Start with the biggest and work your way down. Consider large trees to shade the house from the afternoon sun, but not so that they block the view of anything worth seeing.

A water feature in the front of the house is good chi, even a small fountain surrounded by rocks and succulents would give you the desired effect.

Leave yourself room to get a large truck to the back of the house - you never know!

I would not concentrate on specific small plants and shrubs until you decide what the largest trees are going to be. And for some suggestions for zone 9, in no particular order:
Peltophorum dubium - Yellow Poinciana
Magnolia grandiflora - Southern Magnolia (a native)
Celtis laevigata - Sugarberry (a native)
Tipuana tipu - Tipu or Brazilian rosewood
Cassia javonica - Apple Blossom Cassia
Chorisia speciosa - Silk Floss Tree
All of these will grow to at least 30 feet, some as tall as 60 feet depending on conditions. They will all take a frost and they all flower - at different times of the year.

As far as palms go - unless you are planting Royals or Foxtails, stay with small, self-cleaning palms as accent pieces - Bottle Palms and Spindle Palms stay small and will handle a cold winter once established.

Plan your pathways and plant around them. Make sure no pathway is straight, natural curves are the best.

There are so many options that it's best to stay general at first. Do you want a tropical garden or a formal setting? How much are you willing to spend? Lots to think about!

Very pretty. What direction does the house face? It sure looks that your "soil" is mostly fine sand. Is that correct? Thats what I have to struggle with.

Plan in any walks you want, and where you want seating. Do you want any bordered island beds? You have the space for them, and if you like them, now is the time to plan for them. Same with hedges and water features.

Then go for the trees. Gardening in Florida is so much easier if you have some shade.

You also might want to see if you can get a few truckloads of freshly ground tree to mulch the sandy front. It will break down over the next year, adding a lot to the soil.

Trees. I had forgot to mention that. We have one magnolia that we want to plant in the front somewhere, maybe to the left front of the house about 25 feet away. The pictures above are a bit deceiving because we do have several trees in the front. This one was taken from the street. Ricky, you will see that we have quite a large access route to the back around the left of the house. Hub would have it no other way. His barn is going to be way in the back.

As for style, I'm not thinking tropical but more islands of different plantings. I don't want a hedge I have to trim. I had not really thought about palms because I have never had them before.

The soil is hit or miss. Right now up close to the house is pretty sandy but we have some good spots here and there.

This is how the plan is sounding to me so far. Decide where I want any trees, then the crepe myrtles and the paths. Put some tree mulch to hold down the dirt and to breakdown over the next year. I may plant the lirope just along the front where the drip line is off the roof to keep the splash down. That stuff is tough and I can move it easily.

As for how much I want to spend? Right now, almost nothing because we have not sold our current house and my daughter is getting braces at the end of this month. Once the current house sells, I will probably hold out some funds for some foundation type items and build up the rest over time. I don't have a bunch of money but I do have a lot of time.

Thanks for the info so far. This is helping me get my thoughts together.

gardencpa,
an idea to throw out: consider a cutting/veg garden, somewhere a little off to the side, out of view but convenient to the house. a low fence, a lot of mushroom compost, a water tap, a lot of sun. you could devote half the cutting garden to veg, and the other half to mixed annuals and roses. i have a good friend with a large yard like yours (she lives over on beresford, near where the tornado went through) with a really excellent cutting garden, about 60x60. having that space devoted solely to flowers and potager is a real asset.

oh, and why not a small fruit grove? citrus, maybe a fig tree and a jujubee and a persimmon?

anyway, that's what i'd do with a big, clean palette like yours.

ill - Now you are talking about my plans for the back! I have an ideal spot in the back behind the garage where Tim is going to build me a small shade house and potting bench for playing with cuttings. I do want to grow at least some tomatoes and peppers. Much of the back will be kept flat with grass so we can sit on the back porch with a view of the huge live oak and the woods but I will have a garden area.

Beautiful home, gardencpa. I love the fence along the front and the large trees out there which frame the home, but don't hide it.

This is what I would do (and did at our new home and garden). Get long hoses and arrange them to form large, curving beds. This helps a lot in visualizing what they could look like. Personally, I would make huge, curving beds out front on both sides of the fence and connecting the trees. This will cut down markedly on your yard maintenance in not needing to deal with a weed whacker along the fence and trees. Also, very large, curving beds near the house and along paths to the driveway. This will only leave small areas for a green, curving patch of grass somewhere in the middle, but will still have the look of a lawn. When you have decided on placement of the beds (with the hoses), you can mark them with landscape paint. Save all your packing boxes and appliance boxes and place them on the ground where you want your beds. Overlap by six or more inches. This will be your organic weed barrier. Then get several truckloads of free wood chips and get someone to spread it in very thick layers over the cardboard to define your beds. Your beds will then be done and look neat and tidy. The cardboard will also minimize your need for weeding, so you can spend your time planting. You will then have all the time in the world to decide where you want to start planting your trees first and then all your other plants.

