Front Yard Garden Tour

Front yard garden tour of our home on the east coast of central Florida, USDA Zone 10a

foreign hello everybody greetings from Melbourne Beach Florida and this is part one of or maybe part many doing a garden tour so gonna give you the rundown of all the things we’ve done in the house in our garden so this is our little blue house built in 1964 I think I got it right uh so yeah that strip there is so you can move a car you can put one card there and still get another car in and out of the driveway which is really super handy actually our mailbox all the wood is uh corroding oh there’s a lizard you see the lizard oh there he goes um yeah because everything here corrodes anything with metal with nails anything it’s all corroding uh anyway so let’s go do a garden tour so let’s start with first of all the grass it’s called St Augustine I suppose in Edmonton it would be considered a weed it’s really not the softest stuff to walk on it is rainy season here so it’s been raining every day in fact it’s like cloudy here which is like really rare but we’re like between a couple of big storms so uh the grass is relatively green it stays green all year got to cut it all year been battling with areas that end up looking like that uh it’s actually a fungus in the grass because it gets so wet here um The Roots literally rot out there’s another spot over there we’ll show in a bit uh this tree um it’s a relatively small version of it it’s called The Gumbo Limbo it is a native also known as the tourist tree because the bark actually peels off like burnt skin call it a tourist tree it grows in usda’s zone climate zones 10 and warmer so you won’t find this out anywhere outside of Coast the coastal areas where we are because it requires a lot of heat and it can’t do freezes at all it loses leaves at odd times it’s constantly shedding leaves like there’s a few you can see here I haven’t quite figured it out it’s always shedding leaves grows pretty quick um over here classic what is called a uh we call a cabbage Palm or a Sable Palm it grows here it’s native there’s 12 Palms that are native to Florida this is one of them believe it or not you actually have to cut off you’ve got to skin these guys they don’t naturally shed their their fronds so all of this here I cut off with believe it or not with a box cutter all the way up to that that point there you just kind of got to cut these guys off they won’t fall off well they’ll fall off eventually in time but it’s like literally years and years um yeah ferns growing in full sun believe it or not what I’ve learned with ferns is that here all you need is the moisture um and they can actually tolerate a lot of heat they can actually tolerate a lot of sun as long as they’re getting the moisture uh over here another Gumbo Limbo bigger one you see what I mean called it tourist tree it’s constantly shedding it’s almost like a poplar bark or Birch like a birch bark kind of almost anyway all of these beds up front with the I need to weed whack so sad all these beds I I made so um these are these are 48 Cent pavers from from Home Depot they’re on their side I’m using them as a border this little Bridge was was a rescue founded in the empty lot next door um and put it in I guess I could put some water in there but just stepping back oh and this Stone this was also a rescue this was actually in the middle of the yard right kind of right where I’m kind of pointing just kind of seemed out of place was a little dumb it’s what’s called Coquina which is the rock that is naturally formed here it’s basically all shell it’s just compressed shell very interesting um uh so down here stuff’s called The Rock Rose it is amazing it will grow anywhere can propagate of anything I could rip a chunk off of it literally just throw it somewhere over here and it would it would probably get us taking over um it’ll ruin anything growing anything propagate ridiculously easy um even put this little guy in here I don’t know I don’t know what it is it’s awfully pretty I don’t know what it is uh bromeliad uh behind it something called a quarterline um also incredibly easy to to propagate um more more ferns I forget what these are called these we didn’t plant that popped up um but they’re all over the place um another another Gumbo Limbo tree uh back here um most of these plants are actually rescues so these the bromeliads um the bromelia there they’re all the red Millions these are rescues are our house or our neighbors demolish their house kind of rebuilding and all these bromeliads were bordering all around their house and We rescued them um this little guy here something called a song of India these are rescues as well these are propagated from cuttings you just break them off you stick them to the ground and they will grow it’s crazy how easy they grow here uh more ferns Burns ferns this of course the the weeds um all the shell here we bought so you can get a bucket of shell for 75 bucks it’s not actually a very good mulch because there’s no nutrients to it and there’s the calcium is really really high but it looks good these are Gumbo Limbo leaves I should probably blow out of there uh uh this is something called the lady Palm um it is it is a palm tree likes the shade beginning a little bit too much sun getting a little fried um but um yeah it’s growing there’s new growth it’s happy you can see there’s new growth in there the new stock right there um so it’s it’s growing it’s happy likes the shade