Another example of landscape malpractice. This extreme defoliating practice is called hurricane pruning. No responsible certified arbor company will prune palm trees this way. Palms are not trees and need all their palm fronds to be able to photosynthesize. While still not recommended, it wouldn't be as problematic, if these palm trees were fertilized regularly, but palm trees in commercial settings are not usually fertilized after their installation. Palms rarely need their green fronds removed. Tree companies who cut palms like this are not following best management practices. For more information on palm best management practices from the University of Florida.
Orchid Garden Pool Landscape Design
I never expected to design an orchid garden pool landscape. But then I visited a new landscape design client. I quickly realized that just past their front door was a gorgeous swimming pool. How do you landscape a front entrance that’s a pool lanai?
Most swimming pools in Florida are surrounded by garden beds with tropical plants on the inside of their screened enclosures. But this pool lanai was surrounded by four bare walls.
Deciding on a design theme was easy when I found out my client was an orchid lover. I decided that I wanted to display an orchid garden on the tiled walls. But how to connect them together and take care of them properly and without a lot of maintenance? That part would be a challenge.
Read about my Orchid Garden Pool Landscape here: https://bit.ly/3w264yu
Can You Use Ice Cubes to Water Orchids?
1. Yes, you can use ice cubes to water your orchids! University of Georgia and The Ohio State University research says there is no reason you can’t. https://bit.ly/34tIvDD
Grow Plants Anywhere
Grow Houseplants Anywhere
By Teresa Watkins
Plants have always been on the move. Big word alert! During the Ordovician period, (448.3 million years ago) plants moved out of the ocean and adapted to newly-formed land masses.[1] Since then, the Earth has been providing more and more ground for plants. When world exploration carried men across the seven seas, ships transported plants with them. These transplants became food crops for countries. In the 21st century, plants have moved not only off the farm into the home, but also in the air, and outer space. You will see UFO’s (unidentified foliage objects) thriving in offices, malls, residential homes, apartments, and even inside cars.[2]
Every houseplant is from somewhere else in the world. All houseplants grow in the ground of their native country. Our world’s diversity of houseplants with their various needs provides an opportunity to grow plants in any sunlight condition from windowless apartments to bright and sunny office windowsills.[3] Showcasing a blooming Spathiphyllum or lush Cast Iron plant on an office desk offers a success story for the plant owner. Houseplants moved into an apartment can breathe life into a neglected corner of a room. The benefits of taking care of houseplants reveals that this plant owner is emotionally healthy and has a positive outlook on life. Houseplants as a birthday, congratulations, welcome gift, or “just because you’re you” surprise, can lift the recipient’s spirits or move a person to happy tears that someone thought enough of them to give them a living plant.[4] A brilliant move in these uncertain times.
#PlantsDoThat
[1] Marshall, Michael. “Timeline: The Evolution of Life.” New Scientist, 14 July 2009, www.newscientist.com/article/dn17453-timeline-the-evolution-of-life/. Accessed 9 Apr. 2015.
[2] “The Rise of Gardening’ Why People Are Growing Plants in Cars – and Everywhere Else.” The Guardian, 19 May 2021, www.theguardian.com /lifestyle/2021/may/19/the-rise-of-cardening-why-people-are-growing-plants-in-cars-and-everywhere-else. Accessed 2 June 2021.
[3] Knight, Teri. “Houseplants Are the New Officeplants.” National Garden Bureau, 17 Feb. 2022, ngb.org/2022/02/17/houseplants-the-new-officeplants/. Accessed 18 Feb. 2022.
[4] “What Houseplants Can Do for Your Mental Health During Lockdown.” Verywell Mind, 28 Jan. 2021, https://bit.ly/3Ht9NHL
Glenna's Iron Board Violets
By Teresa Watkins
Love African violets but think they are high maintenance? Know someone who has a gorgeous African violet, and you would like to have one too? Here is my friend, Glenna Hancock’s easy-to-do propagation method that is sure to be successful!
