another newbie with lots of questions

Hi,
I am getting ready to retire in September and can hardly wait to have more time to play in my yard. I have a nice yard with lots of potential, a big sunny bed between my grassy backyard and the 17th fairway of a golf course with several large beds on either side that receive mostly filtered sun at different times of the day. Large established trees; oaks, magnolias, a couple of redbuds, some pines (which I could do without!), hollys of some kind and some small native sassafras (I think). The landscape must have been nice at one time (the house was built in 1975) but has been pretty much left on it's own for years. A creek with natural springs runs across one side but it is separated from my yard by a rather steep wooden retaining wall. The things I have planted were mostly given to me by friends or I bought at good old Home Depot or Lowes because they caught my fancy. (As you can tell I tend to be rather wordy!) Unfortunately I don't know the names of most of the things I have and am
going to be taking pictures this spring-summer and asking lots of questions. So, I hope I don't become a nuisance! Can hardly wait to get started.
By the way, I grew up in West Texas where the water is in short supply and using it to water
plants and grass was not something we did!

Sounds like your yard's got a lot of potential! Feel free to ask as many questions as you want, that's what these forums are here for!

Well I know how you feel about retiring, we did this about 8 years ago and now, can hardly imagine how we made time for work, so the count down for you will be starting. For now, I would suggest you get a soil test done on various areas of you yard, the soil can be different from one part to another, however as you already have Magnolias, hollies and pines, I would guess you are on the acidic side rather than neutral, but once you know for sure, you can start to plan for the type of shrubs, trees flowers etc you want to grow, this time will also give you the enjoyment of reading, planning and preparing for the season after retirement, it allows you to draw up plans for how you want your yard to look, the colours for each season and what areas you want to use for sitting in, eating and general layout of any new paths/beds etc, arbours or terraces etc, remember to plan for the view of the garden from your windows so that you dont plan garden structures that will block your view from the house, unless this is required, if I were you, I would go along to the library to get some books on landscaping, has pictures of beds and borders that show them mature as after few years, that's what you will be looking at, also the kind of plants that do well in your zone will help you save money in the end, take a picture of the garden with the house/yard, blow it up into a larger size and make up a board you can work on, stick the picture under a sheet of tracing paper so you can draw beds, trees, shrubs that you have and want to keep, then start to draw new beds/paths/ structures etc so you have a final plan to work from, they can be changed as you go along or find the soil impractical for that idea, then do one part at a time so you dont end up with a pile of soil and no structure plan for what to do next, at the side of your plan, when you see a shrub/plant you like, add this to a list marking on the bed plan where you want it to go, that's the fun bit, the expense is another matter, which is why I advise doing it a bit at a time so you dont waist money on plants that you are not ready for. good luck. hope you enjoy making your yard into your own space and get many years of enjoyment from it. never be afraid to ask questions on this site, we are all garden nuts here and love helping people and gaining advise ourselves, WeeNel.

Thanks WeeNel. I'll give it a try, however I am sort of a see it, like it, plant it and if it dies try something else kind of gal. It's going to be kind of a wild, informal type garden but it will make my heart sing when I am in it!

there are books for all kinds of gardening, wild, sedate, shrub only and just good old natural plantings, so get some books to read and you will soon find out what you can achieve just by doing your own thing, good luck. WeeNel.

Good luck in this new phase of your life! When I started gardening in Miami, Zone 10b, the computer was my best ally. I looked up the University of Florida Extension Dept. and I got all kinds of lists for gardening in my area. Your state University or your County probably have information on-line or by mail.
I have learned:
-not to plant exotic or invasive plants; I look for natives.
-not to plant annuals- it gets expensive. Perennial flowering shrubs are best and last for years.
-that most of our soil is alkaline so I can't plant azaleas or others that require acid soil.
-that hibiscus require little water once established and they come in all colors.
-that palms and arecas will give a garden instant tropical look.
-that you can buy edible tubers like sweet potatoes and plant them. Form one tuber I once harvested 22 big sweet potatoes.
-that plants to attract butterflies and bees will give you a lot of joy.
-that if you leave some weeds like spanish needles in a hidden area the butterflies will love you.
-that being too neat is not necessary. I leave fallen leaves on the ground as mulch. I you dont like the look, cover them with a little soil. (Red mulch is toxic, it has arsenic)
-that it's useless to complain about the South Florida heat and the rains and the mosquitoes and the slugs and the huge lubber grasshoppers, so I learned to garden ignoring them.
Happy gardening!

Welcome bobyrd. I joined the forum just a few weeks ago. I am already learning so much! Retirement is many years away for me, so any moment I can spend in the garden is heaven. North Florida has its share of drought so Xeriscaping is something I am learning. I think you will enjoy it as well.

leonortorres, thanks for sharing the things you learned. Arsenic is not an ingredient I planned to add to the yard. I purchased some red mulch about a month ago and now have "new" weeds. I'm glad only used it on a small section which is away from the house. I hope the cats will be ok.

I, too, have learned not to complain about certain conditions that are part of living in Florida. I just remind myself in February that I am blessed to be tending to my petunias and pansies when I could be scraping ice!

leonortorres--I'm curious where you saw that the red mulch has arsenic? I know they used to make pressure treated lumber with a compound that contained arsenic, but they banned that years ago. And the red mulch products, at least the ones I've seen, seem to be a fairly new thing that's just been introduced in the last couple years (post the arsenic ban in the PT wood) so it seems surprising to me that they would allow it in any sort of wood products anymore, especially when it's in an application where people/kids can be exposed to it. I've never researched the ingredients in red mulch so I don't know anything for a fact, I'd just be really surprised that you can put arsenic in mulch when you can't put it in pressure treated lumber.

If you want to save water and still have COLORFUL plants (including small trees and shrubs) you might try a dry creek bed feature

Thanks wood-fern, I'll check it out.