Florida yard palm project

[Dave-Vero]

The freezes of the 1980s, culminating in December 1989 also killed coconuts, royal palms, and more. Even native tropical species, such as gumbo limbo trees, perished, while survivors were badly killed back.

The bad winters of 2010-2011 also killed coconuts in my (somewhat inland) portion of Vero Beach, where Carpentaria, Archontophoenix, and assorted Dypsis survived with damage. Crysophila, of all things, had no problems at all.

[Zeeth]

I'm surprised you can grow coconuts all the way up there.

Coconuts can grow about as far north as Cape Canaveral on the east coast and St. Petersburg on the west coast.

[Yunder Wækraus]

You can get free mulch from the dump in Melbourne or the place beside the dump sells it by the bag or truckload. They have different colors available. Both are on Sarno just west of Wickham. I put down a layer of the fine mulch from the dump. Followed by the more coarse stuff a few years ago and have been topping it with more in different areas every year and my sand is know turning to soil.I put cardboard down nuder some areas and it did block the weeds for a while but eventually seeds sprout from in the mulch, grass sneeks in from nieghbors. The yard is looking good.

I went to the dump and got a load of mulch. It's sobering to realize how little mulch there is in a full pickup bed relative to even my modest yard.

[BigFrond]

Large royal = instant gratification

Waiting for more pix! Good progress!

[_Keith]

oh yeah, you need a 4 yard truck load at least. maybe 2.

[rick]

You can get free mulch from the dump in Melbourne or the place beside the dump sells it by the bag or truckload. They have different colors available. Both are on Sarno just west of Wickham. I put down a layer of the fine mulch from the dump. Followed by the more coarse stuff a few years ago and have been topping it with more in different areas every year and my sand is know turning to soil.I put cardboard down nuder some areas and it did block the weeds for a while but eventually seeds sprout from in the mulch, grass sneeks in from nieghbors. The yard is looking good.

I went to the dump and got a load of mulch. It's sobering to realize how little mulch there is in a full pickup bed relative to even my modest yard.

Lucky you have the dump as an option. Palm Beach county stopped their free mulch program last year.

[Yunder Wækraus]

Why would they do that?

[Yunder Wækraus]

This is a pretty neat resource: http://fyn.ifas.ufl.edu/pdf/FFL_Book_Zone_10_081610.pdf

[Dmcdonald]

You can get free mulch from the dump in Melbourne or the place beside the dump sells it by the bag or truckload. They have different colors available. Both are on Sarno just west of Wickham. I put down a layer of the fine mulch from the dump. Followed by the more coarse stuff a few years ago and have been topping it with more in different areas every year and my sand is know turning to soil.I put cardboard down nuder some areas and it did block the weeds for a while but eventually seeds sprout from in the mulch, grass sneeks in from nieghbors. The yard is looking good.

I went to the dump and got a load of mulch. It's sobering to realize how little mulch there is in a full pickup bed relative to even my modest yard.

Yeah I have put down probably 15 loads with a Chevy S-10 loadedso the pile was level with the top of the roof. The truck was sagging. I also did 4 or 5 loads with a 3/4 ton full size. I have put this down over the course of the last 3 or 4 years and what was once sand is starting to look and act more like dirt. I see earthworms all the time. Also I get crazy mushroom blooms ( I guess that is what they are called) a couple times a year now. They are real small and fragile looking.

[rick]

Why would they do that?

From what I can tell they burn it along with regular garbage to make electricity.

[Yunder Wækraus]

We finally moved into our home in Indialantic, Florida. The front yard had almost no real landscaping upon our taking ownership of the house. The yard was originally all crushed rock, and the previous owner removed only part of that and piled the rest into three UGLY islands of rock. The weed-blocking tarp that had been lain beneath the rock was therefore not removed, and the fresh sod put down by the old owners atop the partial rock has not been able to root. It all looked terrible. Thanks to kind advice and even kinder direct help from folks on this forum, I have acquired some palms and have begun to landscape the front. Someone suggested I post pictures of the work, so I'll start with photos of the front yard as it looked upon our purchase of the home, photos of its current state a week in, and a rough sketch of my plans for the front yard (not to scale and subject to change).

My goal is to have every native species of Florida palm, the coontie, and the coconut in the front yard. I paid for two large specimens, a Roystonea regia and a nice clump of Acoelorrhaphe wrightii, which were delivered and installed by a nursery in Malabar (which was recommended to me by a forum member). And I purchased two small Pseudophoenix sargentii (not in the ground yet) and a beautiful Coccothrinax argentata from another forum member in the local area. I hope to have the whole front fully landscaped by the end of the summer.

