Homeowner Toolkit

Do you use a yard maintenance service? Live in a deed-restricted community? Ready to throw up your hands and surrender the fight to protect fun? Stop! The materials below can help you put your Be Floridian principles into practice, come HOA or high water.

Create a Beautiful Florida Garden

A great way to Be Floridian Now is to start a rain garden with Florida native plants! Instead of rainwater from your roof flowing into the street and into storm drains, rain gardens contain the runoff and allow it to slowly percolate into the soil. Florida native plants are a great choice to use in your rain garden because they are well-adapted to Florida’s environment, decreasing the need for fertilizers and pesticides while providing a critical habitat for local wildlife and pollinators.

Native Plants Rain Garden Manual

Yard Service Pledge

Make sure your yard service is certified in best management practices — and puts them into use. Print out the Pledge to Protect Our Fun and ask your contractor to fill it out. If they can’t meet the requirements, find another service.

Yard Pledge

How to Go Floridian in an HOA

Use this step-by-step guide to make the case for a Be Floridian yard makeover — without making enemies on your HOA board.

Makeover How-To

Spread the word

Suggest these articles for your HOA newsletter.

Spring Article Summer Article Fall Article

Get the Facts

Share these facts about how Florida-friendly landscapes benefit deed-restricted communities.

HOA Benefits

Fertilizer Calculator

Calculate the Number of Pounds of Fertilize to Use on Your Lawn

Step 1

Determine the size of your lawn and landscaping (in square feet) to be fertilized and record that number in the box to the right. Please do not use commas (ex. 1500 square feet). To determine the size of your lawn and landscape, use one of the methods below:
  • Use a tape measure to physically measure the land area to be covered with fertilizer.
  • Informally 'walk' or pace the space to get a less precise gauge of the area to be fertilized.
  • Consider your entire lot size and subtract all impervious areas, such as the house, garage, sheds, driveways, gardens, and other non-lawn areas. If your property contains, or is adjacent to, a body of water or wetland, then remember to leave a 25' fertilizer-free buffer zone. The remaining amount should be the square footage that needs fertilizer.
(enter number with no commas)

Step 2

What rate of nitrogen do you want to put down on your lawn? The Be Floridian Now program recommends 1 pound of nitrogen per one thousand square feet (1 lb N/1000 sq. ft.) To apply at this rate, enter 1 in the box below. To apply at a lower rate, enter the desired rate in the box, using a decimal equivalent. Do not use fractions (/ sign).

Step 3

What is the nutrient content of the fertilizer you are going to use? It is described by the three numbers on the bag (ex. 8-2-4).

The first number corresponds to the percentage of nitrogen (N) in the bag. The second number is the percentage of phosphorus (P), and the third number, potassium (K).

To comply with local fertilizer ordinances, lawn fertilizer must contain at least 50% slow-release nitrogen (N), and it cannot contain any phosphorus (P) — the second number on the bag must be 0.

Click here to learn how to determine if your lawn fertilizer is 50% slow-release and to get a list of compliant products.

Enter the first number (N) in the box below to calculate how many pounds of the fertilizer you need to apply.

Your Fertilizer Calculation

Apply pounds of fertilizer.
Submit

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