Sustainable South Florida Gardening: Beautiful Yards with Native Plants

Sustainable gardening is becoming more important to our planet, communities, and our health. Part of sustainability is maintaining our natural habitats and maintaining a key balance with nonnative species. In her debut book, seasoned gardening writer Kim Frisbie aims to educate South Florida gardeners about how they can best maintain a visually appealing lawn and home garden while also using naïve plants and not over manicuring. Kim underscores the dangers of pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides to our health and how natural flora on Florida can help avoid the need for these chemicals while creating a beautiful landscape.

Kim has a history of writing about gardening from Horticulture Magazine in the late 1970s to newspapers throughout the country. Currently, she writes for the Palm Beach Post about native Florida gardening and plants. Readers will not only learn about the tips and tricks for maintaining sustainable plants in their home gardens but will also discover the importance of our native population of birds, insects, and other fauna.

Kim Frisbie writes for the Palm Beach Daily News about sustainable native plantings in South Florida’s landscape. She has a BA in English with a minor in Horticulture from Smith College and an MS in Ornamental Horticulture from the Longwood Program at the University of Delaware. She published her first articles for Horticulture Magazine in the late 70’s and wrote a gardening column for several Philadelphia papers for twelve years. After moving to Palm Beach, she realized island residents were creating dangerous monocultures by using the same alien species with little concern for or understanding of sustainable ecosystems. Manicured, chemically treated properties had resulted in diminished songbirds, butterflies, and pollinators. Toxic pesticides, fungicides and herbicides applied to lawns and hedges killed essential beneficial insects and micro-organisms while polluting the air, soil and waterways. Kim’s aim is to educate the public on the essential role of native species to the insects and pollinators that provide sustenance for birds and wildlife. She underscores the dangers of pesticides, herbicides and fungicides to our health and that of our children and pets. She hopes to teach better appreciation of the inherent beauty of Florida’s natural flora, which can be incorporated into any landscape.