Suggestion for medium size bush?

[HandyGrandpap]

Seeking medium size bush would be below a window so not to get too big. They will be in an area where sprinklers do not reach. Any suggestions? Also where is a good lawn garden shop that you would suggest to view a good selection of what would work in this area.
Thank you

[thegfrerers@comcast.net]

Coontee palms stay low under windows

[Ozzello]

1000s and 1000s of answers with that question as is...Need more info. How big is medium to you? Do you want it close to full size when you plant it? Trimming required once , twice , 3 x a year? Flowers? Bug and disease resistant? Blooms? How often? can it lose leaves for winter? How close to home/location? SOIL Ph? super important.

[Ozzello]

As a general awesome plant for under windows, I would suggest Little Jon dwarf Bottlebrush . This plant gets an A+ for under windows in the Villages on all points, except the blooms are not as showy. It stands alone for pH tolerance. maintenance requirement is extremely low and has a nice texture and color even when it isn't blooming.

[Aw Man]

As a general awesome plant for under windows, I would suggest Little Jon dwarf Bottlebrush . This plant gets an A+ for under windows in the Villages on all points, except the blooms are not as showy. It stands alone for pH tolerance. maintenance requirement is extremely low and has a nice texture and color even when it isn't blooming.

Is the Little John Dwarf Bottlebrush a Native Florida plant?

[Ozzello]

Is the Little John Dwarf Bottlebrush a Native Florida plant?

No. it is native to Australia.

[Madelaine Amee]

You asked for recommendations for a nursery. My suggestion is to visit Village Palms on 466 at the intersection with Rolling Acres. They have an excellent selection of potted plants and are very knowledgeable about what grows in this area.

As for price .... I just purchased two, a tree trained bougainvillea and a small potted bougainvillea, one cost just over $50 and the potted one was $25. I consider that reasonable for good looking healthy plants that are guaranteed.

[graciegirl]

A medium sized bush is very hard to name. In this climate, almost everything becomes quite a lot bigger, very fast. Trimming is necessary on almost all bushes here, and it is usually needed frequently. Within about eighteen months, most foundation plantings that come with new homes becomes a forest, a jungle. (Translation; Quite a lot bigger)

Most landscapers are hired to take out bushes that have grown very quickly and replace them with others that cost thousands and thousands of dollars. They too will grow quickly. Trimming bushes and replacing them is a whole economy base to itself here in mid Florida.

[Ozzello]

If you are planting yourself, I would purchase from Home Depot, they have the best warrantee. Most other places are a partial warrantee and not full replacement. Home Depot will have lower prices and generally healthier , larger stock than any retail nursery.

[big guy]

There are many dwarf varieties of bigger plants. However, in some cases, the dwarf could be 20' tall and still be a "dwarf" version of the bigger tree. The bottle brush bush, as someone mentioned, is a nice plant but I think it looks best planted in mass. There are dwarf versions of loropetalum (chinese fringe) that are nice. One is Purple Pixie, the other is Purple Diamond (pricy), Daruma Dwarf, Crimson Fire, and Purple Daydream. There is dwarf Nandina 'Firepower'and a ground cover Nandina. There is a dwarf variety of a gardenia called 'Frostproof'. Google dwarf loropetalum, nandina, gardenia, and generally google "dwarf varieties " of landscape plants. You will be able to decide which plant will be best based on finished height, sun and watering needs. We are in zone 9a. The plant(s) you chose should say they are good for zone 9 or 9a. Good luck.

[billethkid]

Be sure to note the level of cold a given plant can stand.

The occasional below freezing winter days takes toll of tropical plants.

[thetruth]

Seeking medium size bush would be below a window so not to get too big. They will be in an area where sprinklers do not reach. Any suggestions? Also where is a good lawn garden shop that you would suggest to view a good selection of what would work in this area.
Thank you

It is great that you have the good cents to research BEFORE YOU PLANT.

You mention size, no sprinklers but not sun exposure.

We are going into,"winter," now is a good time to do a soil test and add any amendments. Most of the villages has sandy, limestone filled clay. Unless your location is unusual
you should add like 6 inches of organic matter and stur it in
to about the top two feet. Close to your home you will very likely find the builders left behind cement etc.

The cooperative extension likely has a list of suggested plants. The internet makes it easy to research each plant
for how it looks, pluses and minuses.

Even potted plants will need to be babied the first year till they root in.

You will need a TOUGH PLANT as that spot will run both too wet-due to water coming off of your home to too dry-due to lack of sprinklers.

[big guy]

That is why you look for a plant for our zone....9a. The plants for our zone would be able to tolerate the temperature extremes we have.

[Villageswimmer]

A good rule of thumb is to look at plants The Villages plants and, importantly, where they plant them. They have mastered appropriate use of plant materials in our zone. Drive around and look at plants they use in large open areas, near buildings, and even ground covers where turf once grew.

[graciegirl]

The very reason I didn't tear up what the builder gave us. Now that all my neighbors have "landscaper landscaped" yards which all look the same, ours is the standout!



All things weigh differently, many have no scale.

You have remarkable good sense, sir. Or madam.:bigbow:

[Rzepecki]

As already suggested, Coontie is a great idea. Never needs pruning. But I prefer Better John to Little John. Grows 3’ x 3’ and if it needs pruning at all, it would just be a stray branch here or there.

[cherry 2]

I would also recommend KB landscaping on 462, they were very helpful and knowledgeable when I was there.

[tophcfa]

We like podacarpus, they can grow big if you don't trim them, but they are very easy to trim and shape. The branches are more leafy than woody, so they are easy to trim. They are very hardy and grow in very full. They make a nice hedge but also look nice as a stand alone.

[Odysseus]

Don't think bush, think plant. Schefflera and Croton do well here. And, if you lose some to a hard frost (rare, but it happens), cut off the dead bits and they grow right back. You could check out The Villages Florida Native Plant group for help. All bushes need pruning in this climate if you want to keep them low.

[myluckyday]

gooneys on 466A just past colony being the barbs place is a nice place to start..