Growing a Garden with Purpose: Commitment to Stewardship

As a UF/IFAS Urban Horticulture Agent, I work with passionate homeowners and Master Gardener Volunteers who are reshaping what Florida-Friendly landscaping in HOA communities can look like across Broward County. Today, I want to share Linette’s inspiring story, which shows how thoughtful choices and care for the environment can make a real difference, even in an HOA community.

HOA Challenge

Linette, a Master Gardener Volunteer from the 2025 class, lives in an HOA community in Broward County, where she is creating a Florida-Friendly landscaping example that her neighbors can see in real life. Her home backs up to a calm pond with no buffer zone, allowing fertilizer runoff to harm water quality. Like many South Florida residents, her family faces seasonal flooding, so their landscape must withstand and manage excess water. Five coconut palms near the pond added extra challenges

Invasive Plant Challenge

Coconut palms can negatively affect water bodies mainly through their fallen fruit. Planting them close to ponds, canals, or wetlands is discouraged because coconuts can block water flow and help spread invasive palms. Regularly removing and properly disposing of fallen fruit helps protect local waters, including neighborhood ponds, wetlands, and connected systems like the Everglades.

Although coconut palms are valued for their beauty, cultural significance, and coconut water, unmanaged fruit in waterways can cause property damage, block boats, and disrupt water flow.

Learning and Applying Florida-Friendly Principles

Using Florida-Friendly Landscaping™ principles, Linette made careful changes:

1. Right Plant, Right Place. Linette selects plants that fit her yard and support local wildlife. In 2024, she added more than 60 native plants beneath a mature landscape dating back to 1989. Some of her choices—such as beautyberry https://tinyurl.com/4as37eyd, Simpson’s stopper https://tinyurl.com/cvuns6fx, dahoon holly https://tinyurl.com/mr4ae6wd, and Walter viburnum https://tinyurl.com/3yytakum—are expected to thrive and strengthen the habitat over time.
2. Water Efficiently: Guided by Florida-Friendly Landscaping™ principles, Linette replaced her original turf in 2021 with CitraBlue® St. Augustine grass—a UF/IFAS–developed cultivar offering better shade tolerance, drought resistance, and disease tolerance than older varieties.

This choice, paired with smart watering practices like checking plants for stress signals, helps create a low-maintenance, water-saving landscape.

• Remove Invasives, Support Natives: Early in her journey, Linette discovered five coconut palms(UF/IFAS Assessment: Cocos nucifera)—beautiful, yes, but invasive and negatively impacting local waterways. Replacing them with native buccaneer palms https://tinyurl.com/yxzjm9w9 became both a lesson and a legacy.

• Protect the Waterfront. Linette added a small plant buffer along the lake. This area features native plants that require minimal water and fertilizer. One of these is blue-eyed grass (Sisyrinchium angustifolium), a pretty plant from the iris family. It looks like grass but surprises with bright flowers that help pollinators. Blue-eyed Grass – Gardening Solutions

Our Garden Inspiration — Our Why

Linette’s yard has become a lively, welcoming place for her family, pollinators, birds, and Florida’s wildlife. Her message to neighbors is simple:

“You don’t have to choose between a beautiful yard and a Florida-friendly one; your landscaping choices, big or small, make a real difference for your community and the environment.”

Linette’s deep care for the environment inspired her to use her yard as a way to help nature and her community. Her goal is straightforward: create beauty and habitat while protecting precious natural resources. Let’s reduce runoff for South Florida’s water quality.

Watch her video: Growing together: Creating Florida-Friendly Gardens for Wildlife, Community, and Connection

Take the Next Step: Join the Florida-Friendly Landscaping™ Pledge

Ready to improve your yard and help Florida’s environment? Join gardeners statewide by taking the Florida-Friendly Landscaping™ Pledge. Pledge to use one or more Florida-Friendly practices, helping save water, protect wildlife, and reduce pollution.

Take the Pledge Now

Whether you’re new to or experienced in Florida-Friendly gardening, the pledge is a way to demonstrate your commitment and join a community working towards a greener Florida.

Resources

Her story shows that Florida-Friendly landscaping in HOA communities is possible, beautiful, and beneficial for wildlife and water quality.

For more on Florida-Friendly principles and maintenance, visit:
https://sfyl.ifas.ufl.edu/broward/urban-horticulture/florida-friendly-landscaping/

Interested in having your urban yard recognized as a Florida-Friendly Landscape™? Broward County residents, register now for our 2026 workshop: https://tinyurl.com/yc6aj6u7

Interested in becoming a Master Gardener Volunteer? Learn more at:
https://sfyl.ifas.ufl.edu/broward/urban-horticulture/broward-master-gardener/

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