Agree with an earlier post that there is no need to keep rototilling, and in fact it is not a good idea to do more than you have. If the soil has been under sod for a long time it will probably have a fair bit of fertility already and the compost you have put in will have boosted it, so don't stress out too much this year about fertilizer. You would be advised to compost the sod you took up, as there is a lot of fertility in that. Stack it in a pile with green side facing green side for a year or two, and then add it back to the garden. For fertilizer I use a recipe by Steve Solomon called complete organic fertilizer -- COF -- which contains alfalfa or cottonseed meal (you can get a 50lb bag of alfalfa meal for less than $20 bucks at any store that provides feed for horses), bone meal or alternatively rock phosphate, greensand, lime and a little gypsum -plants, especially tomatoes, need calcium and the lime and gypsum provide this. Check out Solomon's book "Gardening when it counts" or google his name and cof and you should track down a recipe. I have been very happy with the results, and the fertilizer is organic and improves the soil. But you do have to mix it up yourself. Forget about the praying mantises and lady bugs. Praying mantises are a very minor predator in most gardens, and in any event will eat other good bugs. Lady bugs are common and if you get aphids they will come of their own account. They are both a complete waste of money. I rarely have insect pest problems on tomatoes, and have never had them on peppers. You are more likely to get disease problems. I have found the following to work well with tomatoes here in Maryland: I make a hole and put a little COF at the bottom, mixing it with the soil. I get my tomato transplant and strip off the bottom leaves and plant it with most of the stem in the ground. It will quickly form roots along the stem and a much stronger root system than it otherwise would. Once the soil has warmed up and the plant grown a bit, I then mulch heavily with straw. This stops mud from spraying back up at the plant when it rains, which is one of the ways disease is transmitted. I keep the stems free of leaves and branches for about the bottom foot of the plant, which I have trellised. I avoid watering plants from above so that the leaves get wet, but use a cheap drip hose or a watering can aimed at the ground. It is not a bad idea to surround the tomato or pepper plants when you first plant them with a collar about 1 inch high made from an old toilet paper roll (without the paper of course), to prevent cutworms from chewing down the stalks. This is cheap insurance. Good luck with your garden. Forget about ever buying tomatoes from the supermarket again.

There is a bit of variation in hardiness zones in central Florida, so, depending upon your exact location, frost is going to be an issue. I grow several varieties of citrus and mango in the Panhandle, but they can be EXTREMELY labor-intensive in the winter. I nearly lost the graft on my Mallika mango last winter, and sustained heavy trunk damage which will require watching. Don't bother with seed-grown fruit trees. You'll have to wait much too long to possibly see the "fruits" of your labor, not to mention the fact that you will be disappointed in the quality. The biggest bang-for-the-buck for you would be ice cream bananas. They are the best-tasting, most reliable fruiters in cooler climates. They grow quickly, get quite large, and form dense mats that are quite attractive. They tend to bloom late-spring/early summer, which means in areas with shorter growing seasons you can get edible fruit before December. -Bruce

Congratulations on your new home! Thanks for posting a photo - it makes it easier to visualize. Do you have a photo that shows the whole width of the property so we can see how this fits in? Like Defrost, I'm just an average homeowner who gardens in my own yard. I think a plan like yours with a combination of woody and herbaceous plants helps give year-round interest. (And I'm impressed that you have mapped out a plan!) With your house style, which isn't formal and balanced, I wouldn't worry about balancing your garden. You've done well in making the bed relatively deep so that your plants don't look like a line along the house. Be sure you are starting your bed outside of where the drip line would be if you didn't have gutters. Otherwise you will find it hard to keep plants happy within the dry zone as they have a roof over them. If it were my house, with the visual weight of the upper story, I would want some plants that reach up some to balance that and to break up the strong horizontal line where the upper story steps out. On the far side of the door and farther out from the house (not in your bed unless you extend it to reach out) I probably would put a small tree that has year-round interest, but can be limbed up so as to not block your lower story windows, perhaps a Japanese maple, Stewartia, or pagoda dogwood. I'd put three shrubs, one on each corner and one on the left of the front door, but not one on the right of the door, unless it's a quite small shrub that will stay small. It's not as big a space so there really isn't room for much of a shrub without blocking light to the window to some extent, and you want the front door to be visible. You might want to consider one of the more restrained clematis on a narrow obelisk to give some height and bulk to that small space. A large pot planted with taller annuals or tender perennials would also work there. I like hdrangeas, Mt. Laurels, and rhodies to fill the role of larger shrubs, if they work for your growing conditions. Hydrangeas in winter are pretty homely, however, so I might put that at the far corner of the house if you want one so that it isn't as prominent when it's unattractive. Consider getting one that blooms over the course of the summer, since many are only spring bloomers and if you have a late frost, you've lost all flowers for the year. In choosing your specific varieties of shrubs, be aware that sizes are often given at what they will be after 10 years, after which they will continue to grow. Then, as your plan shows, fill in the bed with herbaceous plants. I have assumed that you have checked out your soil, sun and moisture, and have chosen your plants to suit that. I haven't grown most of your smaller plants so won't comment on those. One thing to consider if you haven't already is plant foliage. Since most perennials and shrubs only bloom for part of the year, think about whether the foliage on your plants have interesting and varied color, texture, shape, and size so that even when your plants aren't blooming there is something of interest in the garden. A good resource is Mindy (AKA arbo_retum) here on the New England forum. Her website, which has lots of great photos, is http://www.cottonarboretum.com/ As far as the overall layout, think about getting annuals for the first year or two to fill in some until your other plants get larger. I usually plant for that 10 year size or even a bit larger, and put in smaller fillers for the first few years. I probably would plant that grassy triangle as the walkway makes a natural ending/edging. From the photo, your front walk looks a bit narrow (could 2 people walk comfortably side by side?) so you may want to consider a plan to widen that in the long run if it's as narrow as it looks. Too ambitious? Really only you can answer that since you know your energy, finances, and time. It can be done in stages - prepare one bed, then plant it. Then start on the other bed. Or prepare both beds and plant your woody plants and then mulch well to prevent weeds and keep moisture even. (You'll want to do that regardless.) Plant your perennials in early fall when there are sales or even next year if you have run out of time, energy or finances this year. You will probably want to put an edger outside of your bricks to prevent to grass from growing in under them. Ultimately, if you decide you don't like the bed or something doesn't flourish there, you can always replant. Please keep us update with your progress.

Also, make some holes on the SIDES of your styrofoam cups near the bottom. Holes on only the bottom prevent the water from draining out and allow the roots no aeration at all. That can kill plants. They need air as much as they need water. See the link below for a long discussion about plant roots needing air, particularly plants in containers (and that includes seedlings that you'll plant in the garden later). Here is a link that might be useful: Container soils and water in containers