Landscaping database saves time, money and water

From the St. John's River Water Management District

An online resource is saving homeowners looking for landscaping ideas time, money and water. The St. Johns River Water Management District's waterwise plant database can help landscapers and do-it-yourselfers research the right plants for their yards' specific growing conditions.

“Among the district's greatest priorities is promoting water conservation," said St. Johns River Water Management District Executive Director Ann Shortelle. "Because one of the biggest uses of water is lawn and landscape irrigation at our homes and businesses, using water wisely in our landscapes is an important personal responsibility. Florida-friendly landscaping is easy — plus, saving water saves homeowners money!”

To date, rainfall during 2017 has been below average with future predictions for similar rainfall trends. If a landscape's sunlight and soil conditions are assessed correctly, well-chosen plants will need little to no supplemental irrigation once established.

The district's waterwise landscaping webpages provide information on how to design a water-conserving landscape and how to group plants according to their needs, such as planting region, sunlight and soil conditions.

The dynamic web-based tool is designed to help determine which plants are most appropriate for a landscape given the natural growing conditions found there.

The database, which is found at www.sjrwmd.com/waterwiselandscapes, is searchable by scientific name, common name, size, color of flowers, hardiness zone, soil moisture needs, light and shade requirements, salt tolerance, and more. It also offers information on hundreds of plant species and allows users to compare information about different plants to determine if they are suitable to plant together and to help the user better plan planting areas. The database works on smartphones and other mobile devices, so can conveniently be taken along when shopping at a garden center.

April is Water Conservation Month, a designation intended to heighten public awareness about the variety of ways to reduce our water use. For additional water conservation tips to help you save money around the home, visit www.sjrwmd.com/waterconservation.