisteria grows so rapidly that it covers plants, shading out others and even killing trees. The best way to eliminate wisteria from your landscape is to cut the vines off as close the root as possible and "paint" the cut stem with herbicide. Wisteria can grow from seeds or rooted stolons, so be sure to properly dispose of your cut vines to prevent an infestation. Luckily, there are non-invasive alternatives. More