Attn. Owners of newly constructed homes!
 

Attn. Owners of newly constructed homes! STOP the CRAZY!

Stop putting rocks around your "stock" landscape.
Stop trying to keep a bunch of those shrubs, as most are small trees and planted too close together and too close to your home.

80% of the homeowners having landscaping done to a new home, will be calling another landscaper in 2-5 years to "fix" it. Good designs will actually IMPROVE for a minimum of 7 years.

All that gravel you are putting in to stop weeds, doesn't, and creates hard to clean messes when you have to start trimming all those shrubs you mistakenly kept. AND, the gravel makes the re-do cost more.

If you found your landscaper because they knocked on your door, they aren't the real deal. But neither are some of those big outfits with huge advertising and huge retail nurseries that send SALESPEOPLE calling themselves designers to wow you.

HINT: if they want you to come pick out what plants you want, and you aren't educated in the field, you have the wrong landscaper.

Just because all your neighbors are rushing to get an upgraded landscape, don't just jump in. WAIT and WATCH. look at stuff at least 3 years old (or even 10+ years if you're smart) from the landscaper you are thinking of dealing with.

With that 80% chance of having a poor job done, even at 3 or 4 estimates, good chance you haven't found a good designer/installer with a real education and the integrity to give you the lasting landscape, instead of the "job security" landscape.

Good luck all.

You can contact Master Gardener, they have on site meetings at Pinellas Plaza and ask them what good and bad plants are. As I recall they have a book less than $30(?) that details a lot of information on Floridia plants. Under the heading of been there and done that, there are a few things in our landscaping I would definitely done differently, and weed stop barrier is one of them, wish I had never had this installed.

But they don't actually DO landscaping, or design a landscape for you, or take responsibility for the landscape you get according to the advice they give... like a good landscape design and installation company does.
Let's try to keep this thread on topic and not derail to ARC approval or Master Gardener advice. Like many, many... MANY threads seem to do. Due to very few (but very busy people) who seem to give exactly the same advice to oh SO MANY different questions.
New homeowners all have been given the rundown upon closing about the ARC, and the many clubs (including Master Gardeners) they could join or ask advice of. Sometimes, on THIS site, there are people that have a lot of experience with the questions being asked, and they already know what the ARC rules are, and what the gardening club members are suggesting.
As a point, the last time I went into the Master Gardeners "Help" thing at the Sumter Library, as I waited for my turn, the master gardeners didn't know the answers to the folks questions ahead of me, and I ended up pretty much teaching a class for 30 minutes. Not bragging, but when I post here to help people with what I see as common issues, trying to get those people to "go ask a Master Gardener" instead of taking my advice seems to happen A LOT. But only from 1 poster..over and over and over ... for YEARS.
Maybe you could just start a thread, like "Make SURE you submit to the ARC" and "The Master Gardeners are here to help". Haven't seen those here yet.
But thanks for the redundant replies.

Maybe you should’ve prefaced your post with your demands on what a potential response should or should not be.
Yours was more of a diatribe.....usually posts like this remind of a quote ‘ do you have any questions.....No?...then you must have all the answers!’

You’re on the wrong medium if you think you’re going to dictate to the membership!

Agreed- Pine Bark mulch works the best in my opinion. NO palm trees except Robelini's and maybe fan palms. The villages landscaping plants ARE the best for sure. You have to remember that once established, stuff grows like CRAZY here. You can cut things to the ground and 3 months later they are 6 feet tall... you can almost see them grow.

Rock mulches on top of landscaping fabric only seal the plants in poor soil. Organic mulches improve the soil and add beneficial bacteria and fungi that support improved plant growth. This is referred to as the “Soil Food Web.” Rock mulches on top of dead, poor soils condemn plants to poor growth. Look at rock mulch yards and you will see after 5 years the weeds are growing in the rocks and the plants look unhealthy and don’t grow well. Then look at yards with bark mulches or pine straw and those plants will look better and are healthier. You have to feed the soil to have good plant growth. One of the principles of the University of Florida is to use organic mulches.

Are you saying I should ask ARC what Master Gardener to use?

