Whats the secret? How to grow full beautiful plants?

Last season I took the plunge to bring in a landscaper and do a bunch of landscaping in my very small backyard. Nothing did very well though - its all very small, very bare, and generally disappointing. I am sure this is probably my fault as I do not know the first thing about landscaping or gardening. We hired a fertilizing service in hopes that they could bring it all back to life, but honestly, I feel like none of these hired people really care. The plants need my love, but how do I do it?

For those of you with beautiful landscapes, what do you do? How frequently are you working on the garden and when you work on it, what do you do? Any advice for a newbie like me? Are there any books I could read to get a good introduction aimed at people with absolutely no background? One big thing I'd love to understand more about is pruning - how much should I cut things back and when?

I live in central florida - zone 9/10. Some of the plants I am struggling the most with are
- confederate jasmine - 1 of our 3 plants completely lost all his leaves and, at the moment has 1 small leaf on each of its many straggling branches. I cut him way down after he lost all his leaves, so maybe this will help him?
- allamanda bushes - these are all very bare at the bottom and have leaves starting about 2 feet up. Many of the branches are growing sideways so they are almost parallel to the ground rather than upright. Should I tie these up somehow or is it normal that they are all growing sideways? Anything I can do to get some growth at the bottom?
- podacarpus - these look relatively fine, but look the same as they did a year ago when I planted them - I know they are slow growers, but is there anything I can do to make them grow?
- bouganvillia (cut to look like a tree) - I planted this guy to grow over a pergola, but its hardly working out. This one also lost all of his leaves - from about Sept until now this thing was just bare sticks. Around november it sprouted lots of flowers, but it looked pretty funny - all flowers, not one single green leaf! Just recently it started growing some green, so maybe its coming back to life. Was it normal for it to lose everything like that?

All I want is a beautiful garden. I look at so many photos of people's yards and they are gorgeous. I want that and am willing to work for it - just need someone to hold my hand and show me the way! Thank you in advance for any advice you have!

What time of year was the planting done? If they were planted in warm weather, that is very stressful for plants and that can cause them to not do very well (and sometimes even die). Even if they were planted in cooler weather, newly planted plants need more water than normal their first year or two while they're getting established, so it's possible they didn't get quite enough water to make them really happy. The other possibility is that they're actually fine but just haven't taken off yet--there's a saying about perennials & shrubs that the first year they sleep, the 2nd year they creep, and the 3rd year they leap. I've found a few things from time to time that move faster than this, but this holds true for many plants. They need time to get their roots established first before they do much with top growth or flowers.

Can you post some pictures of some of the plants you're having trouble with? I'm taking some wild guesses above, but having some pictures of the plants it might be more clear what's going on with them.

fliss,
ecrane is right (you'll find her to be VERY knowledgable!). It's common for new plants to struggle for the first two or three years. As ecrane said, they have to get their roots down first before they start to really put out all that beautiful top growth you are looking for. I agree, some pictures would be very helpful so we could see exactly what your plants look like. You might also look your plants up in Plant Files--there's lots of good information in there that could be useful.

I think i would wait for something to prune before i worried about that. If you have sandy soil they will need more frequent watering. The larger specimens seem to have more trouble with transplant than small plants. container shouldn't make much difference, but b&b can really struggle.

Fliss -

Both your local library and county extensions will be a HUGE help to you to garner some good local info on what grows best in your area...there are numerous good books out there for beginners and I know books a million had several beginner books for just 5 bucks last week when I went in...(of course thats in SC but I bet most are getting rid of last years stock) A few books that help with basic info are:

Black and Decker Outdoors: Landscape Trees and Shrubs - This book has everything from common pests and what to do about them to fertilizing, growth rates and pruning. A good starter book that is an easy no nonsense read (

Practical Gardening By Deena Beverley: This will teach all about what tools are used for what, how to compost, how to dig properly, how to chose a site, downdrafts by walls and all sorts of cool info - also has pruning techniques and how to take cuttings (which is a super cost effective way to increase your garden)

I also found Orthos Successful Perennial Gardening to be a good quick ref. book on over 200 per. and their care...this really helps you to decide what you like, where to plant it, what other plants it looks good with, what their soil requirements are, bloom times etc....

I hope the above info helps...theres so much to learn that the only way to start is to jump on in...and take it one step at a time...I am by no means an expert...I am a putterer turned plantaholic who is still learning to stop buying something just cause it catches my eye and really focus on the bigger picture...I believe that is going to be a lifelong struggle for me LOL!! The below pic is a quick before n after of my first try at a bed( I had planted roses the previous summer in an upside down U shape and the rest was pretty barren but I was reading during that time trying to learn and figure out what I wanted) - the view is taken from two different angles of the same spot...and what Ecrane says is so true! by the third year you are just amazed at how everything just fills out

Oh and one last thought...for what you pay a landscape company to take 'care' of your lawn/plants for you - you could invest in a garden class and save money in the process for all the new plants you want!

Deanna