Environmental Aspects of Florida

Environmental aspects and issues that make or break Florida the so called sunshine state. Captured photographs by Hannah Doble

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Although Florida is very beautiful and a great place to vacation, I think it is a good idea to end my blog with a Maine related post. Florida sunsets are special, but nothing beats a warm Maine summer night watching the sunset turn from orange to pink as it goes down. In Florida, the sunsets are always pink and purple, maybe some blue. Here in Maine, I have experience more sunsets than I can imagine and most of them are orange and pink, and are perfect for pictures as each layer of the sunset is usually a different color. Unlike Florida, finding backroads in the woods are not easy to find, as there woods are usually open and turned into golf courses. No matter where a dirt road takes you in Maine, you are bound to come across some beautiful scenery filled with mountains and wildlife. That’s why Maine’s environment is so special.

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Although Florida’s environment is lacking sufficient water supply and is often damaged by immense sudden amounts of water, plants, palm trees, and other landscaping essentials find ways to survive and continue to grow. Unlike Maine, constant landscape work and replanting is always needed in Florida because of the dramatic climate change and sudden environment  damages. Florida is filled with resorts and parks that must be kept clean and beautiful in order to keep visitors vacationing in the sunshine state. Although the pictures I have posted of the landscaping is mostly maintained and pretty, there are major parts of Florida that are very dry and cause fires that destroy wildlife, homes, and Florida’s environment as a whole.

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We have covered the palm tree topic before but some areas have not been touch upon thus far. Florida used to be full of natural growing palm trees that had been growing for thousands of years. Now, palm tree farms are located all over the state where fertilizers and other growth hormones are chemically sprayed on the trees for larger based plants. If you go back and look at the palm tree pictures I uploaded and compare them to the palm trees I have just uploaded you will notice some difference. Depending on which part of Florida you are in, will steer you in different directions for different looking and types of palm trees. These palm trees are all located in The Villages where they were planted as full grown trees after being purchased NOT planted and grown in The Villages. The Villages is a wealthy place for retired living and therefore they water and feed their palm trees and plants. As you can see here, they also make wooden arms that help keep the palm tree in a straight position and also help hold the palm three is place when hurricane and high winds visit Florida which is pretty often. However, serious tornados and hurricanes destroy palm trees every year and once they are damaged and lose their shape and form there is no getting that original palm tree look back, just like the millions of houses and business destroyed each year from the weather in Florida. Rain is another factor that can causes palm trees to become weathered down and damaged. Direct sun however does not affect the palm trees but the palm trees do provide shade for many different animals, plants, people, and natural habitats.

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I took all three of this pictures while on an airboat ride on Lake Panasoffkee. Floridians often call it lake Pam for short. The air boat ride was unsuccessful for most because of the season. March is very warm in Florida especially this year and the alligators are hiding under logs and other plants and trees that provide shade for them. Alligators swim up to 11 mph and can stay under water for 25 minutes. So, when it’s 85 degrees and very dry, they swim a lot and stay under water as much as they can. On a side note, alligators in the past were a threat to people in Florida because they were coming out of the water and on to dry land surrounding people. This past year it has been very hot so it has not been much of an issue. With that being said, my grandparents that live in The Villages have had multiple phone calls alerting them that a few of the alligators came out of the ponds near the golf courses and were lost trying to find their way back to the ponds while animal safety was on their way. The first photo and the last photo look almost identical but they are not. To be honest, these photos were taken 10 miles apart. I wanted to show you all the comparison because this lake is very swampy and as you can tell many swamp like areas that are very narrow and spots like photographed above all look so similar it is very easy to become lost on Lake Panasoffkee.

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CLOSER LOOK! As I went for a casual walk I realized that it was painful to wear sandals and walk on uneven and rocky roads. I thought barefoot was tough but even wearing sandals it painful. Every night I went for a 4-5 mile jog and even in sneakers my feet were sore. It is obvious that rain, tornadoes, hurricanes, and direct sun have caused the roads to be in this condition. Traffic in this area is very LIGHT. Most people travel with golf carts so it is clear that the environment and proper road care is the cause.

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ROADS!! Instead of giant pot holes like Maine, Florida has rock-like pavement that is horrible to walk on barefoot and looks terrible. Back to raising the rent, $25 dollars each would not be enough to repave the entire park, and according to park laws the owners would need to make it clear they were repaving to make the community aware of when it would be happening. Therefore, the roads will continue to chip away and rock debris will continue to be thrown around form walkers, cars, golf carts, and animals.

