When choosing a house you probably don't want to be in a HOA, then, because they are mostly not at all friendly to any ground cover other than St. Augustine grass, particularly in the front. Seriously, check the restrictions on any property that interests you.

We are looking for a private lot, with no restrictions on what we can plant.

I live on the east coast, but imagine conditions on the west coast are similar. Florida has a wet and a dry season, so not sure what plants you intend to plant for xeriscaping, but if not carefully chosen, they won't like the summer. Same for the Mediterranean plantings. Best option in my opinion, would be to wait to plan the garden until you've found the property and then consult native plant nurseries, cooperative extension and online Florida native plant sites to choose the plants you'll want. As far as weeds, probably depends on neighboring properties, but I've got loads of them.

I would think that, having been to SW FL and San Siego CA, that the humidity would be higher, but the drainage would be enough to support succulents, even during wet summers, as the hot sun bakes the marl and it’s rather like a baked clay desert, as is found in some arid areas that are desert, but not sandy. I’ve seen Agave and cacti, as well as aloe, but I haven’t seen any properties that were xeriacaped. I also don’t find photos of FL landscaping online of any type of plantings that aren’t pretty generic, with your typical, box store plantings of Palms, crotons, ti plants, and such. I’m going to some of that also, but not my entire property.

Not all Florida soils drain well. I live in a pine flatland environment. I've had good fill brought in near the house, which drains well and I can plant almost anything there. But there are areas of the lot that flood seasonally, some areas that stay fairly dry all year as the soil doesn't hold much water and areas where some fill has been brought in that are somewhere in between. And yes, there is way too much of the same landscaping everywhere. You can get good ideas at public gardens.

i think I’d follow Sonni1 advice

I’m interested in most sure bets, like agave and yucca, perhaps a pachypodium, barrel cactus, fishhook, aloe, opuntia, and such. I am not expecting to grow saguaros, but I’m sure you can pick the right cacti and agaves, coupled with some low growers that bloom, to convey an interesting landscape. I’m not looking for desert as much as an arid look, like a sun drenched island, versus the interior of the island that is full of lush greenery.

When we get real dry, the weeds die off. When we have decent rain, you will need mulch. If you had access to lots of old tea grounds, they act as a pre-emergent herbicide. If you want natural, non watering landscape, the combination of the pure white Serenoa Repens (the short palmetto) looks great with Zamia floridana (coontie) in the foreground.

It may not be the cactus, euphorbia look, but some of the Dyckias really hold up well in a dry situation, but grow great when we have rain. They are a bromeliad that doesn't die after it flowers, so clumps produce several flower spikes all at the same time every year. The white ones hold up better in extreme xeric landscapes, but the Cherry Coke Dyckia gives you a strong red color all year if it is in full sun. I've used Dyckias in several of my xeric landscapes I designed and installed. I've been growing these for 25 years here in Florida. Not that you care, but they took 15f fairly well. You hopefully, will never have to worry about that.

Don't count on marl soil. You might get sand not marl. Florida's sandy soil grows stuff readily, all kinds of weeds. You could go with a ground cover that isn't grass. But your ground cover will keep your sand from running away in the rainy season. We get torrential rains in the summer, not to mention the rains we get from a passing tropical storm or hurricane. I watched my neighbors fill dirt flow away between the time he framed up where he was going to pour his foundation and when the pour happened, big gaping run offs that he had to refill before he could pour.

I see you are thinking cacti? Have you met the cactus moth yet? Let me introduce you http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/bfly/cactus_moth.htm

They wiped out my opuntia even tho i gave weekly inspections and sliced off paddles that were infected as soom as i saw the tell tale bore hole.

Palm diseases, citrus diseases, cactus boring moths, Hurricanes, cold snaps, and likely crap for soil......I’m starting to thing everyone runs around, frantically planting a fresh landscape, when I come to visits, that collapses as soon as I leave. Lol

I has forgotten about Dyckias and I love them! I also have some stapelia here, I know I’ve seen in FL, that will be fine for me.

As far as mulch, is only be willing to use gravel or stone of some kind, because I want a certain look.

I’m not stubborn, I’d the land doesn’t support my vision, I have a slide show of other ideas to fit the location.

I’m about to read that link about the moth, though I know from indoor growing, the more pests I learned about, the more trouble I had! I hope that doesn’t happen to me, now! Lol

Are there cacti that are resistant to the moth?