Here's an update. The yard still looks rough, but things are starting to take shape. Thus far I (and my children) have removed about 80% of the unwanted rock and the majority of the unwated cement blocks and bricks. I've hauled in and spread two truck bed loads of mulch and an another load of manure compost and cypress chips. I've planted all of the large plants and some of the smaller border plants (e.g. various crotons and purple sweet potato vines). I've also planted the tropical understory beneath the royal palm. I still have to finish hauling out rock and excess dirt, sod over the two gaping holes in the lawn (one left by the removal of the tacky concrete-block-bounded, rock-filled planter box and one left by an ill-advised mulch pile that stayed on the lawn too long). I need to bring in at least two more loads of mulch to mulch the "islands"; I need to plant additional flowers and ground cover in the island. I need to mow the remaining lawn (too many rocks in the grass still), and remove the unwanted grass (most of which will be mulched)

[Yunder Wækraus]

Here are the new sketches (very rough)

[Yunder Wækraus]

And, last but not least, my long-sought-after cannon ball tree :-)

[Cocoa Beach Jason]

We finally moved into our home in Indialantic, Florida. The front yard had almost no real landscaping upon our taking ownership of the house. The yard was originally all crushed rock, and the previous owner removed only part of that and piled the rest into three UGLY islands of rock. The weed-blocking tarp that had been lain beneath the rock was therefore not removed, and the fresh sod put down by the old owners atop the partial rock has not been able to root. It all looked terrible. Thanks to kind advice and even kinder direct help from folks on this forum, I have acquired some palms and have begun to landscape the front. Someone suggested I post pictures of the work, so I'll start with photos of the front yard as it looked upon our purchase of the home, photos of its current state a week in, and a rough sketch of my plans for the front yard (not to scale and subject to change).

My goal is to have every native species of Florida palm, the coontie, and the coconut in the front yard. I paid for two large specimens, a Roystonea regia and a nice clump of Acoelorrhaphe wrightii, which were delivered and installed by a nursery in Malabar (which was recommended to me by a forum member). And I purchased two small Pseudophoenix sargentii (not in the ground yet) and a beautiful Coccothrinax argentata from another forum member in the local area. I hope to have the whole front fully landscaped by the end of the summer.

Here's an update. The yard still looks rough, but things are starting to take shape. Thus far I (and my children) have removed about 80% of the unwanted rock and the majority of the unwated cement blocks and bricks. I've hauled in and spread two truck bed loads of mulch and an another load of manure compost and cypress chips. I've planted all of the large plants and some of the smaller border plants (e.g. various crotons and purple sweet potato vines). I've also planted the tropical understory beneath the royal palm. I still have to finish hauling out rock and excess dirt, sod over the two gaping holes in the lawn (one left by the removal of the tacky concrete-block-bounded, rock-filled planter box and one left by an ill-advised mulch pile that stayed on the lawn too long). I need to bring in at least two more loads of mulch to mulch the "islands"; I need to plant additional flowers and ground cover in the island. I need to mow the remaining lawn (too many rocks in the grass still), and remove the unwanted grass (most of which will be mulched)

Looks great. Nice tropical plant selection. Do you have any concern that the poinciana is planted too close to the coconuts? I can see them being scrunched when big. Awesome yard so far!

[Yunder Wækraus]

It's actually a jacaranda. Yes, they'll be cranked someday, but I'll enjoy them between now and then :-)

[Yunder Wækraus]

*Cramped

[Yunder Wækraus]

I added the last of the plants around the base of the royal yesterday, including my first coontie in Florida. The flowers grow wild all over the property, and I've been steadily digging them up and replanting them around the royal. They look like impatiens to me, but they grow like weeds, so not sure what they are (or whether they're annuals or perennials).

[empireo22]

the flowers are vincas.

[Yunder Wækraus]

Thank you!

[Zeeth]

the flowers are vincas.

Aka Catharanthus roseus. They do amazingly well in Florida, and will flower all year long if you're warm enough (which you probably are).

You might try some beach sunflowers (Helianthus debilis) also! They're hard to find for sale, but I've just picked the dead heads from local ones at the beach and spread the tiny seeds inside. They also flower year-round in the right climate.