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Orange City Park has recently increased rent by $25 dollars. EVERY house in the park has this particular sign that the park community board printed out. This is my grandparents house, which they both are a big part of the community board.  They have been there 16 years and rent has not been raised like this. They also have not been given a reason why rent is being raised, they have just been told that they will now be in charge of mowing their own lawns. WHAT LAWN? No one mows their lawns because there is simply not enough grass, and I mow lawns in the summer and mowing sand/dirt is no fun. They are waiting for the owners that live in Michigan to come visit and see all the signs. What will the owners do if no one pays the increase in rent? Most renters only live in the park for 6 months of the year.

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Here is picture of one of my mornings in Florida. It was sunny and 70 and the next minute it is completely down pouring and we have 3-4 inches of rain. An hour and a half later it is sunny! Just a typical day in Florida. This is NOT good for the environment. Excessive rain so fast leads to damage. As you can tell, all this water has no place to drain so it is built up on the grass waiting for sun to dry the water out. Not to mention this is not good for plants.

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Here is a closer look of the lawn and landscape in Orange City. This is not just how one land/house looks, all of the lawns in the park look like this. Later on I will post pictures of my other Grandparents that live somewhere else in Florida that is more expensive and newer therefore the landscaping and environment is different. It is truly sad how burnt their lawn is here in Orange City. When I first started coming here it was bright green like the grass is in the summer in Maine. Once again, they are not allowed to do any landscaping as it is a strict rule in this park.

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As I have mentioned a few times, Florida has had a decrease in rain in 2016 to the current date. I have been going to my grandparents house in Orange City since I was about 5 years old. Each year it is obvious that the environment (lawn, trees, plants, mulch, etc.) lacks natural care more and more. Most of you are probably thinking “well why don’t they water them?”. Well, water bills in this certain park (Orange City Park) are very expensive because of the lack of rain each year. You can see how the grass is literally burning into the ground and sand is starting to appear more and more.

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Here is the super close up! It is obvious that the cactus lacks water because of this huge crack. Eventually the cactus will be full of these cracks or cuts and will start to break apart completely. It also doesn’t help that the cactus is positioned in the front of their house, which is direct sunlight. If the cactus was placed outback where the orange trees are it might have kept its younger age. On a side note, Orange City has had a huge downfall and decrease in oranges. There is not enough rainfall and when it does rain the excessive pouring has killed a lot of the natural trees that are not located in orange tree farms.  

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Here is a closer look on the cactus from my last post! Here you can start to see that the cactus is getting old, and lacking attention and water. In reality, the cactus isn’t a true cactus that belongs in the desert. Therefore, it does need to be in a warm environment that has frequent water. Florida does not get much rain and when it does rain it POURS which is not proper for the health of this plant. My next picture will be a super close up of a “cut” in the cactus so stay tuned!

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This is a cactus that has been around for almost 25 years. This cactus is located in Orange City, Florida; where my grandparents live 6 months of the year. When they bought their house 16 years ago, the cactus was in good condition. From the distance this picture is taken from, you can’t really tell the condition the plant is in. Take a lot at my next post to get a closer look.

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This is a smaller palm tree thats average cost is around $1,200. Palm trees are great for shade, keeping grass and other small plants from the direct sun, but, palm trees attract many different bugs. With that being said, insect infestation is a huge issue for Floridians. Not to mention landscaping is very expensive in Florida. An average person in the Villages specifically (Where this photo was taken) spends at least $15,000 on landscaping. Some houses I saw spent up to $40,000 for complete shade and privacy from near by houses. #palmtrees #environment #2ndpost

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Being in Florida is always a pleasure and usually full of sunshine which people are distracted by palm trees, sunshine, oceans, sand, and nice hotels. Little do some know, Florida is filled with environmental issues that potentially could ruin the “picture perfect” vacation land. 

I am excited and nervous to start this blog but more important i am more aware and educated of the issues, aspects, and positives of Floridans environment. 

Florida is very dry. Yet when it rains, it pours. We will explore what the heat and direct sun has done thus far  to the surface of Florida’s land. 

Wildlife. We will explore some wildlife and the problems and or positives they provide the state. 

Insects: I bet a lot of you right now are thinking “well there are insects everywhere”. Florida has some pretty nasty and infesting insects. I had an awful experience I will share with you all provided with information, education, and pictures. 

Palm trees and other landscaping: We will explore and educate different types of landscapes and really understand how important landscaping can be for different parts of Florida.

I visited two different parts of Florida that mainly differ in age, cost and expense, and lifestyle. You will realize that Florida has environmental issues everywhere, some places just have enough money to “hide” the issues. 

FIRST POST! PALM TREES!

Florida is known to be the sunshine state. Therefore, palm trees truly make the state and are very memorable for visitors. Did you know that a small palm tree about 4-5 feet tall can start at the price of $500 dollars. A palm tree like the one in this photo can be anywhere from $1,500-$4000. Check in later for more information on palm trees and why they are so important for Florida’s environment.