Plant Selection Guide

South Florida 101

South Florida is home to several distinct ecosystems with different plants, depending on the elevation and growing conditions. Getting started is easy, as long as you are picking plants that come from an ecosystem that matches the conditions at your site:

Pine Rockland - full sun, high and dry. does great with poor soil
Hardwood Hammock - dense forest, flood tolerant
Cypress Swamp - dense forest, thrives in low, flood-prone areas
Coastal Marine - salt tolerant

Here is more information on each of those ecosystems

Pine Rockland

Pine Rocklands are open and airy, found in high and dry places, with an upper story dominated by slash pine trees. Pine rocklands are incredibly diverse, but also critically imperiled, as we have developed over 98% of what was found in the wild outside of Everglades National Park. They may look like forests but they are technically a savannah, because they have less than 50% canopy cover. This means that understory plants are adapted to full sun. The pine rockland ecosystem is FIRE DRIVEN. That doesn't mean it's a fire risk - to the contrary it is very robust to fire. But many of the plants depend on fire to survive, whether to germinate, or simply to thin out the upper story for more sunlight. The rockland name implies that plants found here are also adapted to poor soil and can thrive where other plants cannot

Growing Notes

A pine rockland is a tough place to survive, but ironically the key to success is to mimic the /adverse growing conditions/ that you find in the wild. If you make it too easy, your pine rockland will be invaded, even by your other Florida Native plants. That means no watering once your pine rockland plants are established (~3 months) and NO FERTILIZER. Tough conditions are where your pine rockland plants have an advantage, and you can actually love them to death. Weeding of invasive species is the best way to show your pine rockland that you care.

Hardwood Hammock

Hardwood hammocks form dense forests, and can be found in intermediate elevations between high and dry pine rockland, and wetter prairies. They are full of life, and even when they are established they will be dynamic places, as fast growing pioneer species compete with slower growing hardwoods. Understory plants are typically shade tolerant and may prefer richer soils provided by leaf litter from the canopy above.

Growing Notes

If you plant close together, hardwood hammock trees will grow faster as they compete for sunlight. You can have canopy in just a few years, even from small container plants. Hammock plants will tolerate occasional flooding and can form a good buffer planting if you receive water from your neighbors, or simply to provide a windbreak for your home. The dense shade will also cool down your yard and you'll notice they're 5-10 degrees cooler than the surrounding area.

Cypress Swamp Forest

Cypress swamp forests can have multiple levels of canopy, made up of trees like cypress and pond apple, and are found in areas that have full-time flooding for several months of the year. This ecosystem can tolerate huge swings in moisture, and is loved by many aerial plants like ferns, orchids and tillandsia. Plants from this ecosystem also thrive along the shoreline of lakes and freshwater creeks.

Growing notes

Plants from this ecosystem are an are an excellent choice if you have low lying land that regularly floods during storms. A mature cypress tree can drink hundreds of gallons of water in a day and can also help clean water of chemical runoff from the street. If you live on a canal they can form a natural seawall to provide erosion protection and attract birds that feed on aquatic life. however before you plant, check for an easement from SFWMD as they do not allow tree planting on their canals and will spray or remove them.

Microclimates

Look for special areas on your property that will allow you to introduce additional ecosystems

The roof dripline on the north side of your house might create moist shady conditions for hammock plants
Planting along the north edge of a street or driveway will be full sun for much of the year and be well suited for pine rockland plants
A gutter downspout discharge area may be a good home for swampy trees that would be happy to soak up the extra water

Happy planting!