Thanks so much for your replies. I hate to post pictures because they look so horrible. All of you northern growers seem to have such beautiful green trees in pots. Maybe I need to move up north and grow in pots too! I will try to get some posted though. The reason I use copper is because I probably have every fungus you can think of in my yard too. I have been gardening organically for about 4 years and have a lot of beneficial bugs in my yard. I guess the aphids are just more prolific than the beneficials. I live way out west of Fort Lauderdale about a 1.5 miles from the Everglades. The soil is muck soil with limestone about 1.5 feet down. Some parts where we brought in some fill around the house pad have a little sand too. Most things I plant seem to like the soil. I also have access to horse manure which I use a lot around my fruit trees. I heard citrus doesn't like that so much and that the roots need air, so I've stopped using it on the citrus. They get sun most of the day. A few of the key limes are shaded in the morning but then get sun from about 10:30 on. I have 4 key limes, 2 in the ground and 2 in pots. One grapefruit (the one I might loose), and two tangerines (look the best). I have other trees that need spraying too. Mangoes (2 types), bananas, grumichama, sugar apple, fig, passion fruit and lychee. Of all of these, citrus are giving me the hardest time. I do have a big problem with ants in my yard and love the tanglefoot idea. The nematodes sound great too and I have already done some research on them but can't find the one that is specifically for the diaprepes root weevil. I will continue my search. I just bought a new backpack sprayer because this spraying job is getting huge. Terri

Chris, maybe Richard at Tropical Bamboo (Loxahatchee)could help you? He has acres of Bamboo, containered and field-planted, and I assume at some point they trim it? His nursery is gorgeous, and if you haven't been there, you owe yourself a visit(G). I'll be there Wednesday, and will ask for you if you like. I have 6 Bamboo varieties, but none are in need of a trim. I've seen bamboo arbors at Bushel Stop, with outrageous price tags!! Ouch!! They sure are beautiful though.. Lisa Here is a link that might be useful: Bamboo

Thanks Kevin well I guess this might have answered part of my question then :( Looks like I will have to live with something I hate or will have to see if anyone has any alternative suggestions that are just as beautiful. Sadly I have been to 4 stone yards here in south Florida and have hated everything I have seen except the Calacatta marble in the creamy colors.

I would suggest a foundation planting bed in front of the house and a separate island around the palm. You can see in the sketch that I opted to leave only the single palm near the center front. It seems disturbing to me to have a collection of odds and ends palms in a group because they don't make a nice group. If they can't be like type palms, I'd rather see a single specimen. The architecture already carries a horizontal visual element as the base of the house. Rather than duplicate or cover that up with a hedge, use plants to temper it, and the easiest way is a mound shaped shrub below each window. It doesn't end up looking like you're trying to smother the house with shrubs. Where the windows are low to the ground, such as left of front door, instead of shrubs (that you will need to trim regularly in order to keep them low) use an 18" height groundcover -- such as Liriope -- that won't need to be height trimmed at all. It should be a FAT (double or triple) row -- not a skinny string. Consider variegated Liriope for a brighter look. Given your location, for the shrubs below windows I'd consider Thai crown of thorns. (Not the regular small-flowered one.) It would cheer up the front of your house considerably for much of the year. At the base of Robellini, consider an island of firecracker plant. Eventually, if it gets too tall, you can cut it to the ground and make it low again for a good length of time. For the moderately low groundcover used to link the separate elements together, consider tri-color oyster plant. It is at the same time soothing and cheerful and it's easy to start from pieces. You can split a gallon of it into about 15' pieces that will plant that many square feet. In one year's time it will appear grown together. (Of course, you would need to wait until February to plant it.) Near right of front door and at garage are two places you could use seasonal color. The groundcover around the single palm could be same as the foundation bed groundcover, or different. It could also be a little taller if you wanted, since it is a limited space. I can understand your wanting to get rid of the two lamp pedestals. But for sure, I would think about how you could retain the use of the electrical supply wire that they contain. Either could gain a new use: path lights ... uplights on trees ... post lamps ... downlighting from trees, etc. I would determine how you will reuse them before you demolish them. (BTW, you can make an underground splice if you use heat shrink tubing with sealant built in. I can't say that it will be in compliance with your local code since I don't know it ... just that it works and can be done.) Again, I remind that you need to work out all the proposed changes in plan view before you do any work.