St. Petersburg is one of Florida's finest cities. It has lots of parks and trees. It is a clean and well maintained city. The community is young and thriving. There are tons of things to do. St. Petersburg is surrounded by water. There is boating and sailing on Tampa Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. The fishing can be very good. St Petersburg offers a fine quality of life for it’s more than 250,000 residents. The geology of St Petersburg like the rest of Florida varies greatly from one area to another and this affects the flora and fauna in each of these micro-climates. From the coastal dunes of St Pete Beach and Pass-a-Grille to the Oak Hammocks of the Jungle Prada area to the tall Pine trees of Coquina Key the terrain varies. When thinking of Landscaping one should consider what area your living in. What is the terrain like? What plants thrive best in your neighborhood? And what is the availability of that all important resource: water. My father, who had a lawn and landscape business is the area during the 1970’s when I was a small boy told me that "if you water it and fertilize it, it will turn green". Lately, we have had severe droughts, one of which we are currently in. Water is super important to St. Petersburg landscapes.

St Petersburg is a semi-dry area with only 49.58 inches of rain per year. Most of that rain comes during afternoon thunderstorms during the summer rainy season June-August. Much of the rest falls during brief rains that accompany passing cold fronts.

Water for landscapes in St Petersburg comes from five main sources:

Reclaimed water: The Best. This is available only in the neighborhoods that have the hook-up. 10, 480 residents currently use this source in St Petersburg. This is the best option because it provides almost unlimited watering potential on a regular basis without fear of receiving a fine for illegal watering.

Well water: Most of Florida has easy access to shallow (15-40ft deep) and deep wells (100-200ft deep). The sand is quite easy to jet through and a good well-man can find a full vein of water to tap into in many areas. These provide good sources of ground water but require a pump to bring them up. Well water is subject to heavy water restrictions. Sometimes the water has a rotten egg smell to it because of sulfur content. Other times it can stain surfaces rust-colored because of it’s iron content.

Public Water: This is the same water we use to bathe and drink. It generally comes from well fields in counties to the north of us. This water is highly treated with chlorine and is expensive.Public water is also subject to heavy water restrictions.

Lake Water(pond fed): There are quite a few fresh water lakes in St Petersburg and some of these have been used for irrigation. Normally, a pipe is laid into the body of water with a screened "T" on the end and the water is drawn up and sprayed onto the lawn through a sprinkler system with a pump. This can cause lake water table to fall and deprive fish of adequate water levels and oxygen.

Rain Collection: Many residents are turning to this method as a really good way to water potted plants and small landscape areas. A rain barrel is attached to a down spout or placed under an area of heavy run-off where it can collect rain. Then, during dry times it is watered back onto the plants. Rain-water is wonderful because it it a renewable resource, free and contains some nitrogen but no chlorine. Plants love it. We install rain-barrels so let us know if you need one at nativearth@gmail.com.

Conclusion: What kind of water supply should be considered before you design your landscape. It will have a major impact on what you can and cannot grow.

Our next installment will consider four main types of popular landscapes in St Petersburg.

Contact Native Earth, Inc. for all your lanscape needs. 727-894-1674 or nativearth@gmail.com.