Rockaway has assisted many homeowners in Ponte Vedra’s Sawgrass community that sought to upgrade from traditional to tropical landscape designs. Since 1982, Sawgrass has received international recognition as home to the prestigious PGA TPC Sawgrass Players Championship. The best years have gone for many of the community’s original landscapes. Rockaway Landscape Designer David Holloway walks us through a Summer 2023 traditional to tropical landscape design installation in Sawgrass to inspire you with the possibilities.

After meeting with and listening to the homeowner’s landscape likes and dislikes, Holloway proposed a front yard design plan that was approved and installed soon after. “We were trying to open up the area and get a little more color, creativity, and a little bit of a tropical feel,’ said Holloway. “This whole area now flows, has some color and interest, and it looks entirely different than what we started with out here.”

The initially small young hedges had become large with aged thick trunks that filled the limited space and obstructed their beautiful views of the community. This tropical design compliments those of neighboring landscapes and is tailored to improve the outdoor living experience for homeowners and their families, friends, and guests.

Slow-growing Chinese fan palms and podocarpus were planted where screening was still desired. Philodendrons were added to a preexisting collection making for an improved presentation upon entrance and exit to the backyard.

Additional plants that were added include Match stick bromeliads (Aechmea gamosepala), Soft Caress Mahonia, Golden Duranta (Duranta erecta), Lantanas, Foxtail ferns, Gardenia jasminoides’ Miami Supreme’, and Blue Daze (Evolvulus glomeratus). A Cardboard palm (Zamia furfuracea) was added at the front corner of the walkway from the driveway to the side entrance. We planted a cold hardy European fan palm (Chamaerops humilis) on the street side of the bed, with both it and the Cardboard palm serving as specimen plants that anchor together the tropical plantings in the design.

Finally, we added gravel hardscaping with edging for containment to a seating area with a beach-style weathered bench. It survived several hurricanes with the homeowners and is now a focal point in pleasing a tropical landscape. Each plant’s salt tolerance, light needs, and cold hardiness are considered to determine their suitability for the property before we propose them in a landscape design proposal.

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