Wherever you live in Florida, you have lots of warm, sunny weather year-round. The state is popular with people of all ages because of its sunshine, beaches and natural beauty. When you have a home in Florida, you can make it an inviting showplace that your family and friends from other states will be eager to visit.
You may think the Florida heat makes it challenging to have a lush and colorful yard. However, homeowners all over Florida have found creative ways to landscape outdoor space and property. By using the right plants and landscape design, they build mini tropical paradises. To turn a home landscape into a tropical setting, choose plants that flourish in heat and humidity.
Trees Create Shade and Interest
The palm tree is a popular element of Florida landscape design. Both native and non-native palms of varying heights thrive in the state. The weather and soil are also favorable to several shade and flowering trees, including the bald cypress, which can grow in dry or wet ground, the live oak and various pines.
The red maple and Florida maple are well-suited to central Florida landscape design. Another choice is the flowering dogwood, which grows best in central and northern Florida. Trees provide cool areas for relaxing outside and cast shade over windows to keep a house cooler when planted strategically.
Make Your Florida Landscape Design Pop
The key to making a garden or landscape thrive in the Florida climate is to select drought-tolerant plants and those that fit Florida soil conditions. Drought-tolerant plants need less frequent watering, are attractive and can save money on irrigation costs.
Perennials provide beautiful foliage and may bloom year after year. Once you plant them, perennials grow indefinitely. In some cases, the foliage may die after one growing season and return the next season.
Plant perennials when you desire foliage and blossoms that thrive with minimal fertilizing and periodic pruning. Hibiscus, Mexican heather and lantana are three popular perennials that combine leaves with colorful blooms for exciting flower beds and a lush landscape.
Annuals offer the flexibility to change bloom colors each season. Annuals make striking accent plants, and in South Florida, some, like impatiens, bloom during the winter. Annuals
for Sunshine State flower beds include marigolds, penta, salvia and zinnias, which add curb appeal to front yard landscaping design.
Combining hardscapes, ground covers and other plants makes outdoor living spaces inviting. Use stone or concrete pavers to create paths. Add blooming annual borders against backdrops of evergreen shrubs and flowering perennials to bring a park-like ambiance to your backyard.
A landscape designer can offer ideas for hardscapes and natural elements, such as creating shade using a vine-covered pergola with a porch swing. Adding hooks for hanging baskets can turn a plain patio pergola into a hanging garden.
Mulch choice depends on preference. Rocks last indefinitely, resist pests and save money. Colorful stones and drought-resistant plant species or ground cover in a small front yard create a low-maintenance landscape. Rocks work better with permanent plants like evergreens and shrubs because it can be hard to add smaller plants to rocky gardens.
Bark mulch or pine needles contrast with blooming flowers, making them stand out. Mulch retains moisture and adds organic matter as it decomposes. However, mulch can blow away, become compact and requires replacing often.
Coconut Grove Landscape Design, a Florida landscape company, can help with the whole process, turning your ideas into a backyard dream space. We can offer ideas on using Bahia grass or Bermuda grass for your lawn. Our landscape designers can help you find beautiful plants that work well in your area of the state and recommend ideas for hardscapes. Contact us today to get started on your landscape transformation!