Everyone seems to look at the above picture and admire the thriving plants, but seem not to see that most of the area is bare soil. Will it remain that way or what additional planting will be required to finish this off and stabilize the site? I'm not familiar with that area of the country, but it seems that stabilizing the surface is really not a big deal due to lack of erosive forces and growth rate of invasive weeds. It would be very impractical to use a lawn there. It is an alien to that environment. In much of the country, grass is a normal naturally occuring part of the ecosystem - not monoculture turfs, but grassy fields. I think it is possible that people from arid regions may not appreciate what happens when soil is left exposed to the elements in the not so arid regions. Stabilizing soil is a high priority for the protection of the environment. It needs to be covered to keep it from eroding. In these regions you need pretty close to complete coverage or you will have erosion. That means having small patches of groundcover or spotty shrub plantings is not going to get the job done. You could have large areas of mulch, but this is subject to erosion and weed growth. The weed growth reintroduces "high maintenance" and the possibility of pesticide use. You have to plant the whole thing or mother nature will be working on that for you as she also tries to erode it away. Lawnless in non-arid areas has to overcome erosion by having some kind of surface that resists it. That can be trees, shrubs, herbacious plants, groundcover, pavement, or mulch (mulch will have the least resistance to erosion). It has to succumb to or overcome mother natures desire to reclaim it with a succession of weeds and grasses to thicket and eventually a forest. Going lawnless is fine, but you have to know that in most of the country it is not a matter of removing grass and planting a few drought tolerant plants. Most of the attempts that I see are done by well meaning people who do not complete the job in stabilizing the soil - I'm not even going to go into aesthetics. The result is usually spotty plantings and wood chips everywhere (the well meaning folks who tend to go lawnless tend to like to recycle wood chips as well). If you are going to do it, think it through and make a commitment to an end result. Don't remove the grass and then try to figure it out later. There is a sizable investment of time and money to do this up here in the northeast. I suppose wood chips might make some feel that they have recycled and removed lawn at the same time and they can sleep better at night. Again, is matching what you value to the conditions of the site. Don't under estimate Mother Nature. She won't treat you any differently just because you have her best interests in mind.

you are going to have a problem.. between the slope of the outward bed soil .. and the grass ... you ought to consider a retaining wall of about 3 bricks .... that accomplishes a number of things.. but the prime two will be.. leveling the soil level for watering ... but also.. keeping the lawnmower and weedwhip away from the garden .... now.. if you are willing to do that.. then i suggest you at least double the width ... even tripling it .... first.. so you can have at least a foot or two of bare mulch.. to widen the walkway.. for snow.. and drunken guests.. lol ... then also have a patch of mulch on the retaining wall side ... then you plant things towards the middle of the bed ... its all very neat .. first pic below to give you an idea of what i am talking about ... this will also lend structure to the front of the house .... second pic below.. you can see that the land sloped severely away from my house .... by adding the wall ... it lends solidity to the landscape ... it will also insure.. in the ensuing years.. that your sidewalks soil is not undercut and washed away.. which is why i had to do it for the cement patio pad ... a month after it was poured.. a torrential downpour nearly washed it away ... undercutting about 2 feet of the north side ... i was near apoplectic ... [my head was ready to explode] is putting the wall in.. w/in your ability??? now.. after all the hardscaping .. you will be ready to plant something.. lol ... your thoughts??? other than you dont have a budget to live your outdoor dreams ... i would rather you think of a 2 or 3 year plan ... of how to do it right.. rather than slapping some plants in.. and then 3 years down the line ... wondering why it all failed.. in the alternative.. go buy some mums in late august .. and slap them in there for a fall bloom show.. and be done with it ... and then try to figure out how to water them on a slope ... good luck.. must be exciting to have a new house. .. and sidewalk .... ken

Have you asked your local extension office? Also there are rare fruit groups all over Florida that consist of backyard gardeners with tons of experience. They may have some ideas for you. Then there's the Fruit and Spice Park in Homestead. I've never visited it yet but it sounds WONDERFUL. They have a big shindig coming up June 21. Do a google search. They will be having tastings of many fruits. Here is a link that might be useful: Broward Rare Fruit group

I think your only long term option, and probably the cheapest, to to regrade the yard and create a swale. I would create it on the right of garage (as seen in picture) and run it on the left side of the green square from about the patio? to about 5 feet beyond the back of the garage. It should end so the water drains between the back of the garage and the out-building Assuming the lot drops of to the right from the green square, the swale does not need to be deep. About 8" lower and sloping from the garage. It should drain to the back of the garage, and move the water to the back, to the natural drainage. I suspect you could cut it through the green square, but you would have your leach bed to consider (How deep are the lines) The swale could be create with a sod cutting machine. Cut the sod from about a six foot wide section the length of the garage. Once the sod is remove dig the right three feed down about 4 to 6 inches and stack the dirt next to the garage. once you have all grades correct and flowing correctly replace the sod. I think you could cut it across the drive way, but I think that opens a whole knew set of problems. Also you could run a pipe from the house along the left side of the square, but the swale would be the less maintenance in the long term.