Stewardship in the Gardens Stewardship of the Florida Botanical Gardens involves many different activities, both planning and onthe-ground work. It includes everything from daily maintenance of the irrigation systems to litter control to keeping walkways free of debris and overhanging plant material to major plantings and much more. A core group of Park Rangers perform the daily work with the help of volunteers, while the Park Horticulturist and Natural Resource Specialists undertake the majority of the planning and oversight and the Parks Trades crews undertake the larger maintenance projects. With 100 acres of land comprising the site, there are always new projects in the planning and implementation stages going on here. One project Pinellas County Parks and Conservation Resources recently performed involved mechanical thinning of overgrown vegetation to promote a healthy, diverse ecosystem. This also reduced fuel loads of McKay Creek Greenway South, a natural area southeast of the main gardens. Palmetto had become the dominant understory, growing at densities which shaded out and did not not allow the growth of the normal healthy diversity of ground cover vegetation. A number of native vines had also grown at densities that were shading out trees and other native vegetation. A brush hog type of mechanical equipment was used to reduce the overgrowth of vines and palmetto within the nine-acre unit. Active vegetation management helps lessen the impacts of potential wildfires and helps increase the diversity of flora and faunal species. Additional work will be undertaken in the area on the south side of the Walsingham entry road in the fall of 2019. Both of these areas are part of the Preservation 2000 Property, which was acquired by the County for land protection within the McKay Creek Greenway and is part of the Florida Botanical Gardens site. This work will enhance public access to the managed areas and is fully in accord with the State Lands Management Plan that outlines the following criteria: 1. Encourage the establishment or re establishment and management of plant species that are indigenous to specific sites (i.e., emphasize hardwood management on hardwood sites; manage for pines on areas where fire would normally retard hardwoods; encourage both hardwoods and conifers on suitable sites). 2. Encourage the protection of endangered and threatened plants, and plants and plant communities which serve as important food sources and habitat for endangered and threatened animal species. 3. Encourage the location and removal of noxious exotic plant species. 4. Manage state-owned lands in a manner that maintains a desirable vegetation cover while providing multiple-use benefits to the citizens of the State of Florida.
FY2018 ANNUAL REPORT | 5