"How to Do Florida" films second episode in Bradenton

MANATEE -- The Bradenton area will be the star of not one, but two episodes of Chad Crawford's "How to Do Florida."

Last week at the Bradenton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau's National Tourism Week luncheon, Crawford announced an hourlong special featuring Manatee County. The episode will kick off his show's seventh season.

But Crawford wasn't finished with the Bradenton area. He and his TV show team held a contest for homeowners who need a yard makeover. It garnered 100 submissions and Crawford said the chosen yard fits his parameters.

"We felt like her yard was the most drastic transition," Crawford said. "We took out 70 percent of the grass." Crawford wanted a "typical" Florida home for the episode -- one with residents who respond to a homeowner association. The homeowners featured on the show are in the Palma Sola area, and were spending more than they wanted on chemicals and maintenance of their yard, Crawford said.

Crawford and his crew spent about eight hours on the yard last week. He came up with the landscape-makeover episode idea "several seasons" ago and his passion for conserving water and Florida's natural environment drove him to see it through.

"Florida is on an unsustainable path with how we use our water," Crawford said. "We have to re-think

how we use water for landscaping."

The University of Florida Manatee County extension office has a program to help homeowners with different landscaping or yard issues.

Ross Peterson, Florida friendly landscape coordinator at the extension office, said the free landscape assistance program helps those who feel overwhelmed by maintenance.

"We encourage them to submit soil samples of the areas they are interested in landscaping," Peterson said. "We include native plants as part of those recommendations, but the Florida friendly landscape program isn't limited to native plants of Florida. We do try to direct them and recommend plants that are more drought-tolerant than others and don't require as much fertilization."

The "How to Do Florida" episode featuring a Bradenton-area yard will air in August.

Janelle O'Dea, business reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7095 or follow her on Twitter @jayohday.

This story was originally published May 9, 2016 at 11:36 PM with the headline ""How to Do Florida" films second episode in Bradenton ."