The Planting Guide
A step by step guide for preparing for and planting native plants.
Installing and maintaining your own garden project is rewarding and the most budget-friendly approach. When done with care, it provides the best start for the best outcome because it connects the gardener to the garden. We offer this establishment guide to help you.
You can download and print the abbreviated version here: installation.pdf
Note: If you are really really new to gardening with native plants, start by visiting the Nursery and by reading this article: Let’s Plant for Them.
But if you’re ready to get in the dirt here ya go…
First things first:
Know the gardening rules of your community. If you have a Home Owners Association (HOA) or community that has rules about what you can plant and where, be sure to review these rules and to be in communication about your plan to plant native plants, eliminate lawn and stop the use of pesticides. You might need to compromise a little bit once you know the landscaping regulations of your community, or sometimes HOAs will be willing to approve a garden design beyond their guidelines if the intention is to benefit pollinators and improve water quality of the neighborhood with native plants. Unless you enjoy literal turf wars, be communicative from the start and aim to keep the gardening peaceful.
Study your site conditions. We can help you to choose the right plants for the right places in your garden by knowing how close to the coast you are, how moist your soil is and, very importantly, how much sun your garden gets throughout the day and how that changes throughout the year. Existing structures, trees and shrubs can cast unique shade in certain areas of the garden during the day. Perhaps some of your garden floods in the summer months? Pay attention to all of this and take notes.
Study your soil drainage. To test how well your soil drains, which determines how dry the soil is, simply dig a deep hole (2 ft should do) and fill it up with water. How quickly does it drain? Some newer homes are built on a foundation of displaced soils or “fill” that doesn’t drain well. This type of hard and solid ground is good for the house, but not good for plants. There will be some limits to what species of native plants can be planted in these soil conditions. This is one of the reasons why we recommend planting in garden beds away from your house foundation, where the soil might be more “natural” and well-draining. If you want to keep foundation garden beds, consider breaking up and amending the soil in this area if there is a lot of “fill.” Natural and native, well-drained sandy soils do not need amending, neither do natural wetlands or lower areas of your yard. Know how wet the lower areas of your yard can get by paying attention to what the water does after a big rain storm. Does it stay flooded for more than a day or does it drain after a couple of hours?
Make a quick study of any existing irrigation - know the condition and location. If you want to keep your existing irrigation, knowing how to fix a break in the lines and having the supplies on hand is wonderful, but alternatively you could work with a professional irrigation service, or you could remove your irrigation entirely and hand water through the establishment period of your plants and during periods of drought. Remember that the right native plant in the right place can survive without regular irrigation once it is established. (A link to our article on establishment is coming soon). If you are on a regular irrigation schedule as required by your HOA, know the times it goes off and how moist it keeps the soil.
Soil PH testing is available through our local agricultural extension office, but is usually not necessary. The typical Florida soil conditions of most of our local homes work fine for the native plants we carry at the Nursery. Most of these plants adapt to the slightly varying PH levels of our suburban and urban gardens. Here in our area of Florida, more acidic soils are found in our more tree-filled or more inland area neighborhoods where the soil could be well-drained, average, or even moist. These soils have a lower PH and more organic material mixed into the soils through composted leaf litter and organic accumulation. Alkaline soils (higher PH and very little organic matter) are typically found in closer to the coast where the soils resemble almost pure sand and drainage happens quickly. Alkaline soils can also be found close up to foundations or sidewalks where shell or cement leaches into the soil. We find that familiarity with the soil drainage and sun conditions in your garden is adequate knowledge for gardening well with our native plants, locally.
Now you’re ready to visit the Nursery and buy your plants. Yay!
We suggest starting with a small project and working on one section of the garden at a time. The Nursery has been around for more than 35 years and, with hope, it’s not going anywhere. So let us help you take it slowly.
If you’d like us to, we can also help you go over most things either during a consultation at your home or at the Nursery. See the consultation section of our website for more info on that process.
Preparing:
Before digging, mark underground utilities. Call 811. This free service will send representatives to mark all underground utility cables such as internet and electricity so that you can avoid cutting them with a garden shovel while digging.
Cleaning up your existing garden beds. Weed and dig out invasive exotic or non-native, non wildlife-friendly plants. It’s possible to cut-to-the-ground unwanted shrubbery and palms instead of removing them, but sprouts should be removed as they appear.
Remove lawn. Expand on your garden beds or create new ones by killing or removing lawn. If you’d like to accomplish this without the use of synthetic chemicals please read our article, All About Sodicide: the Why and How of Killing Lawn
Planting:
Dig a hole two times as wide but never deeper than the height of the root ball.
Cut encircling roots, place plant in hole and fill the hole with water.
For native plants we don’t recommend adding soil enhancements (except, perhaps, some compost) to the planting hole. In order for plant root systems to be healthy they need to adapt to their surroundings.
After water has soaked in, make sure the plant is level with the surrounding soil. In wet locations plant a little higher.
Fill the hole with soil. Tap lightly to remove air pockets.
Make a three-inch high water ring around the perimeter of the root ball for larger shrubs and trees. Fill the ring with water. After it soaks in lightly repack the soil. For larger plants refill the water ring a second time.
Larger trees may require staking.
Mulching:
Mulch around the plant three inches deep and as wide as the foliage and four to six inches from the stem or trunk. We suggest using FloriMulch® or pine straw.
Watering:
With Florida heat and our very nutrient-poor and quick draining soils, it’s important that you provide ample watering to your brand new plants in the beginning and then slowly wean off that watering. The goal is to slowly reduce the plants dependency on the heavy watering that it received while growing in a small pot at the Nursery.
