Know what to grow, how to set up your South Florida flowerbed, and the best practices for maintaining your flowerbed in the south Florida ecosystem. Due to the harsh limestone in Miami-Dade county, planting in raised flowerbeds is much more effective than trying to break through harsh soils. A raised bed also provides better drainage for marl areas in the south.

Build Your South Florida Flowerbed

Start with a level foundation to build a raised flowerbed and allow for even watering and drainage. Consider the types of flowers you want to grow when deciding where to place your new raised bed. How much sunlight will they need? Should you place them near other flowering plants? You can put down your flowerbed base on your own, and surround it with wood planks or plastic barriers to keep your bed raised. To get your flowerbed base down right, you may consider hiring a professional landscape company, then planting a beautiful flowerbed garden on your own. We don’t recommend plastic barriers for flowerbeds due to their easy degradation, allowing weeds and invasive plants to enter your flowerbed.

Fertilizer and Soil to Use in Southern Florida

Once you’ve built your flowerbed, you need a base soil to plant your flowers. Choose soil and fertilizer that will help your flowers thrive, stand up to torrential rains, and provide a low-maintenance experience. Each type of flowering plant has its perfect soil conditions, so choose plants with similar needs and build your soil around their care plans. For flowering plants, use fertilizer sparingly, as it can reduce the number of flowers produced. While your plants may grow bigger, they won’t have vibrant blooms if you overfertilize. Fertilization is especially easy to overdue with begonias, which thrive in the natural soil in Florida.

What flowers and groundcovers should you plant in your Southern Florida flowerbed?

Planting season in Southern Florida lasts from October to March, at the latest, giving one of the widest planting windows in the United States. Thanks to a wide planting season, there are a wide array of flowering plants and ground coverings that will suit your flowerbed in southern Florida. Group flowers together that need the same watering schedule, amount of sunlight, and fertilizer to soil ratios.

Choose non-invasive plants like these great groundcovers and flowering plants:

  • Aloe
  • Begonias
  • Pineland Snowberry
  • Ground Holly (Christmas Berry)
  • Dwarf Corn of Thorns

Do not hesitate to call call Lucky Landscaping at 561-779-4127 and we will gladly make an appointment to discuss your garden needs and give you a quotation for the work.