ontheairship
Leafing Out
- Joined
- Apr 12, 2011
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I've mostly been hanging around the forum researching for my "future veggie garden", but now the front yard needs some attention. We don't want to put in the veggies until we can get our fence up and we need HOA approval to do that (pain in the butt). We do want the front of the house to look nice in the meantime and maybe resolve some flooding issues.
The HOA is a big factor in this project. They are pretty lenient when it comes to landscaping (I can tell by how some neighbors have luscious gardens and others have a dump) but we can't go too crazy. My dream front yard would be 100% edible and neighbor-sharing friendly, but location, size, and money don't permit that so I need some help. My second issue is money. We got the house in foreclosure and even though it had been very well taken care, everything was original and 16 years old. We re did the floors, got a new AC unit and fridge, and redid the guest bathroom. With the tight budget comes my last big issue, I'll have to do it myself. I have about a million friends that "will help for sure" and then always have to work lol (they do make it for the BBQs though).
So here's the deal! The home used to be a rental so all landscaping is either very low maintanence or non existing. From the road the house looks ok. We will be painting eventually, but probably not until next year. The tree on the left needs to be trimmed back a bit because branches hit you in the face when you park, I just haven't done it yet. I figure I'll do it when I start everything else.
The flower bed in front of the bay window is filled with white rocks and weeds. We have sprayed and pulled weeds but now grass is growing instead. My partner doesn't really care what I do or how it looks as long as it looks nice and isn't "too much" so from here on out It's about me lol. I LOVE the crape myrtle tree in the corner and there is one behind it as well. The palm tree I do not really care for but it might fit in somewhere else. I was thinking about shrinking the flowerbed down to just behind the palm so it runs along with the walk way unless I get some better ideas from you guys. I would like it stay that size but need something that I can maintain myself. The biggest problem is the flooding! We live in Orlando FL and it rains all summer long. It's been dry two days and these pictures were taken today after about 6-8 hours of average florida rain.
The other area that floods is between the walkway and the garage. Right now we don't have gutters but we will be adding them with this project. I'm just not sure what we could put there.
Last but not least is the randomw bed next to the garage. I don't like the rose bush or the random floating bush and was thinking we could move the palm tree over here or remove it all together.
I've never done anything like this before and really need all your help and suggestions including plant suggestions. I really appreciate the help and hope to hear from you all. Thanks
The HOA is a big factor in this project. They are pretty lenient when it comes to landscaping (I can tell by how some neighbors have luscious gardens and others have a dump) but we can't go too crazy. My dream front yard would be 100% edible and neighbor-sharing friendly, but location, size, and money don't permit that so I need some help. My second issue is money. We got the house in foreclosure and even though it had been very well taken care, everything was original and 16 years old. We re did the floors, got a new AC unit and fridge, and redid the guest bathroom. With the tight budget comes my last big issue, I'll have to do it myself. I have about a million friends that "will help for sure" and then always have to work lol (they do make it for the BBQs though).
So here's the deal! The home used to be a rental so all landscaping is either very low maintanence or non existing. From the road the house looks ok. We will be painting eventually, but probably not until next year. The tree on the left needs to be trimmed back a bit because branches hit you in the face when you park, I just haven't done it yet. I figure I'll do it when I start everything else.

The flower bed in front of the bay window is filled with white rocks and weeds. We have sprayed and pulled weeds but now grass is growing instead. My partner doesn't really care what I do or how it looks as long as it looks nice and isn't "too much" so from here on out It's about me lol. I LOVE the crape myrtle tree in the corner and there is one behind it as well. The palm tree I do not really care for but it might fit in somewhere else. I was thinking about shrinking the flowerbed down to just behind the palm so it runs along with the walk way unless I get some better ideas from you guys. I would like it stay that size but need something that I can maintain myself. The biggest problem is the flooding! We live in Orlando FL and it rains all summer long. It's been dry two days and these pictures were taken today after about 6-8 hours of average florida rain.


The other area that floods is between the walkway and the garage. Right now we don't have gutters but we will be adding them with this project. I'm just not sure what we could put there.

Last but not least is the randomw bed next to the garage. I don't like the rose bush or the random floating bush and was thinking we could move the palm tree over here or remove it all together.

I've never done anything like this before and really need all your help and suggestions including plant suggestions. I really appreciate the help and hope to hear from you all. Thanks