OKALOOSA COUNTY, Fla. — “If I could get homeowners to water their lawns correctly, I’d solve most lawn problems in this state.” This is a statement that I’ve heard Dr. Bryan Unruh say more than once.
Unruh has been impactful in Florida with his turfgrass research as a professor and Associate Center Director with the UF/IFAS West Florida Research and Education Center. I would go so far as to say that he is one of the leading turfgrass researchers in the United States. And he will be our speaker at the next Master Gardener Lecture Series on Monday, April 14.
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This lecture begins at 10 a.m. at the UF/IFAS Extension Office in Okaloosa County. The address is 3098 Airport Road in Crestview, FL.
During this free, hour-long seminar, Unruh will share how to correctly water a Florida lawn and landscape. We should water our lawns, landscapes, and gardens on an as-needed basis. And, there are modern tools to assist in doing this.
If your irrigation system runs every day, every other day, every third day, or even once per week, you’re overdosing it and creating problems for your lawn and landscape. Common problems include leaching valuable fertilizer, encouraging lawn and landscape diseases, as well as favoring weeds that thrive under overly wet conditions, such as dollar weed, Virginia buttonweed and sedges.
And you’re wasting water.
Some people let their lawns and landscapes go too long without water. Overly dry areas result in lawns and landscapes declining as well and favor weeds that thrive under dry conditions, such as pusley, rustweed, and cudweed.
There is a happy in between in watering correctly, which helps create healthy lawns, landscapes, and gardens with deep, strong root systems.
Learning how to correctly water is not only important now but will be increasingly important as the demand for this resource increases with continued growth in our state and with the required use of reclaimed water in our Florida lawns and landscapes.
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Unruh provided this description when asked what he would cover during his lecture:
“Water is the most important input when maintaining urban landscapes. Learners will be presented with evidence-based recommendations for irrigating landscapes. Additionally, when using reclaimed water for irrigation, other important factors must be considered. Attendees will be introduced to these important factors, including how nutrients and salts in reclaimed water can contribute positively or negatively to landscape plant health. Practical and useful information will be presented in an easy-to-understand manner.”
Registration is required as space is limited. Please use this email to let us know that you plan to attend MGLecture@yahoo.com and for questions about this event, please call 850-244-4490.
Larry Williams is the Extension Horticulture Agent with the Okaloosa County Cooperative Extension Service, University of Florida. You can contact Larry at 689-5850 or email lwilliams@myokaloosa.com.
