garden for florida – who needs a lawn? | Sticks of Fire: a Tampa blog

garden for florida – who needs a lawn?

April 25, 2009 | Jill | 9 comments - add to the conversation!

Recent rains notwithstanding, the Bay area is undergoing a severe drought, and the tightest watering restrictions ever have been imposed. As we watch our grass get brown and dry, this is a great time to consider a Florida-Friendly gardening tip: Reduce the size of your lawn, or eliminate it altogether.

In Florida, lawns just aren’t natural. Most types of turfgrass need at least one inch of water a week to stay green. November through May, that’s simply not a reality here, and we have to water (or spray-paint!) to keep it green. Of course, come summer our grass gets far more rain than it needs, and we find ourselves out there every couple of days mowing in 90 degree heat.

Instead of struggling to keep your lawn attractive year-round, try one or more of these lawn-reducing suggestions:

Create mulched flower beds containing Florida-Friendly plants. Once established, the right plants need no additional watering to survive and even thrive. Floridayards.org provides a huge amount of helpful information you can use to plan a Florida-Friendly yard, or you can click here to check out what I’ve done in My Florida Backyard.
Consider groundcover plants. Groundcovers are just what they sound like: plants that spread out to cover a wide area, like grass does, but require much less maintenance. Visit the Florida-Friendly Plant Database to find the right groundcover for your yard.
Consider replacing large areas of lawn with a wildflower meadow. Use native wildflowers so they’ll survive on the rain Mother Nature provides, and watch the butterflies flock to your yard! Click here for details on How to Plant Your Wildflower Garden.
Keep only as much grass as you need, and maintain it properly. If you have kids, provide enough room for them to run and play, but eliminate the rest. Choose a drought-tolerant grass – Bahia grass will go dormant during dry months but perk back up when the rain arrives. See these tips from Southwest Florida Water Management District (SWFMD) to learn how to train your lawn to need less water.

We can’t make the rain fall from the sky, but we can change our lifestyles to make the best use of it when it does. So get outside now, in this beautiful spring weather, and make some changes in your yard. By the time the next dry season rolls around, you’ll have a yard that pretty much takes care of itself. Who could ask for anything more?

9 comments - add to the conversation! → “garden for florida – who needs a lawn?”

junebee

10 months ago

Now if we could only convince area HOA’s. They are such Nazis about lawns even in light of such problems as property values plummeting from too many renters and loose dogs terrorizing neighborhoods.

It’s no wonder the first byline (in bold print, even) in real estate ads is NO HOA!
visitor from Penna

10 months ago

After listening to the locals, I don’t want to move here. Not because I find your City not beautiful. But why should I pay $500,000 for a house and then have to fight for a decent yard..no way However,it seems to me, you Tampans have a double standard with you politicians….save water,ban the bomb, but make sure you give developers all they want… no way Jose, I am headed to Arizona….
Mariella

10 months ago

Great post! I look forward to reading more of your pieces.

I’ve got Mimosa Strigillosa spreading through my backyard, and it’s the perfect groundcover. It’s native to Florida. Forget watering — it thrives in drought. It stays so low to the ground, you’d never need to mow it, although you can mow it to keep the weeds down. It’s beautiful — lush leaves and little pink flowers (see photos). It’s soft and fluffy — great for walking on barefooted.

The best part is it’s fun. The leaves react and close up when you touch them (see video showing a slightly different species, but Strigillosa acts the same way).
GKR

10 months ago

Timely post!

I just bought a passionvine (pictured) at the last USF plant show.

We are considering going to perennial peanut http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/EP135 for large portions of our lawn. And of course Florida native plants are the way to go; we’ve tried to concentrate on butterlfy host plants.

Any HOA that advocates a lawn is stuck in the 50s.

“visitor from Penna” – the lawns in Arizona consist of gravel and cacti….best of luck
GKR

10 months ago

Mariella, does Mimosa Strigillosa hold up in lawn areas with foot traffic?
Tam

10 months ago

I agree, the HOA’s are holding us back from totally removing our lawn and having florida friendly plants. But…they are the first ones to send out an email warning about watering on off days.
I will never own a home with an HOA again….ever….
Mariella

10 months ago

GKR: We walk all over our Mimosa and it doesn’t mind a bit. Tres mows it regularly. The only cautionary note is it spreads very aggressively.

We did put a little peanut in once. We liked it, and it lasted quite a while, but finally died out in a bad drought a few years ago. The Mimosa is hardier.
GKR

10 months ago

Mariella, thanks for the info.. I’ll try it.
Sticks of Fire: a Tampa blog » Blog Archive » paving the way for florida-friendly landscaping

7 months ago

[...] here on Sticks of Fire have focused on gardening in a way that’s Florida-Friendly, including taking steps to reduce the size of your lawn, focusing on native plants, and removing invasives. Readers have pointed out that HOAs across the [...]