Third Time's a Charm: An Urban Landscape Summit Report Back

By Michael Gutierrez

March 2018 marked year number three for the UF/IFAS Center for Landscape Conservation and Ecology Urban Landscape Summit. Arguably the best summit to date, this year’s event included informative and sometimes surprising insight from experts actively involved in developing solutions for urban landscape issues in Florida. UF/IFAS Miami-Dade Florida Yards and Neighborhoods (FYN) Coordinator Laura Vasquez traveled from South Florida to Gainesville to attend the event and agreed to share her summit experience with IrriGator.

Outdoor water-use all-stars: Jesus Lomeli, Bernard Cardenas, Michael Dukes & Laura Vasquez @ Urban Landscape Summit! pic.twitter.com/tyOVjMUMnB

— UF/IFAS Miami U.C.U. (@MiamiUCU) March 14, 2018

Can you tell us about the work you do as Miami-Dade's FYN Coordinator?

LV: Our program encompasses three different sections: the Florida-Friendly Landscape portion of FYN, the irrigation portion (which is the Urban Conservation Unit) and also the rain barrels in schools program. I coordinate different events with the staff and work in each of the sections to help achieve program goals and teach landscape sustainability.

What was your primary motivation behind attending Urban Landscape Summit 2018?

LV: My primary motivation is learning about all these issues and solutions affecting urban landscapes and trying to apply them to our program in South Florida.

Was there any presentation(s) that really surprised you this year with new/original information?

LV: The presentation that stood out for me was the soil and tissue testing for Florida turfgrasses talk by Dr. Travis Shaddox from Fort Lauderdale REC. He talked about how much of the tissue testing for turfgrass is void. When someone does a tissue test, they receive a report that offers recommendations on how much fertilizer should be applied. He explained how there hasn’t been much research for establishing ranges for fertilizer application. So now Dr. Shaddox is working on establishing ranges of what should be applied based on tissue test results.

The fact that this is just now being addressed was surprising to me. This new insight suggests that recommending any kind of fertilizer use based on test results is not something we should continue to do.

Thank you @mddukes for leading such a quality event! https://t.co/O2vd8pYND6

— Travis Shaddox (@TravisShaddox) March 15, 2018

Did you learn anything that you feel you can immediately apply to your work in Miami-Dade?

LV: With respect to the previous question definitely. Don’t be so quick to recommend soil/tissue testing since the usefulness of results are in question. In addition, researcher Bernard Cardenas presented a study on how quickly rain sensors dry out. According to his work, on average rain sensors dry out within 24 hours. For me this indicates that rain sensors are not the best option.

Miami-Dade Extension's Laura Vasquez conducts an FFL certification 

That’s fascinating, given that rain sensors are often the simplest/most practical option for preventing unnecessary irrigation. So what’s the alternative?
LV: For now, we’ll continue to push weather-based irrigation controllers/cloud-based controllers and shy away from rain sensors. Many homeowners depend on rain sensors but having this confirmation that they dry much faster than moisture in the soil was kind of surprising.

Your team has been consistent about attending the summit every year. What would you say to anyone working in your field that has been thinking about attending but hasn't yet?

LV: The best advice I would give is that if you really want to expand your knowledge of landscape sustainability, irrigation technology and on-going research that’s happening at the University - not only by professors but also students, so many students presenting posters with new ideas - this summit is one you should attend. There are opportunities as well to network with the people that are initiating all this work - one-on-one contact with top researchers in landscape sustainability and irrigation.

Previewing Urban Landscape Summit 2018

By Michael Gutierrez

The 2018 Urban Landscape Summit is next week. It’s a rare treat to pack so much relevant Florida green industry insight in just two days of programming. A quick scan of the agenda reveals integrated pest management experts, turfgrass science experts, academic and municipal water-use experts as well as some great student poster topics. The UF/IFAS Center for Landscape Conservation and Ecology (CLCE) is the organizing body behind the summit. CLCE Director Dr. Michael Dukes agreed to an interview with IrriGator to preview the event.

This is the Urban Landscape Summit’s 3rd incarnation. Other than the underlying urban landscape aspect, is there a theme to this year’s programming?

MD: The past two years have been heavily focused on water issues. This year we still have water since it's such an important issue in landscapes but we also have topics just as important such as invasives and pests as well as homeowner insights. In addition, we have a nice diversity of topics being presented by graduate students.

Do you have any specific presenters or topics you are excited about or looking forward to?

MD: I’m looking forward to the entire conference but especially our keynote speaker, Timothee Sallin, who is the President of Cherrylake - once a traditional nursery but now vertically integrated to provide management and maintenance of their installed horticultural material.

Also, I really enjoy the 5 minute lightning round presentations. They give just enough information so I can tell whether it is applicable to me and if I need further discussion with the presenter.

This year the second day of programming is comprised of In Service Trainings (IST), any insight on this new focus?

MD: Due to IFAS budget cuts last year, fewer resources were available for ISTs, thus we sought to capitalize on the fact that much of our audience are extension agents and are already traveling to the summit. As a result, in addition to the summit been a formal IST, we have two other ISTs the second day taught by CLCE faculty.

Michael Dukes at the UF/IFAS Landscape Unit (image UFABE Blog)

For someone who works in an urban landscape-related field and is on the fence about attending, what is your best pitch for participating?

MD: The information presented at the summit is cutting edge research and extension information that can immediately be used by practitioners. In addition, this is an opportunity to meet faculty and county agents working in this area.

The 2018 Urban Landscape Summit takes place March 14-15 on the UF campus in Gainesville, FL. Register here.