Florida-Friendly Campaign Attracting Attention

Florida-Friendly

Television viewers throughout the District are learning about Florida-friendly landscaping through the District’s new advertising campaign.

The series of three commercials feature people enjoying beautiful Florida-friendly yards while homeowners and landscaping experts tell the viewer more about the nine basic principles.

Portions of the commercials were taped at Lakewood Ranch, a development in Sarasota and Manatee counties that is certified by the Florida Green Building Coalition as a green community. Lakewood Ranch incorporates green construction and Florida-friendly landscaping principles into the development plan.

An expansive Florida-friendly garden that complies with the Florida Yards & Neighborhoods Program is located outside the development center.

“The builders have really embraced the Florida-friendly concept,” said Sondra Guffey, director of Media and Communications for Lakewood Ranch. “In fact, the vice president of one of the builders actually helped construct one of the Florida-friendly gardens.”

Look for the District’s Florida-friendly ads on television through the end of March. The ads will be featured on the local Tampa channels, as well as cable. They can also be seen on several county government access channels, and Channel 8 will feature the Florida-friendly landscaping principles on their Friday Daytime programs in March.

In addition to the television ads, residents throughout the District are seeing Florida-friendly billboards and reading about Florida-friendly landscaping practices in their newspapers. The District’s water conservation restroom trailer, which features Florida-friendly landscaping education, will also be at various special events throughout the District.

“Florida-friendly landscapes are beautiful, they save water, and they protect the environment,” said Communications Director Linda McBride. “With up to 50 percent of our residential water use occurring outdoors, we decided to focus our conservation education on promoting Florida-friendly landscapes. These public service announcements are part of a long-term plan to spread the word with our partner, the Florida Yards & Neighborhoods Program.”

For more information about Florida-friendly landscaping practices, visit the District’s web site at WaterMatters.org. You can also call your county Extension office.