01/20/2026
Creating REAL gardens and fixing Landscape Architects’ mistakes.
Welcome to Maria’s garden! With over an acre of space, Maria went the route most people dismiss. No grass, leave the native trees, and gardens all around the property.
This home is a fairly new build and I commend them for many things landscape wise. However, there are many things where the LA went wrong. One of the more important areas neglected were listening to the wants/needs of the client.
Maria specifically asked for no palms, and instead of taking that into consideration, about 50 Chinese Fan Palms and a whole bunch of Robellini Palms were planted throughout the property.
In addition, there were multiple areas where annuals were planted which left “holes or pockets” in the gardens once they died which allowed weeds to take over shortly after.
They also planted foundation shrubs that want to be 20feet tall directly next to the house with the intention of shaving them into rectangles for the rest of their lives.
This is a short list of where this garden went wrong. We have been working with Maria the last two years to fix these issues and update her garden to what her wants/needs actually are!
The goal is to create a property boundary with Florida native species for habitat, privacy, pollinators, etc. While the interior gardens become private botanical gardens using Florida-Friendly plants which will live for years, take up more space, and add blooms/texture throughout the year.
We have made some fantastic progress so far and this post illuminates some of the flowers that were blooming while we were there last visit!
Usually you hear about native species or fruit trees, but today I wanted to highlight some of my favorite “Florida-Friendly” plants! Oh by the way, these are excellent additions for your food forests too as support species!
This property requires a video walkthrough, but for now enjoy the photos!
If you’re tired of the destructive, lame, and ridiculous traditional landscaping and you’re interested in having a REAL garden, call Longleaf Design!
Bring Life to your Land!