Suggestions on side yard - work your magic!

Greetings. I'm posting pictures of my tiny side yard. The spot is part sun to full sun, depending on the time of year and the extent to which the trees above are trimmed. It is shaded directly above by a tree. I'm open to all suggestions on planting! I prefer perennial plants as I'm lazy when it comes to annual planting, and I love flowers and color. I'd prefer something relatively low-growing. I'm going to replace the sorry excuse for a path that leads to the side gate, and would like stuff to grow around it! I live in zone 10a south Florida. Facing the gate is facing approximately west, so the spot gets morning and some afternoon sun (but not much afternoon due to the house behind me and the gate/hedges). Have fun and thanks in advance!

Another pic. Facing approximate west.

Another pic. Facing approximate north.

Last pic. Tree above spot.

Are those your hedges?

Yes. They are ficus and they run around 3/4 of my property around and inside my wood fence. I have quite a trim job haha! The recent cold snap caused some leaf drop as you can see in the pic, and the fig white fly devastated them a year back, but they always come back!

Wow, that's a lot of ficus! I am wondering if you might need to remove some of it at least around the gate area. The roots of the ficus and the tree might cause it to be pretty dry right there for new plantings. Do you like hibiscus? If you remove a little of the hedge, it might be pretty by the gate.

If you want to keep the hedge you may consider planters.

You will probably want to do your path first, too. Once it's done you will be able to visualize what you want a little better. Does your path "go" anywhere?

Hey JulieQ. I plan on doing the path first, and it will follow the same path, but will be surrounded by gravel stone and edged with stone of some sort. I'm not sure I want to plant on the right side of the path, only because whenever I trim the ficus I would have a heck of a time picking up those debris from amongst plantings. The left side around the tree and behind is my key planting area (I know it's small). I may be removing a section of the ficus immediately to the right of the gate because I will eventually need to replace my A/C unit, and it is kind of in the way, so it would need to come out anyway. I love hibiscus and have several on the other side of my house, and it is definitely a possibility! I never thought of the dry factor from all of those ficus roots and the tree above. Perhaps containers would be good, or drought-tolerant plants that require little water. I was also thinking bromeliads, but I will definitely keep hibiscus on the list!

Edit: Forgot to answer the other part of your question. The path ends at the grass you can see in the foreground on the second pic. It's definitely a small path but I want access from the grass to the gate without stepping over plants!

This message was edited Feb 16, 2010 12:03 PM

Oh, I know about the trimming debris problem. I moved from a house with 30 boxwoods. It was terrible! NO MORE! haha

I love paths that "go" somewhere. I wonder if you could extend your path to a seating area or another kind of "feature" (birdbath? statue?) That would be really neat, but you may have to remove some of that beautiful grass.

Have you thought about cyclamen or gerbera daisy? Maybe some St.John's Wort? (hypericum) or even some echinacea? They like it kind of dry.

Sounds like some sore shoulders with all that trimming! I'm severely limited on my yard space, so extending a path further through the law would not only make it feel as if I'm sitting in my new seating area bordering the cul de sac, but my dogs would get a little upset with me in the process. It's their lawn and they don't like me disturbing it :).
It's funny you mention cyclamen. My wife just bought a small potted variety for the front door table. It's a beautiful flower! I'm personally not a daisy person, and the latter are a bit leggier for my taste. Do you think daylilies would work well here? I'm usually partial to woody, perennial shrubs that require trimming here-and-there but not much else. I'm willing to make a sacrifice for some nice daylilies, and I think you convinced me to throw a hibiscus or two over there (didn't have to twist my arm too far :) ). Thanks for the suggestions!

Daylilies would be perfect!