Florida Landscape Designs & Garden Design

Every project starts with the property. We survey the soil, the light, the drainage and the exposure before we open a plant list.

We draw each scheme for one property. We do not adapt templates, which is why our recommendations for a barrier island lot in Manalapan look nothing like our recommendations for an inland property in Wellington.

The order matters. First the site, then the constraints, then the plants. Soil pH, which beds take full sun through August, where water sits after a storm, what your neighbors can see. Then HOA rules, irrigation zoning, and how much time you actually want to spend maintaining the result.

South Florida sits on limestone. Our soil typically runs pH 7.8 to 8.4, while gardenias and ixora want 5.0 to 6.5. Above roughly pH 7.5 the iron in the ground forms compounds roots cannot take up, so those plants yellow no matter how carefully anyone feeds them.

We select for the soil that exists. Cocoplum, coontie, firebush, silver buttonwood, Simpson's stopper, muhly grass and beach sunflower all perform here without a permanent nutrient program propping them up.

The same choices cut water use. We group planting by water need, mulch properly, size irrigation to the beds rather than the lawn, and reduce turf area where it makes sense. Water restrictions tighten most years, and a garden planned this way still looks good in late April.

This work rewards getting the species right, and a lot of published advice gets it wrong.

Milkweed is the clearest example. Most garden centers sell tropical milkweed, Asclepias curassavica, which UF/IFAS assesses as a Category II invasive and which the Florida Native Plant Society advises against planting. It stays evergreen through our mild winters, which disrupts monarch behavior rather than supporting it. Florida has 21 native milkweed species instead. We specify swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata), butterflyweed (Asclepias tuberosa), aquatic milkweed (Asclepias perennis) and pinewoods milkweed (Asclepias humistrata) depending on the bed.

Coontie (Zamia integrifolia) hosts the Atala butterfly, a species that came back from near extinction in South Florida largely because people started planting its host again. Passionflower (Passiflora) hosts the zebra longwing, the Florida state butterfly. Firebush and porterweed feed nectar species through the heat.

A garden planted this way fills with movement within weeks. Children notice it immediately.

Zone 10b runs a growing calendar opposite to most of the country. Tomatoes, peppers, beans and leafy greens go in through the cool months from October. Mango, avocado, citrus, papaya and starfruit fruit here given the right position and enough root room. Herbs run more or less continuously.

We build food into the design rather than hiding a vegetable patch behind the garage. Raised beds set into a planting composition, fruit trees placed as ornamental structure, herbs within reach of the kitchen door.

Not every project sits outdoors. We design and install interior planting for homes and offices, from single specimen plants in feature positions through to full planter schemes.

Light drives everything indoors. A north facing room and a south facing glass wall support completely different species, and most indoor plant failures trace back to light rather than watering. We select for the room you have.

We also handle planters as their own discipline, indoor and outdoor, including seasonal planting and party planting for events.

We install and maintain hydroponic growing stations for clients who want to produce food without ground beds. We also work as a plant personal shopper, sourcing specimen material and unusual species for clients who know what they want and would rather not spend three weekends driving between nurseries.

We run design and installation together. That matters because nurseries run short and crews substitute plant material, and a substitution nobody checks is how a scheme quietly becomes something else.

1. Consultation. We walk the property with you, or work virtually for smaller and remote projects, and talk through how you use the space, your budget and what the garden needs to do.

2. Design. We produce a virtual plan with recommended species and placement, then review it with you and revise it against your feedback before ordering anything.

3. Procurement. Once you approve the design, we source the plant material, including specimen stock where the scheme calls for it.

4. Installation. We prepare the beds, plant the scheme and finish the garden, then stay involved while it establishes. After that we help with pruning, replanting and seasonal updates.

Most firms in this market hide their pricing behind a quote form. We publish ours, because knowing the entry point before you make contact seems more useful than answering questions about your budget first.

• In person consultation, from $250, includes the virtual design

• Virtual consultation, $100 per hour, includes the virtual design

• Consultation fee waived on projects above $2,000

• Garden beds, from $500

• Hydroponic stations, $250 to $2,500 including installation

• Hydroponics maintenance, from $250 per month

• Garden maintenance, from $250

Project cost beyond that depends on the size of the garden, how much you are replanting and whether the scheme calls for specimen stock, which prices very differently from nursery sizes.