[Yunder Wækraus]

Thanks for the tip :-)

[Yunder Wækraus]

I scored some coquina rock! I've been trying to get some native Florida rock since September. I've had no trouble finding stuff I like, but my garden budget has been non-existent since the middle of summer. I'm cruising on fumes for the foreseeable future. My cousin, who also digs tropical plants and doing his own landscaping, heard me whining about my need for coquina stones, and he gave me a call yesterday with a sweet offer: drive up to Merritt Island right away, and I can load my truck with recently quarried coquina stone for free! It turned out that a job he was working had a different contractor loading up a massive amount of large coquina stone for the nursery trade. My cousin asked whether I might be allowed to grab a few of the smaller cast-offs, and this contractor said yes and threw in a few decent-sized ones to boot :-) I've still got a lot of work to do on my yard, but these stones look just the way I pictured them in my mind. The rough theme is a rock-strewn stream bed in a tropical jungle bursting out toward the street. The open portion (the point where you see mulch in front of and between the largest stones), will be planted with tropical plants soon, and I think the overall effect should be quite nice.

[Zeeth]

Neat! I like the way that hardscaping looks around planting beds. My favorite is the white rocks you find in South Florida with all the nice nooks and crannies in it. 

[Yunder Wækraus]

I'm still far from done, and many of my plants have struggled with salt spray (e.g. thr royal), but I'm 90% there. Today was the first mow since I sodded over bare spots in Nov. Here's the link to the video: https://youtu.be/jeLTFMGeb6w

[GMann]

Bear in mind that many of the palms you have chosen are very slow growing (Psuedophoenix, Key Thatch Palm, & Everglades Palms). I would invest in a large Key Thatch Palm and a large Psuedophoenix so you get to see them in their glory soon and not have to wait many decades.

[Mr. Coconut Palm]

On ‎9‎/‎2‎/‎2015‎ ‎1‎:‎19‎:‎29‎, Yunder Wækraus said:

Here's an update. The yard still looks rough, but things are starting to take shape. Thus far I (and my children) have removed about 80% of the unwanted rock and the majority of the unwated cement blocks and bricks. I've hauled in and spread two truck bed loads of mulch and an another load of manure compost and cypress chips. I've planted all of the large plants and some of the smaller border plants (e.g. various crotons and purple sweet potato vines). I've also planted the tropical understory beneath the royal palm. I still have to finish hauling out rock and excess dirt, sod over the two gaping holes in the lawn (one left by the removal of the tacky concrete-block-bounded, rock-filled planter box and one left by an ill-advised mulch pile that stayed on the lawn too long). I need to bring in at least two more loads of mulch to mulch the "islands"; I need to plant additional flowers and ground cover in the island. I need to mow the remaining lawn (too many rocks in the grass still), and remove the unwanted grass (most of which will be mulched)

Things are really coming along, and your yard will be beautiful before you know it with your tropical climate and high rainfall there.

[Mr. Coconut Palm]

Alex,

I looked at the end of the thread and your video, and it's official, your yard IS ALREADY BEAUTIFUL!

John

[Yunder Wækraus]

5 hours ago, Mr. Coconut Palm said:

Alex,

I looked at the end of the thread and your video, and it's official, your yard IS ALREADY BEAUTIFUL!

John

Thanks. I still have a long way to go, but I am beginning to see things take shape :-)

[Mr. Coconut Palm]

3 hours ago, Yunder Wækraus said:

Thanks. I still have a long way to go, but I am beginning to see things take shape :-)

Me too, I know the feeling.  When I started landscaping my yard 3 years ago, it didn't look like much, but now it is really starting to come along.  My Hong Kong Orchid Tree probably tripled in size since May this past year with all the rain we had and my organic fertilizer I use.

[Yunder Wækraus]

49 minutes ago, Mr. Coconut Palm said:

Me too, I know the feeling.  When I started landscaping my yard 3 years ago, it didn't look like much, but now it is really starting to come along.  My Hong Kong Orchid Tree probably tripled in size since May this past year with all the rain we had and my organic fertilizer I use.

I was just looking at one of those at a local nursery. Do you know whether they show salt and wind tolerance?

[Mr. Coconut Palm]

Just now, Yunder Wækraus said:

I was just looking at one of those at a local nursery. Do you know whether they show salt and wind tolerance?

Alex,

Mine holds up to our VERY HIGH winds we have here about 6 months out of the year.  On some windy days with sustained winds of 35 mph, we have gusts up to 45 mph and even 50 mph.  On those days, I lose some flowers and a few leaves, but considering how windy it gets here, I think it does pretty well.  Also, when it comes to salt tolerance, I think they are moderately salt tolerant, since I live only .6 of a mile inland from the Laguna Madre.  There is a really large one about 30 ft. tall around the corner from me that is only about 700 or 800 ft. from the Laguna Madre and it looks pretty good, so I would say they have pretty good salt tolerance.  How close to the water do you live?

John

[Yunder Wækraus]

It's a 4-minute walk from my front door to the beach (closer as the bird flies). I don't how many feet, but I'd say more than 500' and less than 1000'. 

