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 Academic
Programs
Certificate
Program
Classes
by Phil Busey
Degree
Requirements
Golf
and Sports Turf
Grass
Biology
Landscape
IPM
Living
Lawn
Turfgrass
Culture
Research
Interests
Weed
Science
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The Living
Lawn
 The
Living Lawn is a hands-on educational garden used by homeowners
to learn about environmentally sustainable lawn care in South Florida,
in cooperation with Naturescape
Broward, the Broward
County Extension Education Division, and the U
of F Florida Yards and Neighborhoods program.
Vision
Grasses are vital elements in urban landscapes
as well as in natural ecosystems. The tapestry of grass protects
and builds the world's soil, provides safety and healthy recreation
for humans, is valuable to wildlife, and yet because it is usually
a monotonous surface it is harder for many people to get excited
about the richness of grass.
Let us get excited about grasses which touch the
lives of everyone and everything we eat. The Living Lawn can teach
us basic principles of irrigation and sustainable management. Even
if you are only interested in native plants, the Living Lawn provides
you a pathway to our non-irrigated native garden. Students who learn
from living examples may learn more deeply, as evidenced by longer
retention of ideas.
Mission
To demonstrate the principles of Florida Yards
and Neighborhoods (FYN) lawn maintenance by means of living examples
of appropriate watering, fertilization, mowing, pesticide use, and
turf selection. The Living Lawn does this by means of three modules,
a Technology Module with hands-on devices for testing and measuring
irrigation systems, a Grasses Module that shows examples of different
turfgrass species, and a Native Module which shows a background
of native plant species which come together at the ecotone where
they connect with a stand of Paspalum.
Approach
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AquaBlue® automated soil water regulator
by Agrilink equipped with a solar panel. The sensor is under
ground. The device is presented as an alternative to the rain
shutoff device. |
Horticultural principles and practices are often
taught using books and handouts, PowerPoint presentations and lectures.
Living gardens have traditionally been used to exhibit species collections,
but not for teaching of principles and practices. The Living Lawn
provides a method for self-directed learning of horticulture principles
and practices of turfgrass maintenance. Hypothetically, students
who learn from living examples may learn more deeply, as evidenced
by longer retention of ideas. By grouping the demonstration areas
into naturalistic shapes, involving the presentation of a diverse
turfgrasses and ornamentals, The Living Lawn is both interesting
and entertaining to look at, and presents plants in the same kind
of groupings that would occur in more typical landscapes The location
of The Living Lawn is at the UF/IFAS Fort Lauderdale Research and
Education Center, 3205 College Ave., Davie, FL 33314. The area is
just inside a cyclone fence alongside a busy thoroughfare.
History
The Living Lawn was conceived by Philip Busey on
February 20, 2003, as part of a grant proposal to the Florida Yards
& Neighborhoods In-House Grant Opportunity within the Environmental
Horticulture Department of the University of Florida. The project
was approved for funding on July 16, 2003, and after changing the
overall design the irrigation was installed by April 2004 and plantings
were done in July and August 2004. On July 5, 2005, a kiosk was
installed in cooperation with the Naturescape Broward.
Changes in Design
The original plan involved rectilinear beds illustrating
in some cases, "How not to maintain your lawn." As the project evolved,
it became obvious that we needed a more organically flowing design,
one that would be interesting visually, and would be a good example
of grass use in the landscape. It also became obvious that we needed
to integrate the turf areas with the ornamental areas, more as they
would occur in a real landscape, and to subdivide the area into
broad themes.
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