Where to Plant in your Florida Garden

Florida has a wealth of sunshine and rainwater, making it a wonderful place to grow a vegetable garden, fruit trees, or ornamental plants. However, the extreme climate here in the Sunshine State can sometimes create challenges for gardeners as well. Before you get started, it's a great idea to understand what your plants will need. This will help you choose a suitable site in your yard for whatever you want to plant.

Understanding Florida's Climate Zones

Before you begin, it's a good idea to make sure that you understand the climate zone you live in. This will have the biggest effect on which plants are likely to thrive.

Central and North Florida are both in a humid subtropical climate zone. This means warm or hot summers, mild winters, and variable rainfall all year round. Climate zones in South Florida vary depending on location. Check out this interactive map to get a categorization of the climate for where you live.

Wherever you live, you'll need to think about choosing plants whose hardiness is suited to your home area. Native plants are always a good bet, because you know they will be suited to the climate and conditions of your area. If you're interested in vegetable gardening, you may need to consider some non-native plants too. We have a list for beginners of the best vegetables to grow in Florida.

Choose Your Garden Location

After climate, which describes long-term conditions in a given area, we need to look at weather. To choose a suitable spot for your vegetable garden, trees, or flower beds, you need to think about the following factors:

• Sunlight
• Soil type
• Temperature
• Access to water, including rainfall
• Ease of access for gardening and plant care

Sunlight

For most plants, the key to helping them thrive is to ensure that they get the right amount of sunlight each day. Too much can cause some plants to shrivel up and dry out; too little will not allow the plant to photosynthesize and grow strong.

If you want to grow a vegetable garden, you should choose a site that gets at least six hours of direct sunlight per day. Vegetables need plenty of water and light to thrive.

Other plants may need more shade during the day. Think about situating shade-loving plants near a building, pergola, tree or tall shrubs to give them protection from the sun's heat.

Soil Type

Understanding your soil type is very important for making sure you are able to grow healthy plants. Whether you're going for landscape plants or edible plants, you'll need to check the soil requirements for whatever you want to grow.

If the soil in your chosen area is the wrong type for the what you want to grow, it's possible to amend it. You can add organic material, or even alter the acidity of the soil. Central Florida tends to have sandy soil. Adding organic fertilizer can improve soil conditions for gardening.

Think too about soil drainage. Plants need adequate soil moisture, but it's important for vegetables to be planted in soil that drains well, to avoid root rot.

Temperature

If you will be growing frost-tender plants in North or Central Florida, you will need a plan for how to care for them when temperatures drop below freezing point in the winter. Adding a layer of mulch can help to keep soil temperatures warm even in cold weather.

If frost is expected, delicate plants can be covered overnight with newspaper or even bed sheets or blankets to protect them from the frost. Remember to remove any coverings during daylight hours so your plants can get the sunshine they need.

Water

When choosing a spot for your garden, consider water resources. Looking after your sweet potatoes or cherry tomatoes will be much easier if they're located near a tap or rain barrel to allow easy irrigation. During the rainy season, you may not need to provide any supplemental water, but during the summer heat you'll need to make sure your plants get adequate water.

Think, too, about rainfall and runoff. If your garden beds are very close to a gutter or the edge of a roof, they may get a lot of runoff when Central Florida's typical heavy thunderstorms hit. Harmful runoff can wash away soil or flood the delicate roots of your plants. You don't want all the organic fertilizer you just applied to get washed away!

Access

When you plan your vegetable garden or arrange your landscaping plants, think about ease of access for you to care for them. Growing vegetables and herbs close to the kitchen is a great idea if you're likely to want to access them when cooking.

Raised beds can be easier to access than traditional garden beds, as long as you ensure that you can reach right to the middle. Rather than situating a raised bed right by a wall or fence, leave a walkway behind to allow access to plants from all angles.

In a traditional garden bed, place stepping stones or include areas where you can put your feet without crushing your plants when you need to tend to them.

Vegetable Garden Rotation

It can be a good idea to move your vegetable garden to a different location each year. This is because growing vegetables can deplete the nutrients in the soil. Soil amendments can help with soil health but, if possible, it's best to use a rotation of different areas to grow edible plants.

Companion Planting

When growing common vegetables, fruit trees, and even landscaping plants, it's worth thinking about other plants that work well alongside the ones you want. Butterfly host plants, and those that attract beneficial insects, can be very helpful for pollination.

Choosing companion plants for your vegetable garden is an easy, natural way to help beat pests, increase soil fertility, and even help your chosen plants to edge out weeds.

For more information about planning a vegetable garden check out IFAS's guide to growing vegetables in Florida. If you're not sure what to grow, we have a list of recommendations for the best vegetables to grow in Florida. And, if you'd like some help planning out your landscaped beds and choosing a good selection of native plants to make your Central Florida yard beautiful year-round, get in touch with the friendly professionals at LawnMore Gainesville!

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