I read the article and answered my own question, regarding moth resistance. Damned pests! Is it just me or so very few insects/diseases/other pests ever seem to wipe out undesirable vegetation or are all problems hardwired to target ornamentals?

It's true, only the weeds are exempt! I've decided to accept the native "weeds" and just focus on ridding the landscape of the invasive varieties. (not nearly as easy as it seems it might be)

My least favorite weed gets ground aphids badly...i see them when i pull the roots up. But despite the attack the weed continues growing rapidly.

a rock yard in Florida...i've only seen those in the rich areas around, people that can afford help to keep their rock yard weed free and use lots of chemicals.

i'll stick with my weed patch of a yard where i can walk barefoot and sit on the ground in the shade of my oaks, palms and tangerine trees.

I’m not one for rampant chemical use. One of us is retired and has some modest wealth, so keeping up with weeding and raking, leaf blowing, and what have you is no trouble and we both love to garden.

I want the palms, hibiscus, crotons, Ti plants, dracaena, philodendrons, michelia, and other tropicals in my back and left side of the house, just wanted to create different landscapes and themes on each side of the house.

Re: stone yards, they were very popular in the 60s and 70s. You can still find quite a few in older developments, like the one we live in here in coastal Pinellas county. My parents had them installed @ 2of our homes. I recall it involved applying arsenic as a weed preventive(!)

They certainly don't help you save on your a/c bill either.

My advice is rather than fight nature, check out recommendations from IFAS extension services. They have a program called Florida Friendly Yards...

http://sfyl.ifas.ufl.edu/lawn-and-garden/

Hope this helps

Oh, and your assessment about the continual replacement of landscapes is not too far from the truth. Landscaping and yard maintenance are big business here.

I’m really enjoying our discussion and appreciate the links.

I do not and will not fight nature. I am willing to create raised beds and bring in stone and soil amendments. I am willing to water, weed, rake, prune, have professionally pruned ( once or twice annually ), expect some wind and cold snap damages, and choose realistic and even native plants, where applicable.

I am not willing to routinely engage in chemical warfare, constantly replace sod and turf or ground coverings ( mulching some beds once or twice a year is ok ), or have to remove and replace plants that are poor fits. I want to work with what I have, but also know what’s possible and how much effort it might take. I think a xeriscape is an environmentally friendly idea, but not if the location poorly drains, has acid soil, or other obstacles, and I understand that a xeriscape means working with what works where you are, not with what you wanted to work.

I appreciate the feedback.

A yard is a lot of work, if you care about landscaping. We bought our first house last year and now I have fallen in love with gardening as I slowly de-lawn. We are going with flower beds and shrubs and just pathways in between the beds without a specific ground cover. It is a lot of work but I love it. I kinda wish sometimes that we bought a condo or townhome with no or little yard. I could save so much time and money! But then I think, I am "wasting" my time on what I love. That is not a waste.

Just my two cents. Sorry, didn't read the whole thread.

CA is Mediterranean, FL is sub-tropical. HUGE difference.

Stone yards still grow weeds. The sand blows in from wherever, or falls from the sky, and the weeds take root. You'll have to use weed killers to keep the stone clear of weeds, and even then, they are horrible to get leaves and other detritus out of.

Things grow like mad in FL, and they make messes, and nature abhors a vacuum, so they will grow whether you want to fight nature or not. In fact, if they know you don't want to fight nature, they'll grow faster.

I think you'd be happier in a condo with some patio plants, honestly, but FL is defnitely not the place for you. Our entire existence is a battle with Mother Nature.

I have to agree that the rock yard idea is going to be heaps of work to keep it weed free. I also knew someone that decided he was gonna mulch the whole yard in 6inches of mulch to keep the weeds away...it actually worked sadly the mice and rats that grew up in their mulch nests were not a satisfactory replacement for the weeds. He is back to enjoying his weeds again.

I like to garden. I don’t mind working hard to succeed at a goal, but I’m not going to set myself up for dousing my landscape with poisons constantly. I’ve continued to research and research and what everyone here has to to say is true, but there are also exceptions and ways around some of the concerns. For example, maybe haveing front yard of gravel would be high maintanence, but have some raise beds, with proper substrate built above the natural soil can provide a great place for growing the right succulents. I have seen things like pony tail palms, just planted in someone’s front yard, doing splendidly, in Sarasota. There’s options for me, but like those garden tours on TV and in person, those elaborate landscapes take years to develop and most botanical gardens try to reduce their impact on nature, so I’m confident I’ll come up with a plan that suites my tastes and the climate, as well as the property.