[Zeeth]

Just now, Yunder Wækraus said:

It's a 4-minute walk from my front door to the beach (closer as the bird flies). I don't how many feet, but I'd say more than 500' and less than 1000'. 

The salt spray is way more extreme there than it is along the Gulf due to the wave action also. I had never actually seen saltspray until visiting Brevard. 

[Mr. Coconut Palm]

1 hour ago, Yunder Wækraus said:

It's a 4-minute walk from my front door to the beach (closer as the bird flies). I don't how many feet, but I'd say more than 500' and less than 1000'. 

You might want to try planting it on the west side of your house then, away from the salt spray.  I think they can take a considerable amount of it, but if I were you, I would check with your county extension agent and with a reputable local nursery and see what they say.

[Cocoa Beach Jason]

On October 30, 2015 at 2:13:03 PM, Yunder Wækraus said:

I scored some coquina rock! I've been trying to get some native Florida rock since September. I've had no trouble finding stuff I like, but my garden budget has been non-existent since the middle of summer. I'm cruising on fumes for the foreseeable future. My cousin, who also digs tropical plants and doing his own landscaping, heard me whining about my need for coquina stones, and he gave me a call yesterday with a sweet offer: drive up to Merritt Island right away, and I can load my truck with recently quarried coquina stone for free! It turned out that a job he was working had a different contractor loading up a massive amount of large coquina stone for the nursery trade. My cousin asked whether I might be allowed to grab a few of the smaller cast-offs, and this contractor said yes and threw in a few decent-sized ones to boot :-) I've still got a lot of work to do on my yard, but these stones look just the way I pictured them in my mind. The rough theme is a rock-strewn stream bed in a tropical jungle bursting out toward the street. The open portion (the point where you see mulch in front of and between the largest stones), will be planted with tropical plants soon, and I think the overall effect should be quite nice.

That coquina rock looks amazing. I love that stuff. There is a quarry in inland Cocoa that has this stuff for sale at a good price. 

[Zeeth]

1 hour ago, Mr. Coconut Palm said:

You might want to try planting it on the west side of your house then, away from the salt spray.  I think they can take a considerable amount of it, but if I were you, I would check with your county extension agent and with a reputable local nursery and see what they say.

The salt spray in that area of Florida is serious. This picture that shows just what I'm talking about. That "fog" in the air is aerosolized salt water. I've never seen it like that on the Gulf coast in my lifetime, and it's super common over there. (I blacked out the person in the picture to protect their identity). 

[Zeeth]

1 hour ago, Cocoa Beach Jason said:

That coquina rock looks amazing. I love that stuff. There is a quarry in inland Cocoa that has this stuff for sale at a good price. 

I'm a fan of that rock you see in south Florida with all the holes in it. Too bad no one here ever seems to sell it. 

[Yunder Wækraus]

7 minutes ago, Zeeth said:

I'm a fan of that rock you see in south Florida with all the holes in it. Too bad no one here ever seems to sell it. 

I spent quite a bit of time researching coquina rock sources in FL, and then I ran out of money. I was beyond happy when my cousin got me some for free. I love that it was quarried locally, and it takes on the most amazing orange color after rain.

[Mr. Coconut Palm]

1 hour ago, Zeeth said:

The salt spray in that area of Florida is serious. This picture that shows just what I'm talking about. That "fog" in the air is aerosolized salt water. I've never seen it like that on the Gulf coast in my lifetime, and it's super common over there. (I blacked out the person in the picture to protect their identity). 

Keith,

You're right, that is some SERIOUS salt spray, even worse than along the seawall in Galveston on a windy day (and it gets bad there by Gulf standards).  Maybe he better stick with Jamaican Tall coconut palms and Sea Grapes under those conditions and for a flowering bush, the Natal Plum, which produces a nice red edible fruit too.

John

[Yunder Wækraus]

1 hour ago, Mr. Coconut Palm said:

Keith,

You're right, that is some SERIOUS salt spray, even worse than along the seawall in Galveston on a windy day (and it gets bad there by Gulf standards).  Maybe he better stick with Jamaican Tall coconut palms and Sea Grapes under those conditions and for a flowering bush, the Natal Plum, which produces a nice red edible fruit too.

John

I've come to realize that the omission of certain plants on the beachside is not due to a lack of plant interest on the part of property owners. So, now that I've been humbled, I've decided not to reinvent the wheel: I'm looking closely at what does grow well. The quick answer (beyond coconuts and sea grapes, both of which I have planted), is that several nice plants seem tough enough, including Delonix regia, the native S. palmetto and S. repens, and plumeria.