[JayK!]

Bismark Palm (will overtake your small yard). Christmas palm (not frost resistant).

[Girlcopper]

Originally Posted by bobdeb

Just my opinion, however, I do have some experience with the following.

These are some things I highly recommend you Do Not plant in your yard in The Villages. Please add whatever else you feel is appropriate.

1. Live Oak. Well, you may not have a choice here as one may already exist on your property. I love oak trees, and the shade they offer is welcomed from the heat of the sun.

However, you be forever dealing with relentless and testy little leaves and acorns that are difficult to control and clean up. They will ruin your lawn.

Personally, I would resist buying a home that already had an oak tree in the yard. And your nearby neighbor's live oak tree will also add to your endless yardwork.

They grow slowly but will eventually become enormous and offer yet more leaves and acorns.

2. Magnolia trees. These also grow very large and add to your relentless yard work. The flowers are lovely but I'm not a big fan of the huge leaves.

3. Citrus trees. Don't do it. It's tempting I know. Citrus trees take more care than one might imagine. So many of these grow unattended. There may be exceptions with some folks but the fruit will be beyond your ability to process or give away. It will fall and rot and attrack rats. And, in turn, the rats will attract snakes. Fruit trees are especially problematic for snow birds to manage.

The upside is that many citrus trees are quite attractive and the scent of the blossoms is exquisite.

4. Palm trees. I have four sylvester (king) palms, one pindo and one European fan.

The king and queen palms will grow beyond your ability to prune yourself. You will have to hire a crew annually to do that for you. Also, all palms have incredibly nasty thorns. You could lose an eye if not careful. The immature leaves are sharp spikes. Queen palm pods are extremely heavy and they will fall. The fruit from the king palms is significant to clean up.

European fan palms are full of needle like black slivers.

Face it, these trees evolved to protect themselves. It's tempting but don't plant palm trees. You'll thank me some day.

5. Anything else with nasty thorns unless you want a barrier between your home and your neighbors.

Agreewith everything except palm trees. Mine are pruned annually and look gorgeous

[Jewelz]

Originally Posted by Bjeanj

I had to look that up. Those are striking!

I have seen them around and they are beautiful!!

[Jewelz]

Thanks for all of the great info! We are new homeowners and plan to do a little freshening up to our 9 year old villa landscaping- I found some little specimen palms at Home Depot that will stay small and hopefully easy to maintain!

[almondz]

We specifically bought a house with no shedding trees. However, the neighbor behind us has one and guess where all the leaves end up? Yep, in the flower bed around our bird cage. I hate it, and the flower bed is not taken care of by lawn people - we have to do it. The squirrel's, as someone else pointed out, run all over the birdcage and mess with our dogs. The tree is near the end of the neighbor's driveway so offers no shade to his house or anything. It is a useless tree and boy do I wish it gone!

[bobdeb]

Live oaks are lovely to look at, on your property or in a park.

We have two homes here in TV. One has St Augustine grass. The annual cleanup of live oak leaves and acorns now fills 8 of those huge leaf bags. Eight! Yes, the huge paper bags.

And my neighbor's tree has huge limbs that go over my home. Yes, need to deal with that now.

And my rain gutters need cleaning out twice a year. Guess I need to invest in those screen things.

I love trees. I just don't want live oaks on my property or near by.

My neighbor, across the street no less, has a huge one and leaves will flood my garage if I leave the doors open. Yes, I have garage screens there too.

Look it's not like you have to defend trees with me. It's a huge mess for me rather than a cozy afternoon of raking.

No thanks.

[DaisyDE]

The wild lime plant s thorny, but should be welcomed to any garden, just placed in an area people won't often frequent. They are beautiful and the best part is they attract the most beautiful Giant Swallowtail butterflies. These yellow and black butters will lay eggs on the plant, so be sure not to spray or plant in an area treated (poisoned) with chemicals.

[EviesGP]

Originally Posted by ckbenjamin

Where were you 8 1/2 years ago? I wish I'd never planted palms. What a mess! Can't wait till they are dead and gone but then I might be before they are.

Exactly what I was going to say...where were you 2 1/2 years ago, when I was looking to buy??? JK. Seriously, I kind of violated 2 out of the 4 recommendations(plus 1). I say kind of, because I bought a pre-owned with 2 palms(I trim myself, but they're not as appealing as I thought). I planted 2 lime trees for wife(for her Patron). And I just bought a Bougainvillea from HD(beautiful flowers), but it's only in a pot! I'll have to watch for the thorns! Thanks for the info.

[Maryland Girl]

Originally Posted by John_W

We came in April of 2011 on a LSV for 7 days and stayed in the real nice cottage homes on the east side of LSL sales office, at the base of the Morse Bridge. I remember seeing those Edgewater Bungalows for sale on the internet, my budget was $185K so that eliminated them. Although I remember some went in the low 2's and I probably could of stretched the budget, but decided not to. I wish we did have a 2 car garage, I had a Camaro for a short while, but one of the reasons I got rid of it was because it was so a tight fit with the golf cart.

