Right Plant, Right Place
Before you choose plants, consider this.
If you’ve ever dug a planting hole near the Beaches—or in many other parts of Northeast Florida—you already know what you’re likely to find.
Sand. And often, a lot of it.
Sandy soil creates a very different growing environment from heavier soils. Water can move through it rapidly, nutrients can leach away, and a plant that looked perfectly healthy at the nursery can struggle once it’s placed in a hot, sunny landscape where the root zone dries quickly. That can seem especially confusing during a Northeast Florida summer. We can receive a heavy afternoon thunderstorm, only to have exposed sandy areas drying surprisingly quickly afterward. The answer isn’t necessarily more irrigation. Sometimes it’s better plant selection.
For the third installment of our Right Plant, Right Place series, here are 10 plants worth considering for Northeast Florida landscapes where sandy, fast-draining soil is part of the equation.
1. Dune Sunflower
If a plant naturally grows along Florida’s coast, that’s a pretty good indication that sand doesn’t scare it. Dune sunflower is a Florida native groundcover known for its bright yellow, daisy-like flowers. It naturally occurs in sandy coastal environments and handles sunshine, heat and relatively dry conditions once established. Its sprawling habit makes it useful where a more natural groundcover is desired, particularly in coastal landscapes. The flowers also attract butterflies and other pollinators.
Landscape tip: Give dune sunflower room to spread. It’s generally better suited to an informal or naturalistic design than a tightly controlled planting bed.
2. Coontie
Coontie is one of Florida’s most distinctive native landscape plants. Technically a cycad rather than a palm or fern, it produces stiff, attractive foliage that provides year-round texture. It’s well adapted to Florida’s sandy soils and becomes relatively drought-tolerant once established. Coontie also has an important ecological role as the larval host plant for the Atala butterfly. Its moderate size makes it useful in foundation plantings, mixed beds, and mass plantings.
Landscape tip: Coontie is a good example of a plant that doesn’t need flowers to contribute to a design. Its foliage can provide structure and contrast throughout the year.
3. Saw Palmetto
Saw palmetto has been growing in Florida’s sandy soils considerably longer than we’ve been landscaping around it. This native palm-like plant is extremely well adapted to Florida conditions and naturally occurs in sandy flatwoods, coastal areas, and other environments where water and nutrients can be limited. Its fan-shaped foliage creates a bold texture and distinctly Florida appearance. Saw palmetto can become substantial, however, so it isn’t appropriate for every residential planting bed.
Landscape tip: Don’t judge a plant by its size when it’s installed. Saw palmetto needs enough space to accommodate its mature spread.
4. Muhly Grass
Muhly grass is one of the best examples of how a tough plant can also deliver considerable ornamental value. For much of the year, its fine green foliage creates a soft, fountain-like form. Then fall arrives and the plant can produce clouds of pink-purple flower plumes. This Florida native performs well in sunny locations with well-drained soils and is relatively drought-tolerant after establishment. Mass plantings can be particularly dramatic.
Landscape tip: Don’t overwater muhly grass simply because it’s planted in sand. Good drainage is one of the conditions that helps it perform well.
5. Blanket Flower
Blanket flower brings strong color to hot, sunny locations. Its red, orange, and yellow daisy-like blooms work especially well in informal Florida landscapes and pollinator gardens. Blanket flower is comfortable in sandy, well-drained soil and can tolerate relatively dry conditions once established. In other words, some of the conditions that cause other flowering plants to struggle can actually suit it quite well.
Landscape tip: Avoid turning a naturally drought-tolerant planting into a constantly wet one through excessive irrigation.
6. Firebush
Firebush has already appeared elsewhere in our plant series for good reason: it’s remarkably well suited to many Florida conditions. The native form produces orange-red tubular flowers that attract hummingbirds, butterflies, and other pollinators. It handles heat and, once established, can tolerate relatively dry conditions. In sandy landscapes with good sunlight, Firebush can provide both substantial growth and warm-season color.
Landscape tip: Firebush can grow into a sizable shrub. Give it enough room to develop rather than relying on constant shearing to keep an oversized plant in a small space.
7. Lantana
Lantana is almost synonymous with hot, sunny Florida planting beds. Its clusters of colorful flowers can continue through some of the most demanding parts of summer, and butterflies frequently visit the blooms. Many types tolerate sandy, well-drained soils and become relatively drought-tolerant once established. However, plant selection matters. Florida has native Lantana species as well as nonnative forms, and some nonnative lantanas have invasive concerns.
Landscape tip: Don’t choose Lantana solely by flower color. Know what you’re planting and whether that particular selection is appropriate for the landscape.
8. Yucca
For a completely different form and texture, consider Yucca. Yucca’s stiff, sword-like foliage makes an architectural statement in the landscape, while tall flower stalks can add another level of interest. Several yuccas are adapted to dry, sandy conditions and can handle substantial sun and heat. That makes them useful in locations where softer, moisture-loving plants might struggle.
Landscape tip: Placement matters for more than soil conditions. Yucca’s pointed foliage should be kept away from narrow walkways and areas where people regularly brush against plants.
