There is truly nothing quite as pleasing as a beautifully landscaped house. Choosing to landscape your yard is a great decision and adds value to your home. However, landscaping in Central Florida presents its own unique challenges.  You might be asking yourself some of the following questions:

• How does the climate and weather in Florida affect my yard?
• What will grow here in Central Florida?
• What plants are budget friendly?
• Where do I even begin?​

Natural green thumb or not, you can create a front yard in Central Florida that is both beautiful and sustainable. Here is a list of ideas to get you started.

Budget-friendly landscaping options should always include perennials. Perennials are plants that flourish long-term. Florida native perennials that are good for the residential landscaper include the Florida boxwood shrub, yellow elder flower, silver buttonwood hedge, firebush shrub, Dwarf Podocarpus, bay cedar shrub, and the Live Oak tree.  These are all affordable plants that would thrive in the Florida sun. ​

One of the best ways to design a small yard is to omit the lawn entirely. No more lawn mowing. This can be done through landscaping flower beds. Flower beds add great texture and depth to your front yard. They are also great for reducing surface area. The issue for many front yards, is the constant need for upkeep and maintenance. By making the decision to garden a large part of your yard, you are saving yourself money and upkeep down the line. Using the space in your yard to fill with beautiful plants and flowers will have your lawn mower thanking you for giving it a break! Flower beds will transform your front yard from being an ordinary plot of green land to a land full of color. That’s why it’s very important to pick the right plants that would work for your yard. Some flowers that will flourish in Central Florida include: Lantanas, Tickseed, Petunia, Buttercup, and Blue Daze. These are great flowers to choose from because of their hardiness and ability to bloom year round. They are also very durable and Florida-friendly. ​
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The weather here in Florida made headlines around the country last month. Temperatures in the low 40s across the state not only lead to an increase in jacket sales, it also saw an additional strange phenomenon: iguanas falling out of trees! While this change in the weather and the subsequent happenings surrounding it was a silly anomaly to most, it did bring about an interesting question for the Central Florida landscaping community: is is a good idea to prune trees when the temperature drops? The answer to this question is an unqualified...yes!

For most trees, winter is the perfect time for pruning. This is because most trees enter a state of dormancy when the weather gets cold and lose most of their leaves. The branches of these trees become exposed and it becomes much easier to see the actual structure of the tree. This means that any troublesome spots such as branches hanging too close to any structures are also easier to identify. Furthermore, winter months are usually drier than warmer months. When branches are drier, they weigh less and are easier to cut. A definite win-win.

Fruit trees such as cypress, juniper, and spruce are ideal candidates for winter pruning and should be cut during colder months. Sap producing trees like elm, maple, and birch are best left until late summer or early fall however. This is because freshly exposed limbs are susceptible to seepage. 

It's a good idea to make a plan before you start doing any work. Survey your property to decide which trees need to be trimmed and what equipment you will need to get the job done. Do you have extremely tall trees that will require special ladders and equipment? If so, it may be a good idea to hire a professional landscaping company as opposed to trying to go it alone. The last thing we want is for anyone to be injured while trimming from high places.

We recommend that larger branches be cut in stages. This will reduce the likelihood of injury to both you and the tree. Using your handsaw and/or snips, make a series of cuts beginning at about 18 inches from the trunk. Make an additional cut a few inches closer to the trunk and a final cut close to the trunk of the tree, just outside the branch's collar. Remember to dispose of all branches in accordance with local laws and regulations and please be safe while working.

If you want to take the stress and danger out of tree trimming, please give Aventura Nursery & Landscaping a call at (352) 799-3200 today. We are standing by to help you make your yard look its best.

Every homeowner wants to get the most money they can get for their property when it's time to sell. As a result, potential sellers are likely to spend tens if not hundreds of thousand dollars on various upgrades when preparing to put their house on the market. A question we often hear is: "Will landscaping increase my home's value?" The answer to this question is a resounding YES! As it turns out, spending a little extra on your home's yard can yield big results when selling. Today we take a look at why this is and what you can do to maximize profits with your landscaping.

You're probably very familiar with the phrase curb appeal. As it turns out, curb appeal is a very real phenomenon. First impressions are also important. It's a simple fact that one of the first things a potential buyer is going to see when they pull up to your house is your yard and the state it is in. Having quality landscaping on your property lets any potential buyer know that your house has been well cared for and well maintained. A well landscaped yard will add instant value to your home. Keeping it well maintained over the years will also pay off more than most interior upgrades will due to the fact that landscape designs will not go out of style in the same way a bathroom or kitchen remodel will. Spending a little bit on your yard now could bring big profits when selling.    

According to this article in the San Francisco Gate:

"A well-landscaped home has a significant price advantage over a home with no landscaping. This advantage ranges from 5.5 percent to 12.7 percent depending on the type of landscaping and the home's original value. That translates into an extra $16,500 to $38,100 in value on a $300,000 home. There's more to landscaping than sticking some flowers and a couple shrubs in the ground, however. The number-one thing that buyers are looking for in landscaping is a manicured design. Close behind is plant size and maturity. A lesser factor, but one still worth considering, is the diversity of plant life within the landscaping design."

If there's one advantage to landscaping in Central Florida, it is certainly diversity of plant life!

​Every project worth doing needs a plan. The number one mistake a homeowner can make is not having a comprehensive plan before beginning to upgrade their landscaping. An owner may decide to add a shrub here, a tree there, and maybe sod a few years later. The result is a yard that looks disorganized at best and, ugly at worst. Why not hire a professional landscape designer to do the job for you? 

If you're ready to add serious value to your home by upgrading your existing landscaping, give  Aventura Nursery & Landscaping a call at 352-799-3200. Our team of experts will be happy to assist you with designing a plan for your yard and putting that plan into action. We look forward to making your yard the absolute best that it can be.