[davem4616]

Add "Boston Fern" to the list

after a tour of the canals over in Mt Dora and seeing all the beautiful Boston Ferns along the banks we waited and waited for Home Depot to have them....bought three one quart plants and planted them in the front beds along the house

well in six months they were approaching four feet across....the bark mulch needed to be refurbished and I had a contractor coming to do that, but I figured I'd knock the ferns back with a 'weed wacker' beforehand

trimmed two successfully, when I went to the third for some reason I paused and decided to go at it from the side...within moments
an unseen 5+ foot gator that had been laying under the fern came scooting out across the front walk way (this is within 6 feet of our front door).....

he must have come from two streets over where there's a preserve....scared the living you know what out of me that something that big was hiding in our front bed (my wife is behind me yelling 'pocketbook, pocketbook, I hosie, pocketbook) we laugh about it now, but not at the time

When the landscaper came he told me that gators love to rest in Boston ferns....yes I had him take them out

[CFrance]

Originally Posted by Pricey

One word: Bougainvilleas.
They have thorns, invade everything, and are impossible to remove unless they're dug up.
Word has it that the crown of thorns placed on the brow of Jesus Christ was the bougainvillea. I believe it.

Ditto about bougainvilleas. The flowers fall/blow all over the place, the bush grows like a weed and is hard to prune because of the thorns. In fact, in California they are considered to be weeds, and they grow wild on the sides of the freeways.


Magnolias--they should be put in parks where they can grow into beautiful big trees. The little ones are ugly in shape. The flowers turn brown after one day, and you will be picking up leaves (of yours, and the neighbors' across the street or next to you) forever.


Depending on the prevailing wind, it may not be a problem; it may be a neighbors' problem. Our garage gets full of them from the tree across the street.

[La lamy]

Agreed about the magnolia trees. Their roots busted through the irrigation system's pipes of my villa and created a nice little flood around the house for days until I figured out the new hissing sound wasn't coming from my neighbours. Who knows what might be busted under the house too!

[Guitarman1951]

I have one king Sylvester, one Robollini and 6 queen palms. The Sylvester has surpassed my ability trim off the never ending dying limbs that have thorns 4 to 6 inches long. The Robollini is a much smaller palm but it's limbs have very sharp 3" thorns. It's limbs are constantly dying and need cutting. The queen palms are starting to become an ongoing problem as well with those huge seed pods and limbs occasionally needing cutting. My one live oak was planted by the developers only about 8 feet from the patio of a neighbor behind me. I have to have it trimmed 2 to 3 times a year to preclude encroachment over my neighbor's patio. Since it is a live oak, I'm not allowed to cut it down and it is a significant liability during storms. I am spending around a $1,000+ a years to maintain these nuisance trees. I wish the developer would have included some landscaping advice like yours in that big thick worthless binder they gave us called "How to be a Villager".

[davephan]

If I had oak trees, especially close to the house, I would try to have them cut down, and replaced by palm trees. There’s no shortage of oak trees, and the world will not miss an oak tree. The oak trees also rot from the inside out. So the oak trees could be weak if too much of the inside is rotted. I’d want palm trees because this is Florida, not a snow belt state!

Some people also avoid plants that deer like to eat. If you have trouble with the deer attacking your plants, there’s a solution that I tried and found works. There’s a product called “Deer Scram!” that actually works! You apply the granular product on the ground near the plants you want to protect. The deer hate the smell of the “Deer Scram!” and avoid the area. After the granular product is sprinkled on the ground, humans can’t smell it. You have to reapply the product about every two weeks. It’s sold on Amazon in 5 gallon buckets for about $75. It comes in much smaller sizes, if you want to test the product on your garden. A 5 gallon bucket of “Deer Scram” will probably last for several months. After about a month using the “Deer Scram!” product, the groups of many deer still avoid our property, and eat the neighbors plants instead of our plants.

[Ashimp]

Robellini Pygmy Date Palm isn't so bad. Has the thorns and berries, but is short and easy to trim.

[JMintzer]

Originally Posted by Two Bills

Do not plant husband/wife in garden.
Police these days have dogs trained to sniff out cadavers!

If you do, be sure to cover them with a "protected" species of flower...

The Police can't dig that up!

[rmd2]

My neighbor has a live oak and those pesky leaves even find their way inside MY garage. They are almost impossible to sweep away. They way they cling to the cement floor is amazing and not in a good way. I don't know why we don't have other types of trees here. Is it the weather or the price or what?

[ron32162]

Bougainvillea's can be dangerous 1 thorn out of 1 million contain a bacteria that causes a flesh eating sore. After spending 8 days in the hospital on 3 different types of antibiotics on a drip 16 hours a day. I was ok but It took someone from the CDC after 3 days to figure out why none of the antibiotics were working. That one little thorn stick in my ankle had now grown to half of my ankle being eaten and local Doctors in the Hospital in Orlando did mention amputation if they could not figure it out. The cdc doctor said 2 or 3 cases in Florida of this a year usually in Nursery workers. Just a scar now but I did have the Bougainvillea taken out.

[DAVES]

Originally Posted by bobdeb

Just my opinion, however, I do have some experience with the following.