Well, if that's NOT bragging I should hate to see what it's like when you ARE bragging.

I see most professional landscapers in TV getting things right more than wrong. Sure there's ones that are better than others. I think the key is that the average homeowner probably doesn't know the role of a landscape designer, or the fact that they should use one for any reasonable sized project.

I think in most cases where things are done wrong is when people hire the guy that cuts your grass to replace their mulch and shrubbery.

You obviously don't understand what a Master Gardener is. It is NOT a club, it's an intensive horticultural program. You can't just join a Master Gardener group, there's a long process that I went through myself.

Master Gardeners don't always have all of the answers to every question, but they are trained to know where to find the correct answers to most horticulture related questions if they don't already know them.

Sorry. Poke the bear for a couple years and he stops being all cuddly. I hope a few people read this and avoid expensive re-dos to the landscape, as is my intention.

This IS a landscape forum, open for all to voice opinions and facts. I'll keep giving good advice, and others can keep jumping in telling people they need to ask someone else.

As far as the soil issue. even mulch won't repair the alkaline "soil" here in TV. The roots will not grow into the soil even after years, only spread just below the mulch. I suggest coffee for the tannic acid, a little bit spread all around , and very often for the first couple years. Only acidifying your soil will get your plants to thrive.. only water is more important than pH. Mulch or rocks can be a good ground cover, but you can't ignore the rest of the formula.

You're correct that the soil is very alkaline in TV which limits what plants with thrive in such an environment without amendments. The best method of treating that is by adding Calcuim Carbonate or Dolomite as the University of Florida recommends.

Coffee as an amendment to raise PH is a long debunked myth.

Oregon State University.

You’re correct about the rock. Mulch is much better for the plants/soil. My only regret since moving here was changing my landscaping too soon. I wish I had waited. I was hasty and regret it. Now I have to find someone to take out the rock which is proving challenging. I have a hard time trusting any landscaper who cuts Crepe Myrtle’s down to the trunks every year. In the south we call that Crepe Murder.

Yes the weeds grow in rock beds but the roots are very shallow and don’t go below the fabric so are easy to pull out.

Thank you for the advice in the original post. We moved into a new construction home in January and have not touched the landscaping. We have fairly small lots, but many, many of our neighbors have torn it all out and replaced it with elaborate landscaping consisting of palms, mature shrubs, multi-level shrub beds, and rocks. We actually like the landscaping that was included with our house and have done nothing other than keep it weeded, watered, and fertilized. It has been six months and our yard is thriving. Because of what everyone else is doing, sometime we think we should do more, but why spend the money when we like what we have (even the pine straw looks great as long as it's kept weeded which is not a hard thing to do)? So thank you, Ozzello, for keeping it real. It will be years (if ever) before we consider changing the landscaping on our house.

""I see most professional landscapers in TV getting things right more than wrong. Sure there's ones that are better than others. ""

Though, 80% of the landscape jobs people hire a landscape company to do, will need (and have) a major overhaul in 2-5 years after the install.
BECAUSE of poor design.
80% aren't doing even a serviceable job.

You are welcome.
Most stock landscaping IS decent landscaping for mulch beds, but very poor if you go to gravel ...is the point I wished to make.

I do suggest going to pinebark over pinestraw, but in the end (as I tell everyone I design for)... it IS your landscape, and you should like it. But if you hire a pro, you should like it for a lot longer than 2-5 years.

During the 1st years of The Villages MOST of the people lived in their new home about one full year before calling in a landscaper at all, but the BUILDER was using shredded cypress for mulch, and cypress made a GREAT mulch, I miss it very much.

Not "dictating", only fervently wishing the constant derailing of every thread over the years would stop.

With the overtone of "no one here knows the right answer, go elsewhere"? Kinda passive aggressive in the context that there are several very smart people that frequent this forum and give informative answers. And have for years.
Many are even Master Gardeners.
If you read a few older posts on this forum, you might see what I mean.

Wouldn’t want to live by someone with just the builders landscape package, looks like it’s from Home Depot and after a couple years it shows. That straw has every bug found on the forest floor moving right next to your walls. As for palms, all of your visitors are admiring those homes w various palm trees as it’s the expected look and feel of Florida. No visitor has ever looked at a builders pkg landscape and said, wow, breathtaking!