If you're going to be as far south as Sarasota, there is a large array of plants you can grow on berms in a rock yard. I suggest you go to a local garden center and ask for some ideas. Keep the succulents in containers, though. Sarasota does freeze, and you'll need to protect them from the cold. I know people who have raised beds and even flat beds in stone yards, and they have lots of pretty containers in the beds under maybe a palm tree or large cactus.

As far as not using chemicals, you can try vinegar to kill the weeds. It works well on some, not on others. Boiling water also work on weeds, as does bleach. Just don't move into a house where you have a large tree that will drop leaves all over the rocks.

Also, there are ground covers that do well in that area that don't require mowing, like Sunshine Mimosa and Perennial Peanut. There was a front yard down the street from Selby Gardens that had a front lawn of both, and the pink and yellow together were very nice.

If you do settle in Sarasota, take a trip to the Florida Native Plants nursery. There are wonderful native plants that take absolutely no care that you might like to have in your yard. Then, right down the road from that is Crowley's Nursery, and Cathy Crowley and her sons are most knowledgeable in plants and landscaping. In Venice, there is MRT Garden Center, run by the Taylor brothers, and they know plants. They also do landscaping, and I've never heard a complaint against them.

I'll tell you a story about a woman who came into a garden center I used to work at in Venice. She said she wanted a plant that got only three feet tall, bloomed all year, and never needed pruning, because she REFUSED (said in a very haughty tone) to prune shrubs. I told her that there was nothing like that in FL, but there was a silk plant store right down the road. The truth hurts, but like I said, gardening in FL is like being at war with Mother Nature.

Good luck!

I’m aiming for zone 10a, Punta Gorda, or possible inland, between Sarasota and Naples. Punta Gorda is our ground zero to search from.

I realize that I land areas are likely colder than coastal ones. I’ve seen enough of FL to know there are lots of options for plants and I also have read quite a bit and feel that it’s relatively common for people to replace downed trees that succumbed to cold damage or high winds. I realize, just like none of FL is safe from hurricanes or possible cold snaps; no plants are sure things against hurricanes and the FL climate. I just want to make good choices and be realistic about what I can expect. I want some more unusual plants, maybe Licuala and old man palms, columnear succulents and cacti, and the like, but mingled I’m with a more common plants, like crotons, gardenias, Bismarck palms, plumeria, and so on. I am absolutely going to look at some nurseries and get some estimates and advice from reputable landscapers.

I’m expecting that the lack of organic matter in the soil and need for elevated beds for succulents, I’ll have to landscape in stages and might just have the beds created and fill them in as inspiration and budget allows.

I’ve been to Tropiflora nursery, and ordered from several others, as well as having driven the length of Florida, visited Selby, Myakka State Park, Orlando, Sun City Estates, Tarpon Springs, and Tampa.

I’ve never felt where I was born and raised was Home and always dreamed of FL and I’m so excited, I can’t stop dreaming of plants to plant, and browsing property listings.

The more rural parts of Punta Gorda are pretty nice, and building codes aren't as strict. In some parts, you can even put in a mobile home, or buy one already there. There is an area called the Ranchettes that has 2-5 acre lots. You might be able to find something out there, but I haven't been there in years, so it's probably grown up a lot. When I had a friend there, the newcomers building houses were trying to outlaw mobile home, but they hadn't succeeded yet. The further east you go from the coast, the cheaper the land gets, and the further South you go, the more expensive it gets. All in all, land in N. Central FL is much cheaper.

Why not go for a food forest instead of something just ornamental? If you get raw land, like something that used to be farm land, you can build a wonderful food forest. Sure, you can put in some palms and ornamentals too, that's sort of what a food forest is - a lot of food trees with ornamentals and other beneficial plants all around and between them.

There is a reddit forum on Permaculture that is excellent. They can help you get started once you get there. I have a tiny garden, and I practice permaculture. It's really the best way to build up our nasty, sandy soil.