We closed July 5th of 2011, we arrived in late June but because of 4th of July Holiday we couldn't close beforehand, all the dates were already taken. We didn't have a lot of notice, we sold our home the morning after we listed it, in less than 18 hours. We had been here 3 weeks earlier on our LSV, so rather than make another trip, we bought our villa sight-unseen ourselves. The photos had not been put on the website yet. So our salesman drove over that night and took photos and emailed them to us.

So we stayed at the Holiday Inn at SS for about a week waiting to close. I actually like our location just below Buttonwood. We're 3-1/2 miles to LSL and 3-1/2 miles to Brownwood. We were going to BW five days a week to MVP, so this was convenient, we've cut it back to just 2 or 3 days a week now. My wife likes Zumba and I do the treadmill and weights. To me, the two best squares are both very close and I have 7 championship golf courses within 20 minutes by cart and Glenview is 25 minutes.

I grew up in Florida (St. Petersburg), I was born in Baltimore but my parents moved to Florida when I was in the 4th grade. However, in '89 I went back to Baltimore to visit and ended up getting married and staying for the next 22 years.

That is nice that you got to stay in one of the cottages. I remember they went on sale around the same time the Edgewater Bungalows did. I think they were going in the 500-700 thousand range but I could be off on that. I told my husband about your giving up your Camaro and that got a reaction out of him.

That is great that you sold your MD home so quickly. It took us about 3 months and we were glad when it sold. We bought our home in TV before selling the one in MD so it was a relief to get settled and not have to worry about selling or buying anymore. That was brave of you to buy your home sight unseen but I'm sure the photos helped. It sounds like you and your wife made the right decision. You are centrally located to all the activities you enjoy. I had never heard of Zumba until moving down here. You must really like to golf. I don't golf but my husband does. He took lessons after moving here but he sticks to the Executive courses.

From the age of 2, I lived in Baltimore City until I was 16 and then we moved to Baltimore County. Eventually, after college and marriage, my husband and I settled in Anne Arundel County and lived there from 1970-2011. I have so many memories of Baltimore including riding public transportation across town to and from school starting in Jr. HS at age 12. For better or worse, I haven't been there for many years. TV is amazing in that most everyone is from somewhere else. We run into people from MD and NY state (where my husband is from) regularly.The retired teacher's association of Anne Arundel County held their annual FL trip in TV, staying at the Waterfront Inn and posting numerous photos taken around TV. You have probably had similar experiences. TV is just a unique place.

[jimjamuser]

Originally Posted by DAVES

The point is read before you buy. Most any plant will have pluses and minuses. The catch all line is the right plant in the right place. We are all guilty. You go to the garden center or the box store and they all look great in the pot ready to be sold to you.

Mistakes? I am growing blueberries. Our soil ph is 7-8 and they need 4.5-5. For success you will need to grow them in pots-really big pots. Read that as heavy.
Truth they produce tons of fruit. The birds? I figure they are welcome to say 10%
First couple of years they took half. A sign that if they want to take more than 10% they should pay part of the expense. Seems they can't read. A few years they did leave me 10%. Now it is a race and they are either getting fast or I am getting slower.

I am an ex-northerner. At least up north the birds wait for the blueberries to ripen before stealing them. Up north the birds always left me more than enough. Florida birds have no class. They will eat them green and do not care to leave me any for my labor.

Get out the Red Ryder. Put up a target in the pot. Something like a bell that when hit will startle them. Pretend they are Black Bart. They might get that hint.

[mjpuleo]

I have dwarf pindo palm in my front yard. love it!!! just trim off the bottom branches if they fall too far to the ground. Blue daze flowers are wonderful for accents and very hardy.

[tvbound]

Thanks to all who have contributed to this thread. While we won't have a choice in the plants and landscaping of the used home we eventually purchase, it has certainly been educational on what might end up being removed and what to plant in the future.

[Villageswimmer]

Originally Posted by tvbound

Thanks to all who have contributed to this thread. While we won't have a choice in the plants and landscaping of the used home we eventually purchase, it has certainly been educational on what might end up being removed and what to plant in the future.

Good luck to you in your new home and landscaping. The Sumter County Master Gardeners offer a free, informative session titled “Florida Friendly Landscaping.” It’s usually offered at Rohan Rec Center. Watch the Daily Sun for the schedule. I think you will find the content interesting and helpful, and it will likely save you money by avoiding mistakes. Right plant, right place.

Take your time in making decisions.

The plants installed by the developer, even though you’re not thrilled with them now, are typically Florida friendly. Give them a chance while you learn as much as possible about available options.

[bobdeb]

The previous owner next door planted two loquat trees right close to his house. (I think I got the name right.) What a mess. Large leaves continually in my yard. Like daily.

The new owners thankfully had them removed as the branches were rubbing against their home. Not to mention the rotten fruit.

Can you say wahoo!

[Rosebud2020]

[=Jewelz;1905581]Thanks for all of the great info! We are new homeowners and plan to do a little freshening up to our 9 year old villa landscaping- I found some little specimen palms at Home Depot that will stay small and hopefully easy to maintain![/QUOTE]

Would you happen to know the name of the palms?

Are you planting them in the ground or in pots?