Creating a Thriving Landscape in Florida

Creating a Thriving Landscape in Florida

Creating your own thriving and beautiful Florida-friendly landscape is not as hard as it sounds. Expertise is not a pre-requisite, though having the experts at Xtreme Landscaping come alongside you to help will make the job easier. In truth, with a bit of learning and a desire to protect Florida’s tropical environment are the perfect starting point to developing a flourishing Florida environment. As a bonus, you have lovely outdoor spaces, which will save you time and money as you protect Florida’s native plants and wildlife.

Choose Plants Wisely

Everyone’s lawn is different, from the soil to the sunlight. Plants will flourish when planted in the best spot in your garden. When making your selection, you’ll want low-maintenance plants, which require little irrigation, pest control, and fertilization. To choose wisely, consider sunlight, as well as wet and dry spots in your landscaping, and size of the plants at maturity. When you make your selections based on these factors and put the perfect plant in a prime location, you’ll be well on the way to an environmentally friendly landscape that preserves Florida’s natural resources.

Mulch for the Benefits

While mulch makes for a more attractive landscape, it also delivers a multitude of benefits including weed control, soil temperature control, and moisture retention. In addition to these benefits, mulch makes easy work of difficult to mow areas and shady spots, while improving your soil during decomposition. When choosing your mulch, select an environmentally friendly variety like pine straw, melaleuca, pine bark, or eucalyptus. And remember fallen leaves are self-mulching, so leave them be underneath trees.

Water with Purpose

Plants do need water, but often considerably less than you may think. It is important to know how much water the plants you’ve chosen need to avoid overwatering in times of drought. Overwatering not only depletes Florida’s water supply, but it also can pollute water resources and harm your plants. In garden beds, you can avoid overwatering by using an irrigation system that allows you to control where you water and avoid watering where it’s not needed. Your plants and grasses will tell you when they need supplemental water, all you need to do is follow their signs. Always be sure your irrigation system is working properly and watering areas which truly need water – not the driveway, sidewalk, or lanai. Watering with purpose keeps your landscape beautiful while saving you money (water bills) and maintenance (replacing plants damage by overwatering).

Fertilize with Care

Plants typically get the nutrients they need from the soil, but there are times when you will need to provide fertilizers to your plants. This means you will need to understand the types of nutrients a variety of plants needs as well as when and how much to provide to encourage healthy growth. Like water, too much fertilizer does more harm than good, causing overgrowth, pollution, and pest problems. When you fertilize, always follow label directions while applying the right fertilizer to the right plant.

Welcome Wildlife

As natural habitats for native Florida wildlife disappear, you can welcome them to your Florida-friendly environment by adding trees and plants which provide seeds and bear fruit and providing a wildlife friendly water feature.  Your native Florida landscape offers shelter, food, and water for butterflies, birds, bees, and other animals and insects. Of course, welcoming wildlife means managing unwelcomed pests responsibly by limiting pesticide use and utilizing natural controls like native birds and insects along with less toxic horticultural oils and insecticidal soaps.

With minimal effort, you can create your own thriving Florida landscape, but should you need assistance, Xtreme Landscaping is ready to join you in your quest for an environmentally friendly lawn and garden.