And if you're looking for info/inspiration, FGCU in Ft Myers has a wonderful food forest.

http://fgcufoodforest.weebly.com

ECHO is in Ft Myers, too:

https://www.echonet.org

If you want to stay as tropical as possible, you will need to stay west of I-75. One of my customers had a nursery himself and lived in the Golden Gate area, which is just as far south as Naples, but inland. About 10 years ago he had 18f. There are two alleys in Florida where the cold runs down all the way south. Inland Homestead can be in the teens too. I like where I live, so I just ended up building greenhouses. I grow about 500 species of plants if you like unusual plants. There are some nice microclimates all over west Florida. Anything on the south sdife of a river helps a lot. I saw a nice area in Bradenton when I was looking at the Palma Sola botanical garden. There is a big area that juts out into the gulf with only water to the north until you hit the bay.

Palma Sola has a botanical garden now? I lived in Bradenton back in the early 90s, and there wasn't one there then. I think Palma Sola bay was one of my favorite places to go on weekends, but I hear they've fixed it so there is no place to park anymore.

I just bought a variegated ‘Orange Ice’ bougainvillea and I know those will grow in FL. Oh, they are so beautiful, trained into standards or romantically spilling over the eaves of a roof or some sort of structure. I can’t wait to get there already and just lose myself in the possibility.

Here is cthe website: http://www.palmasolabp.org

I’m reading about crepe myrtles, their hurricane tolerance was fairly good. One thing I’m seeing consistently, is that they are rated South to zone 9 only. Do they not do well in 10a? I thought they were pretty tolerant and are grown in pretty hot places.

They grow where i am which is charlotte county. Next door along the fence line there is a white one. When the blossum start dropping its like it is snowing.

Re: crepe myrtles. They will grow into zone 10A, though they do not look their best. Leaves tend to brown and they aren't quite the beauties you see in South Carolina, though there are many planted nearer the coast (east coast anyway). Queen Crepe Myrtle may be a better choice inland.

I really like the Dynamite variety, with dark foliage and bright blooms. I’ve also got myself stupid, silly, excited over the idea of growing some bougainvillea, especially as standards. I’m so overwhelmed with possibilities and so anxious to get there and dig in. It’s so much fun, browsing and reading about potential plants all day, while I’m recovering from surgery.

I think I’ve determined that some answers are “you’ll never know, unless you try!”.

I'm not very good at landscaping, but I just wanted to warn you not to plant Queen or Washingtonia palms. Landscapers will try to sell you queen palms, but JUST SAY NO! First off, they are messy, dropping dead limbs and seeds everywhere, which come up all over the place and secondly, they grow so tall that you have to hire someone with a boom to trim them, and then they usually do it wrong. Washingtonias don't drop their leaves, and they just hang there like a dead brown skirt. Ugly. Coconut palms are pretty, but they're not very cold hardy, which is why you don't see many north of 10b. Plus, they drop coconuts everywhere and if you have anything growing under them, it gets crushed.

Unfortunately, there isn't much in FL that doesn't take maintenance and isn't going to make some kind of mess. get too big or spread into areas where you don't want it. Choose carefully, and research before you put anything in. Make sure to make note of the mature size of the plant to make sure it won't outgrow the space.

You said you like the Pampas grass, so I guess you know that once it gets large, you have to cut it back every year with a chainsaw. There are large native grasses that are much easier to care for, like Fakkahatchee grass. Just be sure to cut off the seed heads before it spreads all over your yard.

I will suggest a Jatropha tree or bush (two different species). They are not messy and bloom all year. Their only problem is that they can die back in a freeze, but they come right back up from the roots and grow like mad.

I noticed a rock "lawn" afriday when I was running errands. I'll try to get out and take a picture or two. I hope I don't seem stalker-y!

I’d love to see the pictures!

I have read a lot and think I’ll stick to FL native palms and a few smaller species, like areca, rhapis, and cat palms.

Give areca a large diameter growing area. They clump very quickly into something that will push all other plants out. People use them as privacy screens here, if that tells you anything. Rhapis can become a problem because of how they spread. Never heard of a cat palm.

All palms have their downsides, even native palms. Sabal palms are great until they start setting seed, then they can come up everywhere. They grow slowly, but once they get tall (and they can get VERY tall), they are a pain to trim.

I know there a lot of Palm deficiencies, diseases, insect problems, and that Washingtonia palms are terrible in the wind, although popular.

I like this Palm a lot. Any comments regarding its suitability, from personal experiences?

Anyone growing Christmas palms long term, North of Frt.Myers?

Also, anyone see much of Ficus ‘alii’ anywhere in Southwest or South FL? It’s not mentioned often as an outdoor possibility.