FORESTRY RESOURCES HELPS KEEP LANDSCAPES GREEN WITH ENVIRONMENTALLY SUSTAINABLE FERTILIZERS

Thursday March 13, 2008

Adhering to environmentally green principles while maintaining a green landscape requires expert knowledge of which products are both effective and earth friendly. That’s why Forestry Resources Inc. offers a line of fertilizers designed to provide maximum benefit to landscape while minimizing the impact on the environment.

Rain and irrigation can wash nitrogen and phosphate nutrients from fertilizer into underground water supplies, canals, bays and the Gulf of Mexico, exacerbating algae blooms that rob the water of oxygen, killing fish and other marine life.

Fertilizer runoff is a primary contributor to this sort of water pollution in Southwest Florida. To help reduce the harmful effects of such elements, the Naples City Council has followed the lead of other communities, including Sanibel Island and Sarasota County, recently passing a law restricting the frequency and types of fertilizer used in the city.

The law prohibits the use of fertilizers containing nitrogen and phosphorus between June 1 and Sept. 30, the traditional rainy season, when it is most likely to drain into bodies of water. Fertilizers used the rest of the year may contain no more than 2 percent phosphorus and at least half of the nitrogen must be the slow-release variety. Fertilizer application is restricted to a maximum of four times a year and the amount applied is also limited.

“We support this initiative,” said Alan Shaffer, vice president of sales, marketing and store operations for Forestry Resources Inc., an industry leader and pioneer in the manufacturing and distribution of environmentally friendly landscape materials. “Our cutting-edge fertilizers provide high-quality nutrition for plants and turf while releasing slowly. At the same time, they protect the environment by minimizing the amount of nitrogen and phosphorus runoff that reaches waterways.”

Because of its unique controlled-release formula, the fertilizer can be applied less often, generally once every six to 12 months.

“This also creates healthier, more stable growing conditions that result in improved plant materials and higher production,” Shaffer said. “The less-frequent application reduces costs by eliminating the need to purchase and store additional fertilizers and the labor required for added applications during the growing seasons.”

The reduced costs of less-frequent application offset the higher price of the products with an early break-even point, Shaffer said, and help professionals cultivate superior landscapes while helping to improve water quality.

The environmentally sustainable character of the Florikan controlled-release fertilizer earned a Gulf Guardian Award from the Environmental Protection Agency in 2005.

Fertilizers fall into three general categories:
-Short-acting (granular) fertilizers deliver nutrients immediately but may also disperse immediately, especially after a heavy rain. Because Florida soils are sandy, the nutrients in most granular fertilizers can degrade and wash away when exposed to heat, humidity and rainfall.
-Slow release (often called sulfur-coated urea or SCU) fertilizers are unpredictable because they react to the temperature, moisture and organisms in the soil. Stress such as rainfall can dissolve the sulfur coating, resulting in erratic growth spurts that can weaken plants and trees as well as pollute waterways. Slow-release fertilizers typically coat only nitrogen for slowly available … but undefined release, which means that other important major and minor nutrients disperse more quickly and can result in plant deficiencies. This is referred to as the feast-and-famine cycle, when plants are overfed then underfed by fertilizers that are not properly formulated for their growing conditions.
-Forestry Resources’ Florikan controlled-release fertilizers use a patented polymer coating on macro, secondary magnesium and micronutrients, thereby eliminating the feast-and-famine cycle. Plants and turf are well nourished for the entire release period of six to 12 months. The nutrients are released slowly and predictably over time as a result of diffusion through a patented process in the coating. In addition, these controlled-release fertilizers are custom blended for Florida’s specific average soil temperatures and growing conditions. The fertilizers are available in a variety of blends created for specific needs, and can be purchased in large bulk or bag quantities by golf courses for common areas, municipal roadways and parks, homeowner associations, residential and commercial lawn care and pest control companies, property management resources, as well as the general public.

“These fertilizers are ideally suited to local growing conditions and meet the requirements set forth in the new Naples regulations,” Shaffer said. “They will be equally beneficial in areas that do not have such regulations. They are healthier for the plants and turf and better for the environment as a whole.”

This line of fertilizer products also meets the State of Florida’s new limits on nutrient levels in fertilizer. Adopted by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, the requirements will affect all bagged fertilizers sold in Florida starting in 2009. The limits were developed after studies determined that yards can remain healthy with less potent fertilizer. Healthy plants and turf can resist drought, pest, weed and fungal related problems, resulting in the reduced use of water and chemical treatments.

Forestry Resources is an industry leader in the manufacturing of environmentally sensible landscape materials for wholesale and retail distribution and is widely known for FloriMulch, the company’s signature mulch product that is made from melaleuca trees, the highly invasive exotic. For information about Forestry Resources, landscaping, landscape products and the Southwest Florida environment, call 239-334-7343, visit one of the company’s six wholesale-retail locations throughout Lee, Collier and Sarasota counties, or go to www.GoMulch.com on the Web.