1. Select a very healthy, good-sized leaf, about 2” – 3” wide and long. Make sure it’s thick and sturdy and has a long stem (petiole) about 4” – 5”.
2. Go down into the crown of your plant and diagonally snip the petiole about 1” above where it is attached to the larger plant.
3. Place your African violet cutting in a miniature glass bud vase (see picture) with water. No need to add anything to the water.
5. In 3 – 4 weeks, you should see roots form on the petiole. This is when you can plant it.
6. Select a small 3” plastic pots and fill with African violet potting soil, or ½ vermiculite and ½ potting soil or ½ sand (sterile) and ½ potting soil.
7. Water gently with teaspoon to dampen the soil.
8. Water when the pot becomes almost weightless when you hold it. Feel it after you water the plant to gauge how heavy your pot should feel when it has enough water and when it doesn’t.
9 In about six weeks, you should have 3 – 5 leaves emerged and can plant it in a larger pot.
10. You can cut off the original leaf if you want. I don’t like to cut them off, but you can.
Listen to Glenna talk about her agricultural legacy and her love for African violets: https://bit.ly/3BX6nLY
For more information on African violets, check out University of Florida’s publication: https://bit.ly/3vmYtKJ
Sustainable Horticultural Environments of Orlando Awarded Best Of Houzz 2022 Seven Years In Row!
Sustainable Horticultural Environments of Orlando
Awarded Best of Houzz 2022
2022 people’s choice award highlights top home professionals among the Houzz community, based on quality service and most popular designs
Orlando, Florida, January 26, 2022 – Sustainable Horticultural Environments of Orlando, Florida has won a “Best of Houzz” award for Customer Service, on Houzz®, the leading platform for home remodeling and design. The woman-owned, 15-year-old landscape design and installation company, was chosen by the millions of homeowners that comprise the Houzz community from among more than 2.7 million active home building, remodeling and design industry professionals.
This is the 10-year anniversary of the Best of Houzz awards program. Badges are awarded annually, in three categories: Design, Customer Service and Photography. Design awards honor professionals whose work was the most popular among the Houzz community. Customer Service honors are based on several factors, including a pro's overall rating on Houzz and client reviews submitted in 2021. Architecture and interior design photographers whose images were most popular are recognized with the Photography award.
“Best of Houzz 2022” badges appear on winners’ profiles as a sign of their commitment to excellence. These badges help the more than 65 million homeowners and home design enthusiasts on Houzz to identify popular and top-rated home professionals for their projects.
“Who designed your landscape?” “SHE Did!” Sustainable Horticultural Environments designs unique and sustainable Florida landscapes for every style and personality.”
“We launched the Best of Houzz awards program over a decade ago to highlight the work of the most talented and customer-focused professionals in our industry,” said Liza Hausman, vice president of Industry Marketing at Houzz. “When homeowners come to Houzz to find professionals to complete their projects, the Best of Houzz badges offer a marker of credibility, supporting their decision to move forward. We are extremely proud of this year’s winners, many of whom have won multiple times, and we’re pleased to give them this recognition and a platform on which to showcase their expertise.”
You can see more of Sustainable Horticultural Environment’s work on Houzz.
About Teresa Watkins
Teresa Watkins, landscape designer, horticulturist, author, and consultant, designed the landscape for the first certified "green home" in Florida in 2001. Watkins works with clients on all sizes of design projects and installations small or large, from quaint cottage gardens to custom home estates. Her specialty is visualizing and designing landscapes for clients that actualize their dreams while providing for sustainability. In the last 22 years, over 38,000 homeowners have attended Teresa’s landscaping talks and programs. Her garden programs range from the ABCs of landscaping to themed-landscapes of fairy gardens to xeriscaping.
