Gardening
Know Thy Dirt
If you want your plants to thrive, know your dirt. If it’s poor, amend it. Florida’s soil from the panhandle down through the central state contains clay or sand and must be amended to produce healthy plants. South Florida, your peaty earth makes gardening easy!
Christmas Gifts for Your Gardener
What Christmas present will you give this year to the gardener in your life? In this blog, we take away the holiday gift-giving guesswork with our list of suggestions. Consider outdoor work clothes, gardening tools, and print or digital resources.
Starting a Garden the Easy Way
If you want to start growing vegetables, try square-foot gardening. Perfect for homeowners with limited yard space, this method involves small, square, raised beds, divided into square-foot segments. Each segment hosts one type of plant. Gardeners with more space can build several of these raised beds.
Set Up a Container Garden
Container gardens can be found everywhere, from the estate courtyard to the apartment balcony. The vessels themselves run the gamut—classic clay urn, vintage bathtub, hollowed-out log. In this blog, we present lists of ideas as well as mistakes to avoid in container garden creation.
What Type of Garden Are You?
Four popular Florida garden styles—traditional, modern, cottage, and casual coastal—all possess distinct characteristics. Which style do you like the best? Which type are you? We talk about the four gardens and what sets each one apart from the others.
Gardening Safely in the Summer Heat
Gardening safely in the heat of summer requires knowing how to identify the symptoms of oncoming heat-related illnesses and the necessary steps to prevent them. Get familiar with good practices for caring for your body so you can keep gardening all summer long.
Topiary, Part 2: You Can Make One
Topiary is the art of training plants into ornamental or creative shapes. Elaborate forms sometimes take months or years, but a simple topiary can be created in just a few minutes. Here are quick instructions for beginning three classic and beautiful topiary forms.
Great Florida Hedge Plants
Hedges function as property dividers, privacy screens, and ornamental features on a landscape. They can be any height from low to tall. Florida’s great hedge plants include viburnum varieties, boxwood (these look good clipped and shaped), Schefflera and podocarpus (these grow 4-20 feet tall).
Crape Myrtles: Superstars of the South
Looking for a small tree that resists drought, loves the sun, and laughs at humidity? The Crape Myrtle is your tree. Possibly the quintessential flowering tree of the southeastern USA, the crape myrtle comes in a variety of colors from peaceful to show stopping.
Know Your Property’s Microclimates
A microclimate is the climate of a small area that is consistently warmer or cooler than the surrounding areas. It is created by sun exposure, shade, wind exposure, and proximity to bodies of water. Homeowners who know their microclimates can install plants that will thrive.