Be careful with the magnolia. It is a beautiful tree, but will grow huge, and you don't want it to obscure your beautiful home. Plant it where you can enjoy it and where you can benefit from its screening.

Congrats on your beautiful, new home! In a couple of years your garden will be filled in and gorgeous as well. Take your time and only plant what you really love. The made beds will give you this time and the chips will break down and help your soil as time goes along.

Anna

I love this house!

A southern magnolia is a must imho.

gardencpa-Beautiful! I sure wish I had all your room! Where is the home located? It really look woodsy. You surely must be so excited. Congrats and keep us posted on your progress.

I like the hose and mulch idea. That way I can see where the beds will be before I put any plants in there. I've been thinking that I just need to get out and start putting stuff in the ground but maybe that is not the best plan.

cindeea - It's in north Deland. It is area surrounded by lots that are between 3 and 20 acres. The old house was burned and we bought the lot and then tore it down almost four years ago. I never thought it would take us this long to finally move into a house there. The only problem with a place that big is that if I try to plan what to do with the whole yard at once, my eyes glaze over.

One day at a time, does it. I have just a 3/4 acre lot and I felt overwhelmed when we built our home. I can imagine how you must feel. Just get a general plan, start with the big stuff and all else will fall into place! Sounds so simple, don't it. Best wishes!

Hi
here's my two cents.lol First I'd plan on the permanent structures how much space they will require I suppose "barn " means animals?? if so they need a lot of area natually, along with limits such as fences.These will be slow and expensive and require a lot of planning.Not too close yet not too faraway to make care difficult Drives ,walks patios. barbecue area . The "hardscaping" part of the garden but not for the garden. This will give you sizes and locations for the beds and planting areas .
This would also give you clues as to where to put trees .
Where you want more or less shade. Where will runoff go??
That all important drainage.Will it be adequet?? Obviously this will dictate what is planted where.
last IMO one of the most important aspects of any garden .
Water .Which parts will be watered and how much?? Plan that underground irrigation right away. before planting. Plants that require a lot of attention will need to be closer to the house especially those that require a lot of water.
When laying out the design be sure to allow for changes
such as adding extra taps More lines and of course adequet pumps for the pressure required.
There's my two cents ,okay more like a quarter lol
One question the structure on thee roof .What is the function?? Skylights?? gary

Gary,

Thanks for the quarter! No, the barn is not for animals. We have three dogs but despite the pleas of my daughters, no horses. I called it a barn because it is going to be much bigger than a shed, maybe it is better called a workshop. That will be nestled back in the woods.

We were just talking about this this morning and that is why I think marking and mulching beds without planting anything right now is turning out to be my plan. We can then add the irrigation before I plant certain plants in certain areas. I want to add some natives that need less water and those can be in places perhaps without permanent irrigation.

As for drainage, we are dealing with some issues with that right now. While on very high and dry land, the lot is lower in the back and on the garage side. When they added fill, they changed the dynamics and we have some big washouts that we need to deal with. We are heading out there shortly to discuss our plans. Right now water is running off the roof and washing out the driveway. Gutters will take care of some of that but we still need to plan.

As for the cupola (I finally learned what it was called), yes it works much like skylights and lets light into the great room. It makes for a very high ceiling and we have heard many comments about who gets to wash the windows but it is a bit of unique architecture both inside and out. Not everybody likes it, but we do.

Melissa

Hi
Oh come on get some horses they give you a great place to put all your excess money.lol besides they provide free fertilizer lol.
One great thing about florida is you can put underground irrigation in without the problems of freeze. They save a ton of work. and cheap since you only need a trench.. Of course you have to remember where they are lol I've dug mine up a couple of times lol
When I first saw the cupola I thought it one of those cirulation flues like they put on houses in tropical countries.. Air passing over the roof creates a vacuum and cools the house. They do work somewhat but give me a thermostat lol Good luck with your project. Will be a lot of work but is very satisfying gary

melissa,
drop me a note if you want some free native plants -- i always have a few dozen things going in pots to give away & i can dig up other things. i can hold them until you're ready... my email is centralfloridagardener at gmail dottything com. or you can write me at my university acct. we delanders should all get together sometime and do the garden tour thing...

Gary, Much of my excess(?) money already goes towards horses. The just don't live with us. We don't own them either but tack and lessons are expensive, especially with two kids riding. We have already run some irrigation lines up to the front fence so we could put the azaleas on a drip system.

i-ma, I will definitely take you up on that very generous offer. We are moving the last weekend of this month and then I will come trick or treating at your house. I'm ready to do a garden tour whenever you are. I don't have much in the way of garden yet but have some really great live oaks and a big cedar.

Thanks to everyone for your help.