With so many landscaping options, many new homeowners find it challenging to know which plants are best to use in landscaping and which plants to avoid.  The Florida Yards and Neighborhoods program is a free resource to help answer this question and many more. Florida Yards and Neighborhoods focuses on nine major landscaping principles. 
 

How does your yard measure up?
1. Use the right plant in the right place, with plants grouped according to water needs.
2. Water only when necessary and irrigate lawns and plant beds separately.
3. Fertilize appropriately by using organic or slow-release fertilizers, and iron instead of nitrogen to "green-up" your lawn in summer months.
4. Mulch plants with 2-3" of byproduct mulch such as pine bark, melaleuca or recycled products.
5. Attract wildlife by planting vines, shrubs and trees that provide food and shelter for birds and butterflies.
6. Control pests responsibly by treating only affected plants and using environmentally friendly pesticides.
7. Recycle grass clippings, leaves and pine needles.
8. Reduce stormwater runoff by directing downspouts to lawns or plant beds.
9. Protect the waterfront by removing invasives, leaving a border of low-maintenance plants between your lawn and the shoreline to absorb nutrients and provide wildlife habitat.
 

To learn more about these landscaping principles, and to view a list of 'good plants', click here.
Tom Becker, an agent with the Florida Yards and Neighborhoods just compiled an important list of plants to avoid using because they are considered to be invasive exotic plants that are not Florida-friendly.  Examples include carrotwood or java plum trees,  asparagus fern and air potato vines just to name a few.  For the complete list of "What Not To Plant", click here.

Lee County and the City of Cape Coral each enacted Fertilizer Ordinances a few years ago to help protect the quality of our coastal waters.

Fertilizers containing Nitrogen and/or Phosphorus cannot be used during the four-month rainy season, June 1  through September 30. During the rest of the year, fertilizer containing Phosphorus and Nitrogen is limited.

 Both ordinances encourage sparing use of slow release nitrogen and phosphorus only if a soil test demonstrates a deficiency. Fertilizer use is also prohibited within 10 feet of a water body, seawall, or wetland. And, if you use a fertilizer spreader, you are required to have a deflector shield to prevent nutrient spread into water body buffers and impervious surfaces.