These are some things I highly recommend you Do Not plant in your yard in The Villages. Please add whatever else you feel is appropriate.

1. Live Oak. Well, you may not have a choice here as one may already exist on your property. I love oak trees, and the shade they offer is welcomed from the heat of the sun.

However, you be forever dealing with relentless and testy little leaves and acorns that are difficult to control and clean up. They will ruin your lawn.

Personally, I would resist buying a home that already had an oak tree in the yard. And your nearby neighbor's live oak tree will also add to your endless yardwork.

They grow slowly but will eventually become enormous and offer yet more leaves and acorns.

2. Magnolia trees. These also grow very large and add to your relentless yard work. The flowers are lovely but I'm not a big fan of the huge leaves.

3. Citrus trees. Don't do it. It's tempting I know. Citrus trees take more care than one might imagine. So many of these grow unattended. There may be exceptions with some folks but the fruit will be beyond your ability to process or give away. It will fall and rot and attrack rats. And, in turn, the rats will attract snakes. Fruit trees are especially problematic for snow birds to manage.

The upside is that many citrus trees are quite attractive and the scent of the blossoms is exquisite.

4. Palm trees. I have four sylvester (king) palms, one pindo and one European fan.

The king and queen palms will grow beyond your ability to prune yourself. You will have to hire a crew annually to do that for you. Also, all palms have incredibly nasty thorns. You could lose an eye if not careful. The immature leaves are sharp spikes. Queen palm pods are extremely heavy and they will fall. The fruit from the king palms is significant to clean up.

European fan palms are full of needle like black slivers.

Face it, these trees evolved to protect themselves. It's tempting but don't plant palm trees. You'll thank me some day.

5. Anything else with nasty thorns unless you want a barrier between your home and your neighbors.

The point is read before you buy. Most any plant will have pluses and minuses. The catch all line is the right plant in the right place. We are all guilty. You go to the garden center or the box store and they all look great in the pot ready to be sold to you.

Mistakes? I am growing blueberries. Our soil ph is 7-8 and they need 4.5-5. For success you will need to grow them in pots-really big pots. Read that as heavy.
Truth they produce tons of fruit. The birds? I figure they are welcome to say 10%
First couple of years they took half. A sign that if they want to take more than 10% they should pay part of the expense. Seems they can't read. A few years they did leave me 10%. Now it is a race and they are either getting fast or I am getting slower.

I am an ex-northerner. At least up north the birds wait for the blueberries to ripen before stealing them. Up north the birds always left me more than enough. Florida birds have no class. They will eat them green and do not care to leave me any for my labor.

[bobdeb]

First, I use an incredible deer repellent up north that is a wonderful fertilizer and is inexpensive to purchase. Forget any deer repellent products. They're a rip off. Get an inexpensive 32 lb bag of Milorganite at ACE or wherever you shop! It's a granular fertilizer and easy to spread. Like feeding chickens. Won't burn your plants or lawn. Deer hate it and it lasts! And I live on an island up north with no hunting so there are plenty of hungry deer around. You're welcome...

Secondly, dont plant violets! They will cast spores or seeds, or whatever, and your yard will be full of them, everywhere!

[davephan]

Originally Posted by bobdeb

First, I use an incredible deer repellent up north that is a wonderful fertilizer and is inexpensive to purchase. Forget any deer repellent products. They're a rip off. Get an inexpensive 32 lb bag of Milorganite at ACE or wherever you shop! It's a granular fertilizer and easy to spread. Like feeding chickens. Won't burn your plants or lawn. Deer hate it and it lasts! And I live on an island up north with no hunting so there are plenty of hungry deer around. You're welcome...

Secondly, dont plant violets! They will cast spores or seeds, or whatever, and your yard will be full of them, everywhere!

The “Deer Scram!” deer repellent actually works! There’s packs of 2 to 14 deer that roam the area, and they used to visit our property frequently. They now avoid getting too close to our property!

I’ll check out your Milorganite suggestion for extra protection from the deer.

[DAVES]

Originally Posted by rmd2

My neighbor has a live oak and those pesky leaves even find their way inside MY garage. They are almost impossible to sweep away. They way they cling to the cement floor is amazing and not in a good way. I don't know why we don't have other types of trees here. Is it the weather or the price or what?

Other types of trees? I recall going to one of the cooperative extension lectures and the speaker asked how many of you are northerners. After a show of hands the next line was forget everything you knew about gardening. You can work with or against nature.
If, you choose the second one you will sooner or later lose.

As to oak leaves, first of all I do not have an oak tree. Instead of oak leaves I get to pick up, palm fronds. An easy solution to leaves in your garage, a shop vac. Those blowers the gardeners use are just blowing problems onto the next person's property. If, they are still made, I had a blower that would convert to a vacuum and had a cloth collection bag. I left it behind when we moved.

[Marie Lynn]

Thank you for that info.

[tophcfa]

Originally Posted by SeanAndrews

Thank you for all the great advice! So, what trees WOULD you recommend? Thanks!

We jumped through hoops to get ARC approval to take down the mess making Magnolia that came with our house and replaced it with an East Palatka Holly. The EPH is easy to trim and keep in control and does not make a mess. It is also on the ARC’s list of qualified shade trees.