I’m curious . . . What is it that makes you an “expert” that we should listen to?

One can ask that question of most posts on TOTV. Thousands. … and Nextdoor and FB and ….

… and of ‘experts’ on TV ‘news’.

Too bad you feel that way. I’m a MG, currently inactive, who put in 10+ years trying to educate people who already knew everything because “that’s the way it’s done up north.” MGs TRY to help arm residents with information as they deal with pushy landscapers.

I used a landscape architect, he was in favor of pinestraw over chips, using it for years now.

No bugs or termites as claimed by others, I flip it over once year.

add as needed.

Rocks also heat the ground containing the roots of the plants, just not eco friendly

I do know what you mean...but, you choose to author a thread with no question marks...on a forum. If after the fact...you wanted the responses to be the way you now are expressing (a day later) you should've said so. There are a lot of knowledgeable people on this forum....including the gentleman who responded to you and for which you were dismissive of his thoughtful post. Next time just preface your expectations in advance and (maybe) eliminate the noise. It is TOTV though so dont bank on it

I’ll take rock all the time. Lay down rock and forget it, lay down any mulch or pine straw and it looks like crap in 6 months. You have weeds growing thru rock beds and even more weeds growing thru mulch beds. If I have flower or plant droppings on my rock beds, I can blow them out of my rock beds easy. You can’t do that in mulch beds.

NO to mulch that harbors termites and bugs........I will stick to my rock esp coming from Arizona

totally agree rock is so much better its mostly rock in AZ for sure where I came from this other stuff looks cheap and like crap gets blown around harbors bugs ..........no thanks

Test
 

Where can I take a soil sample to get tested ?

rock landscaping
 

You dont know what your talking about. Try blowing clippings from a trimmed bush or tree with mulch underneath. GOOD LUCK. I have rocks completely around my house and with my blower and large vac, the trimmings are gone in no time. Got rid of the mulch 20 years ago.

Why not try establishing your credibility by listing your qualifications?

There are online companies that you can use...but like anything else, the results are varied and inconsistent. I don’t have a local rec but a reputable landscaping co. can do it as well since they know the area better

////

That’s a tough alternative in central FL. Talk about increasing ground temp for humans/pets. I’m not disagreeing with your solution, just it’s application here.

*since you deleted your post, I guess it was steeped in Sheldon errr sarcasm!

When I first read your post, I was mad, and I said my house my rules BUT After my crankiness wore off , I’m grateful for the advice. I moved in the end of January and really wanted to get everything replaced because I didn’t want to weed. I’m too old to bend down for hours and pull stupid grass sprouts out of my yard. with that being said any ideas to keep the grass sprouts and the weeds down or do you have a good weekly service that will pull those for me? I can’t stand the pine straw so I am getting that replaced. Now it’ll probably be bark/mulch. Any comments about putting the rubber mulch down? Thanks for the advice.

Gravel stops 80% of the weeds and weed killer stops the rest. To me rocks or gravel beats grass for looks in Florida, where the grass is functionally harsh and not particularly good looking. Also, rocks don't need watering or cutting. A person should be careful about what shrubs and small trees they plant, and where they plant them. Planting trees too close to the house can be a problem. But, they can be cut down if under 4 in in diameter. Viburnums grow fast, but need spraying for insects. Podocarpus (plumb pine) grows slowly, but is very healthy. Both make good wind breakers.

That's funny because The Villages uses PINE STRAW mulch. And both will float away in a Hurricane.

I love Sheldon!

Been here 20 years and have NEVER had problems with rock mulch (other than expensive to begin with).

Second Home here, No Palm Trees or Palm Shrubs and No Hibiscus Bushes. Nothing that we need to get on a ladder to trim, and only have to trim 1 time a year. Landscaped wrong the entire house with block walls ( no weeds ) and only have to power wash every 2 or 3 years! Learned the hard way!

University Florida info.
Soil Testing - Gardening Solutions - University of Florida, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences