A Guide to Seasonal Landscape Strategies for Your Florida Home

When you live in northern states, you get big clues about seasonal landscaping, like “Two feet of snow just fell, we better get to raking those fall leaves.”

But here in Sarasota, seasonal changes are a lot more subtle, so you have to stay on your toes.

What seasonal strategies do you have to keep in mind when landscaping for Florida?

Pruning is a big one — different plants need this crucial task at certain times of year. Mess this up, and you’ll miss out on some spectacular flowers. Don’t fertilize too late in the fall, or that nutrition boost will cause a late flush of tender new growth that’s more susceptible to cold injury. Avoid planting sod in the rainy months of August and September — it’s just too soggy out there.

Let’s learn more about plants for landscaping in Florida and how to keep them thriving through the seasons, including: 

When Should You Plant Flowers in Florida? 

What Should You Plant? Plants for Landscaping in Florida 

Proper Pruning is Everything 

Seasonal Landscaping for Florida: What About Sod Installation? 

Attack Weeds Year Round 

When Should You Plant Flowers in Florida? 

Let’s start with the good news: you can plant flowers here almost any time of year.

But avoid January and February. Those first two months of the new year are the coldest months here in Sarasota, and landscape plants in Florida, much like the people, don’t like the cold. 

Sure, it’s Florida, but we can easily get a few days when it dips below freezing. So avoid planting flowers in these chilly months. They won’t have time to root well enough to survive the cold snaps. 

Is planting in the heat of summer OK? Sure! Just plan on extra watering to make up for the Florida heat. (And you might need some extra watering, too — it’s steamy out there.) 

Pro tip: Three of the sturdiest annuals for winter months here in Sarasota are New Guinea impatiens, pansies and geraniums. These lovely garden workhorses will last from November right through April 1. 

What Should You Plant? Plants for Landscaping in Florida 

We’re lucky here in Sarasota, with a bounty of beautiful plants that thrive in our climate. 

What plants love it here? Check out just a few of our favorites in this mini Florida plant guide:

Begonia ‘Alba’

Begonia ‘Alba’ is a stunning white flower, 
with long-lasting blooms great for brightening up dark, shady areas. 

Think white is boring when it comes to plants for landscaping in Florida? Are you yawning as you read this? No way. Every garden needs some white flowers. They practically glow in the evening garden, and make the colorful blooms around them look even more vibrant. 

Liriope ‘Super Blue’

Known for having the showiest blooms of all the liriope, this beauty adds amazing bluish-purple color in mass plantings. Don’t stop with one — you’ll want a bunch for big impact. 

Petite Ixora 

Ixora is a spectacular sun-loving shrub with colorful clusters of tubular flowers that cover the plant so completely you can barely see the leaves. It’s a stunner, and a must-have addition to any self-respecting Florida plant guide. 

We love the petite variety, which stays short, great for borders and hedges.

Bonus: ixora flowers throughout the year, and each flower cluster can last between six and eight weeks, giving your landscape long-lasting color.

Iris ‘Regina’

Regina’s beautiful purple-blue flowers offer a lovely scent. 

Even when it isn’t blooming, its jade green foliage adds texture in the landscape year-round.

Hibiscus 

Craving a tropical vacation vibe in your own backyard? Say hello to hibiscus, with wow-worthy flowers up to nearly 10 inches in diameter that show off in a wide range of colors, from white to red, pink, yellow, and orange. And, lucky us, it offers nearly year-round flowers in Florida. 

Florida Plant Guide: Proper Pruning is Everything 

Don’t get us started on the huge importance of proper pruning. (Oops, too late.)

While you can plant those beautiful plants most anytime of year here in Sarasota, pruning is another story. Timing is everything. 

Here’s an example: those hibiscus we just glowingly hyped? Lots of homeowners complain theirs don’t bloom enough. 

The culprit is probably too much trimming. Some homeowners and landscape maintenance companies trim these shrubs every month. Big mistake. That cuts off the new buds. 

Tropical Gardens Landscape crews trim them a foot from the ground in spring and a foot from the ground in fall. 

Boom! Bountiful blooms. 

Proper pruning is crucial. Check out these pruning tips for landscape plants in Florida: 

• Prune all year. Landscaping in Florida means you can’t just prune once in a while. Plants grow too fast here. Tropical Gardens crews trim and prune every month. That’s much healthier for plants — and makes them look much better — than chopping them way back once in a while. (But there are a few exceptions when it comes to landscaping plants in Florida, and we’ll get to those in a minute.)
• Don’t prune too close to chilly weather. When you prune, your plant instinctively puts out a spurt of new growth. If you prune too late in the season, in late summer or early fall, that tender new growth is susceptible to injury from cold. It’s not as tough as the rest of the plant.
• Got bougainvillea? (Lucky.) Keep your eye on the calendar. This beauty has to be pruned no later than the end of September. Then, don’t go near it with pruners again until April.
• Crape Myrtle? No pruning until March. And please, no “crape murder” — it really is a crime. Too many gorgeous crape Myrtle trees are viciously hacked down by several feet in the name of pruning, turning beautiful trunks into thick, ugly stubs. Ugh. 

What About Fertilizer? Timing Matters Here, Too

If you fertilize your Florida landscaping plants too late in the fall, that feeding can cause a late flush of tender new growth in your plants that’s more susceptible to cold injury. Stick to spring, summer and early fall fertilizing for your hungry plants. 

Seasonal Landscaping for Florida: What About Sod Installation? 

If you want a lawn in Florida, it’s time for sod. Grass seed just doesn’t do as well here. Sod gives you a quicker, more established lawn, while seed takes longer to germinate and can wash away in the rain. 

But don’t install sod here in Sarasota in the rainy season in August and September. There’s just too much rain. Even the sod fields are often flooded, so you can’t even get sod then.

Too much rain causes fungus problems, and you don’t want disease to strike your brand new lawn. 

Landscaping for Florida: Attack Weeds Year Round 

Different weeds emerge at different times throughout the year here in Sarasota, which means targeted weed control at just the right times is a crucial part of caring for landscaping plants in Florida. It should happen throughout the year. 

Invest in pre- and post-emergent weed control treatments to keep your property weed-free year round. 

Ready for Expert Florida Landscape Care Through All the Seasons? Talk to Us

If you’re an overachiever, you’ve already memorized all these seasonal landscaping tips and have the proper pruning dates on your calendar. 

If your eyes are glazed and you desperately want somebody else to keep track of all this, we’ve got you. 

Tropical Gardens provides tailored, full-service landscape services in Sarasota that ensure your Florida landscaping gets all the care it needs — all year long. 

We can’t wait to get started. 

Give us a call or fill out our form today! There’s a lot going out there -- all year round. Let our skilled, attentive crews handle it. You rest easy.