We deliver every design as a virtual plan, so the process works whether we walk the property together or not.

For clients renovating remotely, buying into the area, or planning to implement in stages, a virtual consultation at $100 per hour gives you a full design with recommended species and placement. Some clients then have us install it. Others take the plan to their own crew or do the work themselves over time. Both routes work.

This is also the sensible option for smaller projects where an in person survey would cost more than the planting.

Gardens here move through the year more than people expect. The wet season arrives all at once, the dry season runs long, and planting that looked full in March can look tired by September.

Salt exposure changes the plant list sharply within a few miles. East of the Intracoastal, wind carries salt onto the foliage and species that thrive inland burn at the leaf edges within a season. Hurricane season shapes how we place and stake specimen trees and which palms we put near a roofline.

We handle seasonal updates for existing gardens too, including replanting beds that have stopped performing, refreshing planter schemes and adding color where it will actually be seen. This is not a lawn maintenance contract. It is periodic attention from the people who drew the scheme.

We design gardens across Palm Beach County. Our main service areas are Boca Raton, Delray Beach, Boynton Beach, Highland Beach, Ocean Ridge, Manalapan, Lake Worth, Palm Beach, West Palm Beach and Wellington. Virtual design work extends further, since the plan does not require us on site.

Call us on 917-208-5466, message us on WhatsApp, or send us the details of your property and we will come back to you.

An in person consultation starts at $250 and includes your virtual design. Virtual consultations cost $100 per hour and also include the design. We waive the consultation fee if you proceed with a project above $2,000. Garden beds start at $500. Beyond that, cost depends on the size of the garden, how much you are replanting and whether the scheme needs specimen stock. All pricing is for information only, so please contact us for a current figure.

A landscape architect holds a license for structural and engineered work: grading, drainage plans, retaining walls, permitted structures and sealed drawings. A landscape designer works with planting, composition and how you use the space. For most residential properties here the planting is the project, but if yours needs engineered drawings we will say so.

Yes. We deliver every design as a virtual plan, and virtual consultations cost $100 per hour including the design. This suits clients renovating remotely, buying into the area, or planning to implement in stages. Some clients then have us install the scheme and others take the plan to their own crew.

We do not run a nursery or deliver plants as a standalone service. We source plant material as part of a design project, including specimen stock, and we also work as a plant personal shopper for clients who want particular species sourced without spending their weekends driving between nurseries.

Our soil is limestone based and alkaline, usually pH 7.8 to 8.4, while both plants want 5.0 to 6.5. Above roughly pH 7.5 the iron in the ground forms compounds roots cannot absorb, so the plant starves with iron all around it. It is a plant selection problem rather than a care problem, which is why fertilizing harder rarely fixes it.

Plant a native species. Most garden centers stock tropical milkweed, Asclepias curassavica, which UF/IFAS assesses as a Category II invasive and which the Florida Native Plant Society advises against. It stays evergreen through our winters and disrupts monarch behavior. Florida has 21 native milkweeds. We usually specify swamp milkweed, butterflyweed, aquatic milkweed or pinewoods milkweed depending on the bed.

Yes, and here we usually recommend it. We group plants by water need, reduce turf area, mulch properly and choose natives and adapted species. South Florida water rules restrict which days you can irrigate, so a garden planned this way holds its appearance through a dry spring when the rest of the street has gone brown.

We do, and it forms a large part of our work. Mango, avocado, citrus, papaya and starfruit grow well here with the right position and root room, and vegetables run on a cool season calendar starting around October. We integrate edible planting into the overall design rather than treating it as a separate patch.

It depends on the size of the garden, how quickly you approve the design and whether we have to source specimen material to order. We give you a realistic timeline at the design stage rather than a standard answer. We would rather tell you a project needs longer than rush plant material into ground that is not ready.

We design gardens across Palm Beach County, with main service areas in Boca Raton, Delray Beach, Boynton Beach, Highland Beach, Ocean Ridge, Manalapan, Lake Worth, Palm Beach, West Palm Beach and Wellington. Virtual design work extends further, since the plan does not require us on site.

We help with pruning, replanting and seasonal updates so the garden develops the way we designed it. This is not a lawn mowing contract. It is periodic attention from the people who drew the scheme and understand what each plant is supposed to become.