Thank you for attending our booth at FRPA 2024!

Florida’s abundant freshwater resources are shown to be heavily impacted by traditional landscaping practices. Groundwater withdraws have tripled over the last 50 years and pose a significant threat to the amount of water available to residents, industries, and wildlife that depend on Florida’s fragile groundwater ecosystems. In-ground irrigation systems, which have become the standard in master planned communities and residential yards, are a major factor in the depletion of our finite water source. The vast quantities of fertilizer required to maintain typical turf monocultures in residential yards not only finds its way into our water, but also severely impacts the health of our soils. Chemical fertilizers cause nutrient imbalances in the soil, while also promoting poor water retention, leading to an even higher usage of water when maintaining the traditional yard. Master planned communities that utilize turf monocultures and promote non-native plantings require the use of chemical pesticides that also contribute to the pollution of our water supply. The conventional landscaping patterns established in most master planned communities do little to mitigate or compensate for the larger problem of habitat loss of Florida’s natural ecosystems and further contribute the nutrient pollution, including phosphorus and nitrogen, that negatively affects Florida’s watersheds and surface waters.

In response to these issues, THE OUTSIDE COLLABORATIVE established this handbook to provide landscape guidelines for master planned communities to do just that! These guidelines are based on principles of sustainable design that are intended to maximize community amenities and homeowner experience, while also making them more functional for the landscape and its ecology.

THE OUTSIDE COLLABORATIVE continues to test and learn using academically monitored and measured experimental designs monitoring biodiversity, water use, and plant health, as well as real-world applications. The lessons learned are assigned to the Pattern Book, which is shared widely and freely to inspire and inform.