Two Tampa area home builders were honored for their use of water-wise landscaping.
John Cannon Homes was presented with the Water-Wise Landscape Recognition Award Thursday at the annual Tampa Bay Home Builders Association Spring Parade of Homes banquet. Homes by John C Fowke received the Honorable Mention award.
The winning design can be seen at John Cannon Homes Bondi model, 3129 Christophers Watch Lane in the Little Harbor Community in Ruskin. The design, landscaping and irrigation is by Trent Culleny Landscape Contractors. The exceptional water-conserving design features micro-irrigation, native and drought-tolerant plants and innovative waterfront protection using swales to prevent stormwater runoff into the waterfront canal. A new turf variety called Zoysia was installed in a small area in the front of the home, with the rest of the landscape creatively using groundcovers and pathways.
“The winning design demonstrated that water-wise landscapes that apply innovative irrigation technology, native and drought-tolerant plants and functional turf areas can have curb appeal,” said Angela Polo Maraj, the Southwest Florida Water Management District’s regional builder developer specialist. “Many of the landscapes were designed to complement the builders green-home packages and used many of the concepts of the Water-Wise program.”
The design that received honorable mention can be seen at the Homes by John C Fowke’s Cellini model, 5902 Alan Leigh Place in the Fish Hawk Ranch Community in Lithia. The design and landscaping is by Green Windmill Gardens and the irrigation is by Coggins Plumbing & Irrigation. The model is also featured as the Tampa Bay Home Builders Association’s Showcase Home and has been certified as a Florida-Friendly Yard by the Hillsborough County Cooperative Extension Service. The landscape highlighted pervious driveway materials, effective use of native and drought-tolerant plants with great colors and textures and micro-irrigation in the bed areas. In addition, the developers granted the builder a variance for the use of drought-tolerant Zoysia turf for this project.
The Water-Wise Landscape Recognition program is a competition held in conjunction with the Parade of Homes, which recognizes home builders’ efforts to incorporate water-conserving landscaping. The program’s cooperative partners include the Southwest Florida Water Management District and the Hillsborough and Pinellas county cooperative extension service offices.
Builders competing in the Water-Wise Landscape Recognition Award program are evaluated using the criteria derived from the University of Florida/Institute of Food and Agricultural Science’s Florida-friendly landscaping principles.
This is the first year the Water-Wise Landscape Recognition awards have been a part of the Tampa Bay Parade of Homes and feature Florida-friendly landscaping principles such as efficient irrigation and right plant right place. Maraj and Florida Yards and Neighborhoods coordinators from the Hillsborough and Pinellas county cooperative extension service and staff from the Hillsborough Mobile Irrigation Lab judged the entries.
Showcasing the water-conserving features included in the Parade of Homes landscapes is a unique way to promote outdoor water conservation.
Visit the District’s website at WaterMatters.org or call 1-800-423-1476 for more information about the nine principles of Florida-friendly landscaping and how to utilize water-wise landscaping techniques.