9. Blue Daze
Blue Daze provides a low-growing option for hot, well-drained areas. Its silvery-green foliage and intense blue flowers make it particularly useful along bed edges, around hardscapes and in sunny locations where a lower plant is needed. It generally appreciates well-drained soil, making sandy conditions potentially advantageous when other site requirements are met.
Landscape tip: More water doesn’t necessarily mean more flowers. Blue Daze needs moisture during establishment, but constantly saturated soil isn’t the goal.
10. Gaura
Gaura brings an entirely different character to a planting. Its delicate flowers appear on slender stems that move in the breeze, creating an airy effect rather than the dense mass associated with many traditional shrubs. It performs best in sunny, well-drained locations and can handle relatively dry conditions once established. That makes it particularly useful when the design calls for movement and a lighter texture.
Landscape tip: Gaura’s loose, natural growth habit is part of its appeal. It works best where the design allows it to look informal rather than forcing it into a rigid shape.
Why Is Sandy Soil So Different?
The issue isn’t that sandy soil is inherently “bad.” It’s simply different. Sand particles are relatively large, leaving spaces that allow water to move through the soil quickly. That’s excellent for plants that dislike wet roots. But rapid drainage can create other challenges. Water may not remain available to roots for as long, and nutrients can move through the root zone more readily than they do in soils with greater organic matter or finer particles.
That’s why two properties receiving the same rainfall can have dramatically different plant performance.
A Rainy Florida Summer Can Still Produce Dry Plants
This is one of the more counterintuitive aspects of Northeast Florida landscaping. During summer, thunderstorms can dump significant amounts of water onto a property in a very short period. A homeowner sees the rain and understandably assumes everything has received plenty of water. But in a sunny landscape with highly permeable sandy soil, much of that water may move downward relatively quickly. Add high temperatures, intense sunlight, and wind, and the upper root zone can begin drying sooner than expected. Meanwhile, just across the property, a low area with different soil or drainage characteristics might remain saturated. That’s why irrigation and plant selection shouldn’t necessarily be identical throughout an entire landscape.
Don’t Solve Every Sandy-Soil Problem With More Water
When a plant wilts repeatedly in sandy soil, increasing irrigation can seem like the obvious solution. Sometimes additional water is appropriate. But if a plant requires constant intervention simply to tolerate the location, it’s worth asking whether it’s the right plant for that location in the first place. Selecting plants adapted to good drainage and periods of lower moisture can reduce the need to continually compensate for the site’s natural conditions. That doesn’t mean newly installed drought-tolerant plants don’t need water.
Drought-tolerant does not mean drought-proof.
New plants need appropriate irrigation while their root systems become established. Their water requirements may change significantly once those roots have developed.
Sandy Soil Doesn’t Mean Every Part of the Property Is Dry
There’s another important wrinkle. Sandy soil and poor drainage can exist on the same property. Compacted layers beneath the surface, grading, construction activity and local topography can all influence where water moves. That’s why simply seeing sand in a planting bed doesn’t tell you everything about the site’s drainage. Observe what happens after rainfall.
Does the water disappear rapidly?
Does one portion of the bed remain wet?
Is runoff moving across the surface rather than soaking in?
Those observations can tell you much more about the growing environment than soil appearance alone.
Coastal Sand Adds Another Consideration: Salt
For properties closer to the Atlantic, sandy soil may only be one part of the challenge. Salt spray and coastal winds can further limit which plants will perform well. That’s why some plants on this list—such as dune sunflower, coontie, saw palmetto and muhly grass—can be particularly useful in coastal landscapes where sand, sun, wind and salt exposure may all need to be considered together. But salt tolerance varies by plant and by degree of exposure. A landscape several blocks from the ocean is not necessarily experiencing the same conditions as an oceanfront property.
Improving Sandy Soil Can Help—But Don’t Try to Turn It Into Something It Isn’t
Organic matter can sometimes improve a sandy planting area’s ability to retain moisture and nutrients. Mulch can also help moderate soil temperatures, reduce evaporation, and add organic material as it breaks down. But the objective shouldn’t necessarily be to completely transform the site’s natural soil. A more sustainable approach is often a combination of appropriate soil preparation and plants naturally suited to the conditions. You’re working with the property instead of continually trying to make it behave like somewhere else.
Before You Choose Plants, Consider This
Plant selection should start before you arrive at the nursery.
How much sun does the area receive?
How quickly does the soil drain?
Is the property exposed to coastal salt?
How does irrigation reach the area?
How large will the plant become?
How much maintenance will it require?
And perhaps most importantly:
Does this plant naturally make sense for this particular location?
A beautiful plant isn’t automatically a good landscape plant. The best choices are plants that provide the color, texture, and function you want while also being capable of handling the environment you’re asking them to live in.
That’s the idea behind Right Plant, Right Place.
And when you’re landscaping in Northeast Florida’s sandy soils, it’s something worth considering before the first plant ever goes into the ground.
Before you choose plants, consider this.