| Site Contents About Three Rivers: - Get to know your candidates for Columbia County Sheriff - Meet Wayne Keen - candidate for Columbia County Sheriff - TREPO Board Meeting -Healthy trees enhance the value of a home. About Ft. White & County: - Tiger Spotted at several local springs. - Angel Food Ministries New On-Line Ordering. - More from Save Our Santa Fe - Visit from Sen. Bill Nelson About The Ichetucknee - Otter Springs - Springs in Distress - Big Part of Ichetucknee River Free of Invasive Species About The Busy Bees: - The Busy Bees do Rainbow Springs -In the Beginning, Suzanne Johnson - A Poem from Amanda Cartwright Public Forum: - Message from a Three Rivers resident. - Information for Columbia County Voters regarding Sheriff Candidate Mark Hunter - Message from a Lawyer - Posting from Disgruntled constituent For Sale - I Want: - Cars for Sale - Welcome Country Rivers Realty, Inc. -- Welcome - Vacation Rental on the Santa Fe - Accounting/Tax Services |
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| Purpose of the Ichetucknee Views Website This website is the brainchild of several people residing in Three Rivers Estates who want to give voice to matters pertaining to our community and our precious responsibility -- the Ichetucknee River. |
| Greg Munson's Happy Turtle Family |
| Welcome to the Three Rivers' ICHETUCKNEE VIEWS |
Three Rivers'
Creator: Karen Faunce
Contributors: Whomever wishes
to participate.
Contributors: Whomever wishes
to participate.
ICHETUCKNEE VIEWS
| North Florida gardens are in transition in August, a time to plant herbs and butterfly flowers By Don Goode Lake City Journal Sunday, August 03, 2008 A Gulf Fritillary butterfly enjoys Tithonia (Mexican Sunflower) as an afternoon snack. For the summer garden, consider adding flowers and larval host plants for our butterfly friends. (Don Goode photo) Many herbs, such as this basil, grow well into the summer months. For the best quality, harvest and use or dry your herbs before they bloom. (Don Goode photo) August is a transition month, signifying the ending of Summer and the beginning of Fall for our area. August can be used as a planning and preparation month to get ready for the Fall garden, landscape planting and other cooler season activities. Herbs If you don't already have a herb garden, consider planting some basil, oregano, chives and other heat tolerant herbs. A location with a little shade in the afternoon will benefit your herb garden. Consider harvesting the tender leaves and dry them for later use. Remove the leaves from the cut stems and spread the leaves on a paper towel to dry indoors or in the garage. When they feel crispy, place them in an airtight container for storage. Some herbs will begin blooming and going to seed this time of year. Their quality decreases at this blooming stage so you might want to plant some fresh plants at this point. For the Wildlife Butterflies are very active now and are looking for nectar plants. If you want to attract local butterflies, provide them with plants such as zinnias, Tithonia (Mexican Sunflower), and the native coral honeysuckle. Japanese honeysuckle and bottlebrush plants also attract humming birds. Provide water and set out a plate of old fruit for these small visitors. Plant larval host plants such as parsley, passion vines, milkweed and the native pawpaw will ensure a local population of butterflies through the summer. Lawn Care August is the latest time recommended in the Florida Lawn Handbook for applying a complete fertilizer to centipede grass. If you fertilize centipede later than August, it may not harden off completely and will tend to be more cold-sensitive when frosts come. Saint Augustine grass, bahiagrass and bermudagrass lawns can be fertilized into September. Avoid over fertilizing your lawn by using a slow-release fertilizer at the rate (or less) directed on the fertilizer bag. Many lawn problems (insects and diseases) are associated with too much nitrogen fertilizer and excess moisture (from rain or irrigation). If you fertilized your lawn in the spring but now need to improve the color of the lawn grass, consider using an iron product such as an iron chelate spray or a granular product such as Ironite to help green up the grass without stimulating tender growth. Flower Beds and Shrubs Watch for white fly, lacewing bugs and scale insects on your shrubbery and trees. They can cause discoloration of the leaves such as bronzing or a black sooty mold. A mild insecticide or soapy water spray should take care of these pests. If you see ladybugs present, let them do their job and do not use any sprays. Vegetable Garden In August you can plant heat-tolerant crops such as southern peas and start cool season plants for the Fall garden in seed flats. If you still have living tomato plants, you can start more plants for the Fall by making cuttings. Cut off several inches of new growth from healthy branches and stick them in pots with compost or potting soil. Keep the cuttings moist and in the shade until they start to grow. After they have a few inches of new growth, they can be transplanted to the garden for a Fall crop. If you cover the plants when there is a threat of frost, you may be picking tomatoes for Thanksgiving. Some gardeners grow tomatoes in five gallon buckets so they can be brought indoors for frost protection. Fruit Trees Fertilize your citrus in August and again in September with a fertilizer labeled for citrus to ensure they receive the needed micronutrients. Citrus should be watched for spider mites and other pests. Horticultural oil or a mild insecticide will help with these problems. Watch your citrus leaves for leaf miners - a small burrowing larvae that make tunnels in the leaves. Spray with Orthene if you see the miner's tunnels or pull the leaves and dispose of them if you only see a few miners. You may see partially eaten leaves and what appears to be a pile of bird droppings on your citrus tree. If you touch the droppings and they move, you have the citrus dog caterpillar which will mature into the giant swallowtail butterfly. If they are defoliating your tree you can spray with Dipel or some other insecticide containing Bt. This product will only kill caterpillar larvae. If you only have a few caterpillars, consider leaving them to become these beautiful butterflies. Other fruiting trees or bushes can be fertilized in August or early September but let them harden off for the Winter after that. Personal Protection Usually there is more than one option when treating a problem in the landscape. Sometimes you need a strong herbicide while other situations may be fine with a few layers of newspaper covered with mulch. Insect problems may require strong routine sprays while other pests could be controlled with oil or soap sprays. Diseases may require fungicides or it may suffice to turn the watering system to a less frequent setting or add mulch to keep the leaves clean and less likely to rot. Anytime you can make a choice to use less toxic measures is one more point in favor of a safer garden for your family and the living things around you. |
Spring is upon us -- With the
beauty comes the sneezing.
beauty comes the sneezing.
| ANNOUNCEMENT NEW CHAPTER OF TOPS (TAKE OFF POUNDS SENSIBLY) FORMED IN BRANFORD A new chapter of TOPS has formed in Branford. The chapter will begin their first meeting on September 8. The chapter will meet each Monday at 4:30 at Diva's, 408 SW Highway 27 in Branford (between Hardee's and Sub City). You do NOT have to be a member of Diva's to participate. Dues are $24.00 per year. More information is available from Vickie Myers at 935-4135 or their website at www.tops.org. The area coordinator, Chuckie Nerrill can be reached at (904) 264-0728. TOPS, a nonprofit organization providing legendary weight-loss support since 1948, has over 200,000 members worldwide. They meet weekly in local chapters, giving each other moral support and encouragement as they use good nutrition and exercise to take off and keep off pounds sensibly. |
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