This is a cute garden that I snapped a picture of the other day. Could I do something like this with the addition of some shrubs or other taller plantings as focal points? Although there are a lot of plants, it doesn't look too terribly hard. Lamb's ear, sedum, not sure what the variegated ground cover is. I should have added in my first post that I have a 3 y.o. and 1 y.o. and a large vegetable garden in the back, so I'd like the front to be relatively low maintenance. I am not opposed to covering the whole bed with shrubs and ground cover, then adding interest as the years go on.

I second the dwarf hawthorns. They are on my short list to get some for myself. I love their foliage and their mounding form. Oleander is an amazing and beautiful shrub, but they are also extremely poisonous. I don't know if you have to be concerned with that, but I thought I'd just put it out there. Lantana is poisonous too, and it isn't evergreen, but is clearly one of my favorite plants because they are carefree, extremely drought-tolerant and the butterflies just love them. I have a good friend with a child with special needs, and now I am always conscious as to the toxicity of a plant before I put it in the ground. Also, I love Mahonia Aquifolium, or "Oregon Grape Holly". They are evergreen, have similiar foliage to the hollies, so they'd blend nicely, but they have yellow flowers in spring, and berries in fall. Also, the foliage turns purple/orange in fall. They're slow growing, but will get pretty tall at maturity. They like sun or shade, deer resistant and drought tolerant. There is another Mahonia, Leatherleaf Mahonia, or Mahonia Bealei, but it's supposed to be invasive in our area. Please don't confuse the two. Also, I don't know how drought-tolerant it is, but IMHO, you can't beat Pieris Japonica for thier foliage, however, I've been told they're more of an "accent" plant, instead of a hedge shrub, so you may want to consider that. But, they are carefree, I've never had any problems with disease, or deer. Also, I am totally in love with Camellias, so I'd have to vote for them as well. I know they get very big, but since there are so many varieties, I'm sure there has to be one that comes in a smaller form. Gardenias do well in either sun or shade, but I think they prefer sun. The deer have never looked at them sideways, and for the first year I owned my house, I never watered them once and they came through the experience without a problem. When I found out they were Gardenias, I watered and fed them, and they bloomed like crazy for me the next season. I understand that they can have a problem with pests, whiteflies???, but I haven't had any problems, yet, knock on wood. Perhaps, if you let us know more about the sun/shade aspect, we can give you better answers.

I would probably take the route of 'implement a florida friendly landscape to eliminate the waste of drinking water and the contamination of our local waterways'. Play up that wetland community you share space with. The HOA can squack as much as they won't but they can't trump FS 720.3075 http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?mode=View%20Statutes&SubMenu=1&App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=720.3075&URL=0700-0799/0720/Sections/0720.3075.html If they want 30% 'lawn' in the front, come up with a plan that leaves all the hell strip and the piece next to your driveway to the west in 'lawn' and then use 'lawn' as wide pathways around your front gardens. Oh, and I am fairly certain that they can not restrict you from implementing a florida friendly 'lawn'. My 'lawn' is green stuff that I mow regularly. From the street it looks pretty much just like all the other resource hogs in my subdivision. Except that mine gets no fertilizer or pesticide and very, very seldom any additional irrigation. The secret to my lawn is multi-part. It is NOT monoculture. It started as St. Augustine, overseeded Bahia, plugged Zoysia. Added Mimosa strigrillosa in stubborn spots. Plugged mondo grass in shady spots. Turned really bad spots into fruit tree beds. Dumped loads of tree trimmed chips onto the really, really bad spots and planted root crops. I don't use any pesticides in my front yard, and very little chemical fertilizer. It has taken several years, but the front 'lawn' is looking really nice. The natural order of things has slowly been restored. Part of the reason it has taken longer is because I'm a poor gimp and am doing all the work myself. Now I am curious about what % lawn I have out front. And what % is planting beds. I do know the planting beds > lawn. And another big section of lawn is coming out this year [grin!]. My front yard planting beds are mixed use beds. Edibles, perennials and ornamentals. I even grew heirloom tomatoes in my front planting beds this past fall - spring. My artfully disguised compost bin is in the front side yard. Speaking of compost, one way to look at your 'lawn' is as green manure for your compost bin! I am also working to capture rain in my yard and I like to think that the grass pathways and grass at the concrete edges helps to keep water in my yard and not running off. I am also working on capturing rain runoff INTO grass zones in the yard. Rain water garden type concepts. My general idea is improving water holding capacity of the yard to help improve the crops from the edible bits and parts of the front. I'm rambling I guess. If you go over to the Tropical Fruit forum and hunt up a post from Sunworshiper aka Angela that shows her gardens; you can see she has fruit tree planting bed islands around her front yard. Big islands. Very nicely executed. Veggies and perennials tucked around the fruit trees. Oh, and she lives in an HOA in Ovieda. I am in Lake Mary, but not in a HOA. Our deed restrictions expired 5 years ago. I got to tour Angela's gardens a couple years ago, her gardens have been my inspiration for keeping my front yard edibles below the radar. St Johns Water Management District might be able to give you some advice. It is not a matter of IF, but rather WHEN Seminole County has to start cracking down on water quality the way that the gulf coast area of Florida is currently. http://floridaswater.com/waterwiselandscapes/ Gabby Milch with the Seminole County Extension Office might have some pointers for you. She does the Florida Yards and Neighbors program for Seminole. Also, you might want to send this document along to your HOA. http://fyn.ifas.ufl.edu/pdf/CCRs_Sept-20-2010_final.pdf Here is another news article about HOA vs Florida Friendly Lawns (this one is part of the St Johns River Water Management District) http://staugustine.com/news/local-news/2011-11-08/homeowners-citing-little-know-law-win-battle-hoa-plant-florida-friendly Angela is a great resource you should consider tracking down. She is an engineer, and has a wealth of detail about fruit growing tucked away in her head. And she frequently has divisions for trade. You are welcome to come over to our place and look around, but I'm still working on growing up to be like Angela. Plus, my neighborhood is not the same scale as yours and Angela's. But I have Beauty Berry bushes you can take! And sweet potato slips. And Okinawa Spinach. And Callaloo. And Florida Cranberry. And Black Jungle Butter Beans. Yardlong beans. Whipporwill Field Peas. Sorry for all the rambling. Hope this helps you some. I've posted below a link to a 'tour' of my gardens this past winter. ~dianne Here is a link that might be useful: Tour

Hello! I am finishing up the first part of my landscaping project and am about to start planting, but want to make sure I have things in order. My 2 main questions are below: 1. The stones again the side of the house: Is that an issue and should I move them away? Would that look odd to not have it "connect" to the house? I am going to get the round corner pieces cut, so I want to get it settled before I do that. 2. Do I have enough dirt? I want it to fill the bed but also don't want it to be too high on the foundation. Any and all advice is greatly appreciated as this was a complete first attempt for me. Thanks in advance!