About Houzz
Houzz is the leading platform for home renovation and design, providing people with everything they need to improve their homes from start to finish. On Houzz, people can find design inspiration, research and hire home professionals, and shop for products to complete their projects. For home professionals, Houzz Pro (houzz.com/pro) provides an all-in-one software solution that empowers industry pros to stand out, win clients and manage their projects efficiently and profitably. The Houzz community is made up of millions of homeowners, home design enthusiasts and home improvement professionals around the world. Houzz is available on the web and as a top-rated mobile app. Headquartered in Palo Alto, California, Houzz also has international offices in London, Berlin, Sydney, Moscow, Tel Aviv and Tokyo. Houzz is a registered trademark of Houzz Inc. worldwide. For more information, visit houzz.com.
Tom MacCubbin to Retire as Host of Better Lawns and Gardens After 33 Years!
After 33 years of hosting Florida’s most popular radio gardening program Better Lawns & Gardens, Tom MacCubbin has announced his retirement from the show effective at the end of July. Tom and his wife Joan have been the radio companions for gardeners throughout the sunshine state every Saturday morning since May of 1988.
Better Lawns & Gardens is heard on more than 20 radio affiliates including WFLA-AM/FM, Orlando, WSKYFM, Gainesville, WNDB-AM/FM, Daytona Beach, WHNZ-AM, Tampa, among others.
MacCubbin officially retired as Extension Agent with the University of Florida and Orange County in 2007 but continued with the radio show syndicated by iHeartMedia’s Florida News Network in Maitland.
Stepping into the hosting slot post-MacCubbin will be Teresa Watkins. Teresa herself is a veteran gardening show radio broadcaster, horticulturist, and UF/IFAS Master Gardener for more than two decades. Teresa hosted In Your Backyard on Leesburg station WLBE from 1996 through 2019 and continues with a podcast of that show today.
“Better Lawns & Gardens is a heritage name in Florida gardening and the show will continue with Teresa at the helm,” says Jim Poling, Director of Operations at the Florida News Network. “The show name will continue and the basic premise of serving Florida gardeners will continue but that’s where the similarity will end. It will be Teresa’s show,” says Poling. “We hate to lose a legend like Tom MacCubbin, but with Teresa, the program won’t miss a beat.”
According to Teresa, “Over twenty years of working with Tom MacCubbin at the University of Florida Extension and in various media events, such as Florida-friendly workshops and Better Lawns and Gardens, has been the best experience of my life. His knowledge and leadership have trained me, inspired me, encouraged me, and challenged me. While I can never fill Tom’s shoes, I have dreamed of following in his footsteps and being a host of the Better Lawns and Gardens radio show since I first met him. I’m excited and honored to continue Tom’s extraordinary legacy of educating Florida residents on how to have a better lawn and garden.”
Tom’s last Better Lawns & Gardens show will be on July 31st
Tom MacCubbin Teresa Watkins
Sustainable Horticultural Environments of Orlando Awarded Best Of Houzz 2021
Sustainable Horticultural Environments of Orlando
Awarded Best Of Houzz 2021
Coveted annual award highlights home remodeling and design professionals with top ratings and most popular designs among the Houzz community
Orlando, FL, January 31, 2021 – Sustainable Horticultural Environments of Orlando, FL has won a “Best Of Houzz” award for “Customer Service” on Houzz®, the leading platform for home renovation and design. For the sixth year in a row, the Central Florida landscape design company was chosen by the millions of homeowners that comprise the Houzz community from among more than 2.5 million active home building, remodeling and design industry professionals.
The Best Of Houzz badge is awarded annually, in three categories: Design, Customer Service and Photography. Design awards honor professionals whose work was the most popular among the Houzz community. Customer Service honors are based on several factors, including a pro's overall rating on Houzz and client reviews submitted in 2020.
A “Best Of Houzz 2021” badge will appear on winners’ profiles as a sign of their commitment to excellence. These badges help homeowners identify popular and top-rated home professionals in every metro area on Houzz.
