Turning a Water Oak Forest into a Tropical Paradise in NW Orlando

[Merlyn]

@sonoranfans when I was living up North in the frozen tundra, a 5 acre lot was probably not a big deal to maintain.  I had a double lot (about 1.25 acres), and I mowed it once a month.  The only real maintenance pain was blowing leaves from the 100ft tall red and white oaks.  In FL I have about 0.75 acres and it was TOUGH to mow it all the time.  Even with full water oak canopy I really needed a tractor to keep up with it.  I converted the majority of the grass areas to mulched beds, so I can mow with a push mower in about an hour with edging and blowing.  I can't imagine mowing a 5 acre lot of plain grass every single week.  

The biggest maintenance task at the moment is just weeds.  Areas with really thick mulch did pretty well, but any area with a recent planting (any area planted in 2025) was just packed with nonstop weeds.  I am hoping next year will be a little easier.

I know what you mean about dead plant material.  Every single week I fill at least 4 big 45 gallon trash cans with either weeds or palm or cycad fronds.  Chopping and cleaning up in Nov-April is easy, but August...not so easy.  Now that everything is planted out (just over 1000 individual plantings) I am leaving spots open when things die.  I lost a Pseudophoenix and a Cyphophoenix and a couple of others, so I just plug the drippers and fill the spot with dirt and cover it with mulch.  As the BIG stuff gets huge I may end up "editing" ruthlessly, like I did with 8 tall Queens last fall.  Things I decide I don't like just get yanked, especially things that take a lot of maintenance or are dangerously thorny (like Phoenix).

[TropicsEnjoyer]

1 hour ago, Merlyn said:

or are dangerously thorny (like Phoenix).

Speaking of thorny, guess who got stabbed in the head today putting on christmas lights…. me 💔🌴 Luckily the thorn came out cleanly, even though I instinctively ripped it out the moment I felt it.

[flplantguy]

I am considering downsizing lots from the .92 acre lot I have now for the reason of maintenance, as well as finding a place that has fewer freezes.  After the last summer and all the issues I had, plus allergies to everything, it became clear that I needed to make the area I care for less difficult to deal with.  The trees I have are also going to one day be maintenance costs as they age, although now they are great shade and frost cover.  Then there is watching what you plant grow and not wanting to leave it behind, so it's hard to decide. A big driveway, sheds and greenhouse and garage, patios, gazebo maybe, and tons of mulch and rock beds, and maybe it wont be that hard, but that's a long way ahead.  Your right that careful planning for weeds helps a lot, and getting it all done maybe too, so maybe it's doable after all, but after summer and a super early frost it doesn't feel that way lol.

[sonoranfans]

@merlyn, yeah weeds were a real pain this year, but not as bad as hurricane milton damage that is still shedding off on some palms.  I have edited a few large palms that just cant take the wind or were too close over the years.  Better to get them while they are not so big.  I should have listened to palmpedia about the wind sensitive ones.  I had 0.75 acres in AZ before moving here in 2010, weeds were easy to control without rain,  palms were tough to keep happy and choices were more limited.  Before that I had 2 acres in Massachusetts, half woods with very little maintenance and grass only grew 3 months a year.  I am happy with my crownshafted and self shedding palms in Florida.   I like working in the yard but the work load and heat really narrows down what months I can work out there. .  Slow growing palms are great!  I should have planted more of them.   I find myself not wanting any more large or fast growing palms.   

[Merlyn]

22 hours ago, TropicsEnjoyer said:

Speaking of thorny, guess who got stabbed in the head today putting on christmas lights…. me 💔🌴 Luckily the thorn came out cleanly, even though I instinctively ripped it out the moment I felt it.

I trashed all my Phoenix except for a Reclinata cluster and a couple of Pygmy Dates, for two reasons.  The first was Lethal Bronzing, the second was the randomly stabby nature of the thorns.  Super stabby things (like agaves) are generally ok with me, but the random orientation of Phoenix thorns means I *always* get stabbed several times.  And for some odd reason Phoenix thorn stabs hurt for at least a week.  Even the leaves are stabby!

The Reclinata is *so far* ok because I only prune it once a year.  The Pygmy Dates are ok *so far* because the rachis are just small enough to prune with loppers, and easy enough to just clip and toss into the yard waste trash cans.

[Merlyn]

@flplantguy big oaks and pines are expensive to take down when they get too tall and too close to a house.  I could have saved a ton of money if I had realized they were water oaks...and had realized they grow quickly to 80ft tall and then die.  I would have taken them all down in one swell foop, instead of piecemeal over several years.

I have thought a lot about selling and leaving, especially with all the highway noise from the toll road they just finished.  FDOT knows that CFX/Turnpike Authority are violating the FL noise laws, and have so far attempted to reduce the noise with short barriers and a fairly dense planting of trees.  It's not working so far.  I would probably dig up the rare Cycads (Encephalartos, Cycas, Dioon, etc) and leave almost all the palms.  I would try and repot things that are actually tough to replace (BxJ, JxB, Arenga Pinnata, etc) or that I think are fairly tolerant of potting and moving (bamboos, agaves, cacti, etc).  Most of the stuff I would just leave, knowing the next owner would probably clearcut and put down sod.  I've read other people here say "never go back" because the palm death and destruction you probably just don't want to know about...

[flplantguy]

All my big trees are far away from the house thankfully, and I will keep it that way.  After the storms last year I saw the benefits too, and I have a good mix of younger stuff, so I think most will be the next owner's problem lol. I too have been told don't look back if you leave, I'm sure this whole lot would get cleared fast even though the forest/privacy is its best feature.  Funny enough my only city issue is also noise, from highway 19 nearby, and lights from a storage place.  Both are getting plantings to try and mitigate it soon.  I was just reading that mortgage denial is way up so if I do move it's going to be a bit. I don't think I would move much with me either, most isn't worth it and can be replaced easily.  I hope they get a handle on the noise so you can enjoy your hard work more!

[Merlyn]

@sonoranfans for sure I do not want any fast growing, large, non-self-cleaning palms.  I can deal with somewhat smaller fast ones (Kings, Foxtails) and small trunk diameter clustering types (Lutescens, Mitis).  I am sure the 14 Alfredii are going to eventually be a big hassle.  I will probably trash one before it gets too big, as I planted it only ~10ft from the house.  Around 15-20ft is ok, but ~10ft is not. 

The three Bismarckia are already irritating due to fan size and fast growth speed.  They are just growing out of the remnants of Wilson damage now, even with only ~90mph gusts.

@flplantguy I planted a perimeter of Viburnum on the entire SW, S, and SE sides, but they were not that great at absorbing sound.  And then they started dying of root rot (probably Armillaria).  I am 100% sure the new perimeter of bamboo will become a maintenance hassle (nightmare?), but once the ~15ft tall culms leaf out it should be reasonably quiet back there.  If you have space, things like Gracilis, RG Dwarf, and Ladyfinger (20-25ft, 15ft, 10ft) are great dense noise barriers.  And they are leaf hardy below 20F so great even in winter!