A Step-by-Step Guide to a Florida Native Yard

by Ginny Stibolt, Marjorie Shropshire

More and more Florida residents are deciding to replace highly fertilized, over-watered, pesticide-dependent lawns with native plants. They want to reduce their carbon footprints; save time, water, and money; and attract birds and butterflies. But where to begin? This illustrated guide will help you create new outdoor spaces that are both sustainable and beautiful. Taking the common ⅓-acre lot as an example, Ginny Stibolt and Marjorie Shropshire provide a sample layout for a basic native plant landscape. They use a grid system that allows gardeners to work on their yards in small sections instead of trying to revamp the entire landscape at once. The grid system can also be reduced or expanded for yards of varying size. By breaking down the process into individual steps, creating a Florida garden is achievable for beginners and experts alike. The first step is assessing your property and choosing which plants to keep and which to remove. Then, design your landscape to soak up more stormwater through the use of rain barrels, rain gardens, or ponds. The next steps involve planting trees, understory plants, and installing butterfly gardens. There are additional instructions for building wild areas into your landscape to provide habitat for birds and pollinators; creating a flexible outdoor "room" perfect for your family’s needs today and into the future; and using plants to cool the air, provide screening for privacy, buffer incoming winds, and reduce noise. By following these methods, anyone can convert all or part of their yard into a more natural area without using pesticides or artificial fertilizers, which will save money, reduce pollution, and help support wildlife. Complete with detailed diagrams, a timeline for growth and maintenance, and lists of suggested plants for each step, this guide will help readers set up an environmentally friendly habitat and give them the time and peace of mind to enjoy it.

Genres: Nonfiction, Nature, Gardening

136 pages, Paperback

Published March 27, 2018

About the author

Ginny, a life-long gardener with MS degree in Botany, moved to northeast Florida in 2004. Her previous experience and education did not help one bit when she tried her hand at Florida gardening. She started writing her popular Adventures of a Transplanted Gardener columns and she's also been writing the gardening articles for Vero Beach Magazine. And now she's written a book, "Sustainable Gardening for Florida" published by University Press of Florida: www.sustainablegardening4florida.com"

Reviews

[Andria]

Great little book. Enjoyed the illustrations. I learned a lot but was often lost. This is definitely a guide for people with more experience. I have no landscaping experience and frequently didn't understand terms. As a regional guide this is excellent, would especially recommend to people newly relocated. Though I didn't finish the book, it did get me thinking that maybe I should not tackle such a big project on my own, so it was helpful in that regard.

[Heidi · Rating 5 out of 5]

For those wanting to transform their yard into a more Florida friendly one (and cut down on mowing and watering at the same time) this guide is a godsend. It breaks the process into manageable steps that can be done a little at a time. I have already begun implementing some of the steps in my own yard and am looking forward to the day when my yard becomes a garden full of native plants and pollinators. I may also now have an addiction to buying native plants....

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent resource for starting a Florida native garden/yard.

[Jules · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an incredible resource. Straight-forward and brief. Highly recommend.

[Richard Inman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great foundation to get started.