There are thousands of companies in the region offering landscape maintenance services. With all of those folks vying for business, take care to select one that will use sound maintenance practices to produce a Florida Yard that's beautiful and friendly to the environment. This handbook will help the do-it-yourselfers, but what about those lacking the time, desire or ability to do the work?

Here's a checklist to review with a prospective maintenance provider.

Your landscape maintenance service should agree to:

• Monitor for pests rather than apply sprays routinely and provide evidence of a significant problem before you allow and pay for treatment.

• Use least-toxic methods of controlling pest problems as described in this handbook.

• Use chemical pesticides only when less-toxic methods fail and post a sign to alert neighbors that chemicals have been applied.

• Apply slow-release fertilizer, and only if fertilizer is needed.

• Avoid fertilizers containing weed killer or insecticide unless applied with your permission.

• Leave grass clippings on the lawn and use other yard waste as mulch or compost.

On the Waterfront

Waterfront Florida Yards present special challenges and responsibilities. Waterfront property owners have firsthand knowledge of the special contributions that the lagoon, rivers, streams and lakes add to our quality of life. But a special responsibility goes along with the benefit of being a next-door neighbor to these natural resource treasures.

Landscapes bordering our surface-water resources need to be designed with special sensitivity to the environment. Those landscapes also present some unique management challenges for the environmentally conscious homeowner. Some of those considerations are highlighted here.

LAGOON SHORE CONSIDERATIONS

If you have a naturally sloping, vegetated shoreline, count yourself among the lucky few. Approximately 40-50 percent of the natural shorelines around the Indian River Lagoon have been altered by shore protection structures like seawalls or rock revetments.

Naturally sloping lagoon shorelines, particularly when buffered by a fringe of mangroves and/or marsh grass, help smooth out waves and reduce turbidity (cloudiness) in the water. Mangroves and other shoreline plants contribute to the lagoon's food web, attract wildlife, such as wading birds, and help prevent erosion of the shoreline.

The area in which these shoreline plants grow is known as the littoral zone, the boundary or interface between land and water. Unfortunately, seawalls have traditionally been placed directly in this intertidal zone. While returning to a naturally vegetated shoreline is ecologically desirable, removing a shore protection structure is likely to be a complex decision.

If a shore protection structure has replaced the littoral zone along your property, your options are limited by the depth of your lot, the distance from the waterline to upland structures, the wave impact against your shore, your budget and the shoreline condition of neighboring properties. Shoreline protection alternatives are very site-specific considerations, and expert advice is essential. The Florida Sea Grant marine extension agent in your county, natural resources employees of local governments and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection are good places to start. Keep in mind that submerged land waterward of the Mean High Water line (see definition in this section) may not be your property, but may belong to the state.

One of the following scenarios may relate to your property and may provide ideas on how you can be part of restoring natural shorelines to our lagoon:

No existing shore protection structure and no need for erosion control.

Seek advice from one of the agencies listed above on how to enhance and protect your natural shoreline. If Brazilian pepper or Australian pine are present, remove them and replant with marsh grass to reduce erosion. You can help protect the shoreline and the lagoon at the same time by installing a maintenance-free zone of landscaping along the waterfront edge of your yard. This buffer zone protects the lagoon from areas that are mowed, fertilized or treated with pesticides. Plant selection for the buffer c an maintain ecological diversity, further protect your shoreline from erosion and enhance the aesthetic value of your waterfront.

No existing shore protection structure but apparent need for erosion control.

If the waterline is moving landward and causing the loss of shoreline vegetation, the degree of erosion risk should be assessed by agency staff. They can recommend options to control erosion but may find that structural protection is not necessary. If structural protection is recommended, it should be placed landward of the Mean High Water line. This leaves the littoral zone undisturbed and allows natural vegetation to be maintained or placed waterward of the shore protection structure, thus providing habi tat value and shoreline protection. The structural protection could be large boulders; a planted, timber terrace effect; or a seawall. The latter is usually the most costly to construct and maintain.

Existing shore protection structure is in excellent condition.

If your seawall or revetment preempts the littoral zone and you don't want to move it landward, a perched planter for aquatic plants or an artificial reef habitat for fish could be considered. If your seawall or revetment is landward of the littoral zone, consider suggestions in No. 1 above for enhancing and protecting the littoral zone.

Existing shore protection structure needs minor repairs.

Weigh the cost of repairs and eventual replacement with the cost of removal and reestablishing a planted, sloping shoreline. If you opt to repair the existing seawall, see No. 3 above.

Existing shore protection structure needs replacement.

It is often less expensive to remove a seawall, regrade the shoreline and replant with appropriate vegetation than to replace the wall. If structural protection is required, see No. 2 above. Replacing a seawall located within the littoral zone is a last resort, but may be necessary in your case.

Lakes, Rivers, Lagoons and Streams.

Lakes, rivers, lagoons and streams -- even most storm-water retention ponds -- also have littoral zones where the land and water meet. Many of the same considerations apply in these freshwater systems as in the lagoon.

Definitely do not mow the littoral zones along these water bodies, and protect them from fertilizer and pesticide runoff. Erosion problems are typical along water bodies where vegetation has been disturbed by construction activities. Enhancing natural vegetation with additional plantings and removing non-native, invasive plants can improve both the function and aesthetics of your shoreline.

WHAT IS MEAN HIGH WATER?

This is an important point for waterfront property owners because their property typically ends at the Mean High Water (MHW) line. Mean High Water is not the wrack line where sea-grass debris is piled in a storm, nor is it the extent of wave impact.

The exact elevation of MHW above sea level may vary somewhat around the state of Florida. For those of us who are not land surveyors, that translates to slightly above the line where barnacles grow on pilings or seawalls.

Remember that anything you wish to do that affects submerged lands waterward of MHW requires the state's permission. For information on permitting requirements, contact the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and your local natural resources department.

Those Marvelous Mangroves

The beauty, wildlife value, erosion protection, importance in the lagoon's ecology and declining numbers make mangrove trees an asset to a Florida Yard.

If you have mangroves, contact the following organizations for information on properly managing these fascinating plants: Florida Sea Grant Extension Program, Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) and your local government's natural resources department. Remember that some mangrove pruning requires a permit and the rules are periodically revised. Here's a quick primer to help you identify the mangrove species found in Florida:

Red mangroves usually live closest to open water. They have arching prop roots and their seeds, or propagules, look something like green cigars. Their leaves are large and bright green.

Black mangroves usually are found growing landward of red mangroves. Their leaves are dull green with silver undersides. Black mangroves ¨sweat¨ salt from their leaves and send up from their roots twiggy projections called pneumatophores, which provide oxygen to the tree's roots.

White mangroves usually grow landward of or interspersed with black mangroves. Their leaves are more rounded than those of other species and have a small notch at the tip, and are lighter in color. On each leaf stem at the base of the leaf is a pair of small bumps.

Green buttonwood is not considered a true mangrove by some scientists. It grows in the most landward locations of the littoral zone, behind the other mangrove species. It generally has small, elongated leaves and bears round buttons that turn brown. Once established, the green buttonwood is quite drought-resistant. It can also withstand flooding, which makes it an ideal landscape plant for coastal areas. The silver buttonwood, its cousin, is prized in coastal landscapes for its distinctive silver-gray foliage. Pruning of buttonwoods doesn't require a permit.