Quote:
Originally Posted by PeteDz
The only suggestion I would have is to WAIT a couple of months before you do anything beyond the routine lawn mowing. A Lesson-Learned the hard way.
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I agree 100% except I'd advise waiting at a least a year to see what all the plants you THINK YOU WANT will perform during the different seasons. The magnolia is great except for all the leaves it drops all the summer, palms are great the first few years but who needs a 45 footer (except maybe AT&T for a cell tower) in a few years, the golden rain tree is wonderful except in October when it drops its seed pods, fruit plants can be messy and attract fruit rats, it seems all fruit comes in at the same time and most people with trees are begging you to take their surplus, pin oak trees offer great shade but are also great at plugging gutters with leaves and seem to drop nuts half the year to stain your driveway, a lot of palms and fruit trees and shrubs can't tolerate a long hard freeze, and TV gets one every few years, etc,etc.
It seems that especially nothern newbees go bonkers in thir first round of plantings because everything is so wonderful , and new, and grows all year, and, and ---. I know , we've been there, done that too.
The smart thing to do is tour the various villages of different ages (a good use of your cart when you can't get a tee time) and observe all the yards noting the good and the bad and note too the different effects as the plants you are interested in age and mature. You should also observe planting locations, distance from houses or other garden areas (yes, in FLA everything seems to get big, wide and tall fast).
Take pictures of what you like AND dislike. Then think about the maintenance a mature plant will demand, and its potential cost (trimming a 40 foot palm twice a year, picking up a 1/2 bushel of rotten fallen fruit each day)Then make your decisions.
Our personal impression, especially after touring the older areas, is that too much is planted too closely. Landscapers are happy to fill up the tard with lots of plants today to make it look "full", but you should be planting for three to 5 years down the road. It doesn't all have to be done the first 6 months you are here. You can always fill in with cheap annuals at first. You have the rest of your life to do it right.