um this is all transplanted grass this has just moved looks patchy because these are it’s actually patches uh alocasia um elephant ear happy here doing well uh getting maybe a little too much sun getting a little fried but it’s okay look at the color in this isn’t it amazing this this is this isn’t a cloudy day this is like no sun the color of this thing it’s called a tea plant TI a Hawaiian tea um it’s also it’s it’s in the quarter line family you could literally just break this off right halfway up the stock and stick it in the ground it’ll be fine um another quarter line back there it’s called a watermelon just the colors it just it’s just so everything is just crazy here it’s so beautiful how the colors are um another uh Sable NATO native Sable Palm providing a little bit of shade for these guys um but yeah that’s just one little kind of corner and with the exception maybe of that big The Big T plant everything else was either a rescue or um yeah that both of these that that quarter line there and that one back there were bought a local I didn’t want to call it a nursery it’s just some some retirees running well basically plant people that just kind of run and plant operations in the backs of their houses because it’s so easy to grow stuff here anything will grow and ask Evil with it well that little guy is really pretty it’s rock roses I don’t know what this is I don’t know what that is I didn’t plant it um so yeah this one little kind of circular bed here yeah and it’s just rock roses are just taking over everything like they’re they’re a shell under there everywhere here it’s all shell everything you should there’s all shell and it’s just kind of grown over the shell just it’s taken over it’s crazy um okay backing up um so there’s one little bed backing up the bigger bed here um so the red those are called ixoras um and those were all I transplanted every single one of them all of the red xor is there that you see back against the house were all crammed up under the bamboo there so this is bamboo it uh I forget the the real name people call it the Buddha belly bamboo uh it’s got It’s got a real name I forget what it is but it’s um it’s got a real tropical vibe to it it’s really cool but anyway all of those ixoras were crammed up just right under here um we didn’t like it because we wanted to be able to see out the window um if it’s behind the window you can’t see her but uh they were all crammed up there and we moved them well I moved them um back there um all these border plants here these are called oyster plants again ridiculously easy to propagate and to move I I could pull one out of the ground and literally just throw it and it would it would be uh this is what’s called a king sago Sago not not a palm looks like one it’s technically a cycad um oh and it’s got a fern growing on it I didn’t even know that Fern was there okay um but yeah it’s a it’s a cycad one of the oldest plants on the planet and uh it grows really really slowly here don’t know why but just a slow grower a few potted plants in front of the house these are all stuff that were that was moved from um what is Teddy Teddy’s on the chair [Music] uh all these we moved from Texas but aloe vera uh Spider plant uh pathos that are really easy to grow here they will grow they’re taking over uh um an empty lot a few houses down bamboo uh I forget what that thing is called but you know the spider plant spider plants grow natively here they’re all over the place they just need a lot of shade um I forget what this thing is called it’s called it looks like it’s rubber it looks like it’s fake it doesn’t look real I forget what it’s called Uh this thing is a form of plumeria called a bridal veil plumeria it’s blooming um but also easy to propagate you could just snip this guy off anywhere and stick it in the ground it’d be fine um but yeah it’s a form of uh plumeria more of the rock rose stuff so all of the green here this this should all be shell and and a month ago you you it was just all shell and this stuff just has taken over and there’s there’s no I actually put weed sheeting down under the under the shell is weed cheating um and so there’s no soil there’s absolutely no soil there’s weed cheating in their shell and that this stuff is like just happy it’s fine uh another tea plant AKA quarter line um this is a little palm that was in a pot in in doors in Texas I don’t know what it is it’s growing really slow um I don’t know what it is it well it’s a palm but uh don’t know what kind of bomb um don’t know what these little yellow guys are they’ve got spikes um here these they got a brand name they called blew my mind they’re just like little uh ground cover uh back there is another uh form of this guy is a quarter line um over here is a croton um this is called a sloppy painter I don’t know what these crotons are called um behind with the flowers is a Cana Lily the flowers are just spectacular colors are just crazy for the Cana Lily here look at this look at the color on that it’s the leaves are variegated and apparently when they’re when they’re variegated like this with the green and the uh and the red uh so are the flowers apparently but tea plant back there AKA quarter line or AKA tea plant Hawaiian tea another um native Sable Palm uh that’s a weed it’s called a coffee plant it’s a weed uh this this triple Palm we had put in it’s called the the scientific name is um uh Phoenix robellini AKA robellini um they’re from the Phoenix family Phoenix