A plants watering requirements depends on soil, sun and the time of year.
The following is only a basic guide to weaning off water. It’s important that you pay attention to your plants and increase and decrease the amount of water if needed. You might find that you can safely speed up the weaning off water process or you might need to extend it. You can gauge how much water is reaching the plant and how moist the soil is by simply sticking your finger into the soil near the plant.
At a minimum, water deeply (soaking the soil to the base of the roots) every day for the first two to three weeks. The soil must be kept moist at all times during the beginning of the establishment period so that root hairs will grow into the surrounding soil.
Water every other day for the second two to three weeks.
Water every third day for the third two to three weeks.
No need to water on days when it rains more than one inch.
During the first year water larger trees and shrubs at least twice a week especially during spring months when it is hot and dry.
Larger plants may require supplemental watering during hot and dry periods for the first three years.
Larger plants that received hand watering daily and by rain during summer months, might still need to be slowly weaned off water by hand into the dryer months of the year for the first three years.
Keep an eye on your plants for signs of water stress: curling, drooping, browning or dropping leaves. Sometimes a plant will shock and drop its leaves. This signals that your plant is a fighter and if you up the watering for a bit, it will most likely flush back out.
Fertilizing:
Native plants do not require fertilizer if planted in the right place. They will respond to sunlight, rainfall, soil temperatures, and humidity and grow at a naturally sustainable rate.
To encourage faster growth, fertilize lightly but only four to six weeks after planting. New tender growth attracts hungry insects. It’s a trade off.
If you choose to fertilize, use a slow release organic fertilizer, or better yet, use your own compost. Learn how to start composting locally: https://www.sunshinecommunitycompost.org/copy-of-about-us
Maintaining:
Walk through your garden daily in the beginning and then weekly as it matures to recognize what healthy plants look like over time (and to keep on top of weeding!) Plants have different flowering cycles and times when they are dormant. Some are annuals; some are perennials. Some reseed; others do not.
Keep your garden weeded and re-mulch when needed, especially during the first three years of plant establishment. Here in Florida, invasive exotic species continually move into the garden. There is no such thing as a no maintenance landscape.
Native plants have natural forms and growth rates that are determined by both their genetics and their environments. Their forms and growth rates will respond to environmental variables such as sunlight, soil, moisture and nutrient availability. If they are planted in the right place they will usually thrive without adding fertilizer, watering, shaping, or eliminating pests.
Because we don’t have regular freezes here, exotic pest plants can invade your garden. It is important to know the difference between a re-seeding wildflower and an invasive weed. Visit the Florida Exotic Pest Plant Council to learn more about invasive exotic plants.
Pruning:
Keep in mind that pruning is technically wounding and doesn’t need to be done at all. Trimming encourages new growth and new growth is sensitive to cold and insect damage. So it’s best done after the danger of frost in early spring. Native plants gardens are naturally, well, more natural-looking. A healthy gardening goal is to design the garden with adequate spacing so plants don’t need regular pruning and if you are to prune, to prune lightly and without the appearance of being pruned at all.
Groundcovers (lawn alternatives for pollinators): keep area weeded for a “no-mow” approach and make sure the area is getting adequate water if you have a very dry site. Another approach is to let planted groundcovers compete with eventual invading plants and just mow at all together for a mixed species “floral” lawn. Do not apply chemicals or fertilizers.
Wildflowers: Can be left to their own devices or perennial wildflowers can be deadheaded or trimmed back to the green growth after they have gone to seed. You can also remove or cut back annual wildflowers after their time to make room for the reseeded baby plants. Do not apply pesticides or synthetic fertilizers.
Grasses: After they are established, grasses can be trimmed back yearly to help keep them green and lush. Do not “ball” the grasses, but instead cut them low to ground - to about 6 inches to remove the dead material that attracts rot and leaf eating insects. In nature, fire trims back native clump grasses, so the goal is to take it low to the ground to emulate fire.
Shrubs: Some shrubs take to trimming much better than others. Consult with us about which ones can be regularly trimmed and which ones do best left alone. We prefer trimming with hand held clippers for a more natural look rather than machine trimming. Try not to “ball” shrubs but rather trim them in the shape of a mountain so the leaves at the base get equal amounts of sunlight.
Trees: Trim trees as they grow. We like this guide for a DIY approach or we recommend working with a Florida Certified Arborist that appreciates and knows native trees.
Pests:
We like the saying -
“If something is not eating the plants then the plants are not a part of the ecosystem. ”
We are planting native plants to support wildlife and that means sharing the fruits of our labor with creatures such as pollinators, bugs and birds. Let the garden be a chance to give back to nature. Let it be for everyone.
However:
If you see a problem, follow these steps in this order:
Do nothing. Plants have their own devices to ward off attacks. Also, beneficial insects may feed on pests. Many unsightly disfigurements do not do lasting harm.
Rinse infected areas with a strong stream of water and your finger tips.
Pinch off affected leaves or prune affected branches.
Use NEEM or a soap/oil solution (“9-1-1” = Nine parts water to one part mild dish soap and one part cooking oil.). Spray all plant surfaces once a week in the early morning for three weeks to break the pest life cycle.
If problems persist, replace the plant with a species that will thrive under existing conditions. Consider transplanting the stressed plant to a new location in the garden (and water, water, water it to get it going again). Gardening is not a fixed state, it’s flexible, it’s fluid, it changes over time.
Most persistent problems are the result of the wrong plant in the wrong place (a permanently stressed and therefore susceptible plant) or lack of natural plant diversity which supports beneficial insect predators.