Andrew's Garden

About My Garden

My garden is just a small patch of land outside the condo my wife and I call home. It's located in USDA hardiness zone 10a (actually, right on the border of 9b and 10a) in Florida, USA, and I've been trying to beautify the space with a mixture of native and non-invasive ornamental shrubs, herbs, and other plants. While currently there are quite a few non-native species, I'm trying to slowly migrate to entirely native plants and non-invasive food crops, especially those that can help rebuild the soil quality; it's pretty much just sandy clay here.

If you'd like to leave feedback about the garden, or to request seeds, cuttings, please do contact me via the info on my contact page. I generally try to keep a supply of seeds for as many of my plants as possible, but as always, it depends.

Also, if you're in need of some advice for designing or improving a garden in Florida or around zones 9b/10a, I'd be happy to help!

Table of Contents

1. Species
2. Hardscaping

Species

Here's a detailed list of all the species I've got in my garden. For each species, I try to include its scientific name, place of origin, and a small description, usually taken from Wikipedia or other sources listed at the bottom of each species' info.

Bird Pepper

Capsicum annuum var. glabriusculum

A small chili pepper variety native to southern North America and northern South America. It's the only pepper species native to the Floridian peninsula.

Blue Pacific Juniper

Juniperus conferta

A species of Juniper native to Japan, that grows on sand dunes and other acidic/alkaline soils with good drainage. It forms a groundcover if left unattended.

Browne’s Savory

Clinopodium brownei

A sprawling perennial herb found natively in the coastal plains and marshes of the southeastern United States.

Catnip

Nepeta cataria

Species of mint that about 2/3rds of cats are attracted to. Native to southern and eastern Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia, and parts of China.

Cilantro

Coriandrum sativum

Also known as Coriander, this is an annual herb that most people enjoy has having a tart, lemon/lime taste. It's native to the Mediterranean basin, but is grown worldwide.

Creeping Sage

Salvia misella

Also known as tropical sage, it is an annual herb growing throughout the tropical Americas.

Dwarf Shiny-Leaf Coffee

Psychotria nervosa

A small shrub with shiny evergreen leaves that produces beans similar to coffee, but without any caffeine. Native to the southeastern United States.

English Thyme

Thymus vulgaris

A flowering plant in the mint family, native to southern Europe, that's commonly used as an herb.

Foxtail Fern

Asparagus aethiopicus

A plant native to South Africa that's grown ornamentally in many places. Its roots form water-storage tubers.

Garlic Chives

Allium tuberosum

A clump-forming perennial herb native to the Chinese province of Shanxi, but now found pretty much worldwide.

Inchplant

Trandescantia zebrina

A species of creeping vine plant that forms a dense groundcover in shaded areas. It's native to Mexico, Central America, and Colombia.

Jalapeño

Capsicum annuum var. jalapeño

A medium-sized chili pepper species with relatively mild pungency. It's commonly picked and consumed while still green, and were originally cultivated by the Aztecs.

Kimberley Queen Fern

Nephrolepis obliterata

A species of fern originating from Australia, but grown worldwide.

Marigold

Tagetes erecta

A species of flowering plant native to the Americas that is widely used as an ornamental flower, and was originally called by its Nahuatl name, cempoalxóchitl.

Mona Lavender

Plectranthus “Mona Lavender”

A hybrid of Plectranthus saccatus and Plectranthus hilliardiae, this is a broadleaf evergreen shrub in the mint family, which produces many small purple flowers.

Perennial Petunia

Ruellia caroliniensis

A wild petunia with blue or violet flowers that's native to the southeastern United States.

Tropical Milkweed

Asclepias curassavica

A flowering milkweed species native to the American tropics which is a food source for Monarch butterflies. Note: Research suggests that this plant may disrupt migratory patterns in butterflies when planted in northern United States habitats. I'm working on replacing it with native milkweed variants.

Wood Sage

Teucrium canadense

A perennial herb native to North America, growing in moist grasslands, forest edges, marshes, and on roadsides.

Hardscaping

As you may have noticed from the large-scale image of my garden at the beginning of the page, I've made a custom border for my cultivation area using some cheap stones from the hardware store and "paver base" gravel. It's actually a really simple and effective way to give your garden more character. Here's my basic steps for putting in a border.

1. Measure out the approximate distance of your border using string, sticks, or anything else you can find. This way, you'll be able to estimate how many stones or bricks you'll need to buy.
2. Use a shovel to roughly dig a small trench along the path your stones will be laid. This serves as a test to make sure there are no roots, pipes, cables, or other obstructions that you might need to build around.
3. Go to the store and buy the stones or bricks you like, as well as an appropriate amount of paver base. I usually end up using one 0.5 cubit foot bag per 10 feet of border.
4. Dig out the trench for the stones properly, and dig the area about 1.5x the width of the stones to make working the area easier.
5. Use a mallet or hammer, along with a spare piece of wood or stone, to tamp down the soil at the bottom of the trench. Try to make the soil as level as possible, but don't worry if it's not perfect; the paver base gravel will smooth out the rest.
6. Pour in your paver base, and again use a mallet and flat item to tamp it down to form a flat, level base upon which to lay the stones.
7. Finally, lay in the stones on top of the paver base, tamping them lightly with your mallet to make sure they're snug.
8. Backfill the area around the stones with the dirt you dug up, and sprinkle some in between the stones as a sort of grout. I also like to pour some water from my watering can to help everything settle in.

After writing all that, I realize that it's actually not the simplest thing in the world, but if you start with maybe 6 feet of border and do it in an hour or so, you'll get the hang of it and then you can continue with the rest.