Palms all have spikes see the spikes on the leaves so yeah you don’t want to mess with them um but they’re pretty they’re nice big fan they will they will grow up slowly over time but they’re extremely slow grower but they like the they like the sun and a great look to them wanted to kind of be like an anchor point between these uh the windows so more of this rock rose stuff more of this these little yellow guys I don’t know what they are um oh I forget what this guy’s called uh you know probably an annual in Edmonton but perennial here happy as a clam um oh this guy is interesting this this is called a coral plant little red flowers on them and it’s really um just in just odd it’s got this it’s kind of a bit of a prehistoric Look to Him if we wanted something on the side of the house that was a little more I don’t know what’s the word it’s just it’s just different it’s just it’s different um or rescue bromeliads these are rescues from the neighbor and a different style of ixora it’s called a Maui ixora much bigger leaves um that’s our bedroom window that’s the backyard we’ll do a separate tour for that um a couple more native sable palms AKA cabbage Palm I actually have to do some pruning of those guys um probably can’t see it here but maybe you can the yellow it’s all gone the seed um yeah and all those being equal you probably prefer the seeds to come down create quite a mess um but yeah not technically on my land but close enough um plumeria this this area was a rescue from Texas I was growing in a pot in Texas and we actually rented a U-Haul just for this plant so we could bring it back all the way here it took some heavy damage in the U-Haul and took some heavy damage in the move but it’s back and it’s flowering and uh well it did flower it’s not flowering right now but it has flowered recently and it’s it’s Off to the Races it took a long time to recover from the move and from getting bashed around and then we you know we lost was we lost some Branch here we lost Branch right there but these guys I mean they’re just they’ll just take off here they are happy happy so uh that’s the front yard well no maybe hold on not entirely front here but I’m running out of battery on my thing who knew it takes 17 minutes to describe the front yard our Buddha belly bamboo my truck oh didn’t go over here it’s the other side uh yet another native Sable pump upload I think this is what’s called a Chinese fan palm um it’s a form of sable but I think it’s actually slightly different than the others I don’t know that to be true some ferns at the base and some irises here that are all getting a little bit too much sun and they’re done they’ve done flowering they produce some really brilliant blue flowers in the springtime side of the house carport very exciting um this is what’s called a sea grape um green all year uh just prolific Growers here I love the Salt Air using it as a shade you know a barrier on the side of the cardboard um this guy here is what’s called a crinum lily um prolific grower just it just it’s just crazy at all these are pups on the on the base um down here there is actually a baby baby palm I think it’s a baby coconut um I’m not entirely sure how it got there um more of the rock rose stuff that is just growing like a weed I rescue aloe from Texas in a pot um back here we’ve got it’s a towel drying rack to dry our towels from the beach and whatnot with a buoy that we or whatever decent happilies we found on the beach um and then we’ve got some stuff here that needs to be potted or maybe not we haven’t figured it out another lady Palm that we bought from this guy down the street uh uh don’t know what that is this I think this is a type of orchid um it this stuff grows like a weed here it’s super happy yeah it is an orchid I forget what it’s called um but it grows all over here like it’s everywhere um and very happy some more aloe from Texas uh dracana Slash dracina um this guy also a Texas transplant but um in the corner here these are these are these are all rescues so this this this all these dracenas were from Neighbors lot some of these were we just propagated these two down here but the the bigger tree is um a rescue and it’s this thing’s just amazing like you cut it you go you cut it off this was a cut right here see you cut it off and then you stick the bottom what you stick what you cut you stick it in the ground that’s one of them down there it’ll it’ll grow it’ll root and then from the top where you cut it um it’ll Sprout off like four or five more heads so in another few years this thing will just we’ll be taking over this corner um yeah it’s the side of the house we’ve got a lot more to do we’re gonna put a barrier here we’re gonna put a shade fence here of trees something called probably closure um just to provide a barrier of shade or a barrier from the neighbor’s house um That’s The Neighbor’s queen palm neighbor’s got a bunch of queen palms um not a huge fan of the queen palm and a big Banyan in the backyard that is growing rather prolifically uh so that’ll be the backyard tour but that’s the end of the front yard garden tour 20 minutes later um okay I think I shared everything I know maybe I’ll do a quick snippet later tonight when the lights are on Eva is the floral designer she’s the kind of the brains of all of this but when it came to the lighting I did all the lighting and at night it actually looks pretty looks pretty nice but that is our little house and our little garden bye for now