“Regardless of the discipline, it is every professional’s dream to be recognized. I am so blessed to have been able to make a career out of my passion of landscape design and help my clients realize their dreams, too.” ~ Teresa Watkins
“The Best Of Houzz awards are an emblem of trust and credibility for home professionals across the U.S. and around the world, and we are excited to celebrate this year’s winners,” said Liza Hausman, vice president of Industry Marketing for Houzz. “The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the critical need for people to feel comfortable before inviting pros into and around their homes, and the Best Of Houzz badge is a powerful way for pros to communicate the trust that homeowners have in their business. It’s just one of many tools on the Houzz platform that help pros to communicate their unique expertise, and homeowners to find the right professionals for their projects.”
You can see more of Sustainable Horticultural Environments’s work on Houzz at www.she-consulting.com
About Sustainable Horticultural Environments
Sustainable Horticultural Environments provides landscape consultation and design, hardscape, installation, lighting, and outdoor rooms. From a simple landscape project to a full-scale renovation that can be installed immediately or in phases, Teresa Watkins transforms plain, outdated, or high maintenance landscape into a beautiful and elegant Florida-friendly landscape for enjoyment and entertaining.
About Houzz
Houzz is the leading platform for home renovation and design, providing people with everything they need to improve their homes from start to finish. On Houzz, people can find design inspiration, research and hire home professionals, and shop for products to complete their projects. For home professionals, Houzz Pro (houzz.com/pro) provides an all-in-one software solution that empowers industry pros to stand out, win clients and manage their projects efficiently and profitably. The Houzz community is made up of millions of homeowners, home design enthusiasts and home improvement professionals around the world. Houzz is available on the web and as a top-rated mobile app. Headquartered in Palo Alto, California, Houzz also has international offices in London, Berlin, Sydney, Moscow, Tel Aviv and Tokyo. Houzz is a registered trademark of Houzz Inc. worldwide. For more information, visit houzz.com.
A Gardener's Compendium - Volume 3 Gardening with the Senses Pre-orders!
A Gardener's Compendium - Volume 3 Gardening with the Senses is ready for pre-order! Email me to order your copy!
A Gardener's Compendium: Gardening in a Twitter World In 140 Characters Or More is a collection of garden anecdotes, facts, history, poetry, quotes, and trivia categorized by context into themes and appropriate hashtags. A Gardener's Compendium is an invaluable resource for new gardeners, garden writers, bloggers, trivia fans, teachers, editors, researchers, social media enthusiasts, speakers, and anyone who desires to provide an interesting fact for presentations or is just looking for a source of like-minded inspiration. Books available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Xulon Press.
A Gardener's Compendium - Volume 2 Gardening in Time and Place is the second in a series that was planned to be one book. Readers will travel the globe through the ages with Teresa's favorite garden selections on world geography and history, the United States, and politics. Whether you are a gardening enthusiast, casual reader, writer, or an avid bibliophile, you will find Teresa's choices entertaining, insightful, and possibly eye-opening as to the original sources of popular gardening anecdotes and quotes.
Gardening with the Senses is the third book in A Gardener’s Compendium series by horticulturist and landscape designer, Teresa Watkins. A Gardener’s Compendium is a garden nirvana of botanical and gardening anecdotes, poems, quotes, stories, and trivia, that also provides context and original sources. A Gardener’s Compendium Volume 3’s collection includes all of the five senses, scent, sight, sound, taste, and touch, along with common sense, and the sense of well-being. Divided into distinct chapters with helpful, easy-to-find indexes, Teresa’s research brings facts, whimsy, wit, and history, to garden devotees, book lovers, and writers looking for a lovely afternoon of reading, or that perfect sentiment or poem to pen in a card, letter, or article. https://bit.ly/3ndUN77
Visit 3 Exceptional Gardens of Orlando, Florida
It’s like Miami Beach and New York combined!” exclaims Teresa, who loves the vibrant atmosphere as well as the colorful containers and raised garden beds that line the avenue. She recommends having lunch at one of the cafes or restaurants before exploring the park itself, where there are over 30 different species collections ranging from tropical to temperate plants.