So after reading many of YardVarks posts I have taken a hopefully more cohesive set of photographs

Front Yard · More Info

Front Yard · More Info

Front Yard · More Info

Front Yard · More Info

Front Yard · More Info

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Thank you! Yeah the bed was very crowded before so I've been slowly ripping everything out. Those two large iris clusters are next. All the stuff laying around the base at the moment are still in planters trying to get an idea. And all those trimmed iris are to be giving away or trashed.

I didn't want to bring the bed under the Windows in just to keep it "bite sized" but you went above and beyond! The choice of flower there is brilliant I wanted something that stood out and was considering snapdragons or the red salvia but this is an immense help.

I will take a picture of the front beds and other areas to give you a better idea of what's going on.

Crowded bed · More Info

Crowded bed · More Info

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The entire bed was over grown with whatever those are and then the huge iris clusters

BTW, it is Billbergia pyramidalis

Are you taking out that lovely variegated ginger? You can revive it w/ compost, mulch & water.The irises & ginger are perennials & can be transplanted elsewhere.

Bromeliads do well under trees & can be quite colorful & carefree.

And in your illustration the other bushes/trees?

I intended to remove it all as I was unsure what it was. That entire open space was covered with it! But I may move them around. As far as they iris I've pulled most of it and pruned it into a crown and have seriously 80 of them... And two bushes to go. So I haven't decide what to do with them yet. Lol

Were all those planted by former owners? Because they all seem to be great choices for FL landscapes - maybe just not so close to that tree trunk. Closeup of bushes would be helpful - from a distance they like roses or azaleas.

The plants are not specific plants but representations of shape and size that might work out for various areas. Each could be one of several plants. The large shrub could be Aucuba, Camellia, certain Azaleas, certain Hydrangeas, Pittosporum & the like. The small shrubs below windows could be dwarf Raphiolepis, dwarf azalea, etc., or clusters of evergreen perennials like that African Iris you have, or Dianella tasmanica, etc. The groundcover could be Asiatic jasmine, mondo grass, etc. The small, multi-trunk tree could be crape myrtle (pollarded at 9' ht.), Japanese Ligustrum, Oleander.

When selecting, you must take into account the actual light and moisture conditions (things I cannot gauge well from photos) as well as the plant size and shape.

BTW, I should have mentioned earlier ... it looks as if the two low horizontal limbs coming off the trunk, to the right, and one limb higher up coming forward, are out of sync with the overall character of the tree. Removing them would improve the stately quality of the tree, and lighten up the right half of the yard.

Yardvaark you are amazing thank you for all the help and suggestions; thanks to you too Carolb. Here is a better look at that front bed attached to the house.

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Front Bed · More Info

Front Bed · More Info

Front Bed · More Info

Front Bed · More Info

Where the large dome shrub is by the palm tree, you could create it out of the Arboricola that you already have by massing it together and trimming it, over time, to the proper shape. I've pretty much covered that face of the wall in my previous comments.

It would be good to take a chain saw to all the frond stubs remaining on the palm tree and clean them off. Right now, with all those sticking out, it looks about as well dressed as a long term homeless person. If you trimmed all those off, it would look like a dressed prince. Take a look at Google Images for "diamond cut palm" to get a general idea of the difference.

If you want the entrance area critiqued, you 'd need to show it.

Not the best pictures. But what I had on hand.

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Entrance way · More Info

Entrance way · More Info

Those are not good photo angles to see how the welcoming section of the house is situated. It would be better to line the camera up with the window that faces the street and with the rear tire of the car. That way you are roughly centered with the scene and back far enough to capture the surrounding architecture. Then pan 2 or 3 shots that include surrounding space.

I think the OP should just keep the pretty pink thing and redistribute it around the tree, once it is cleared. It seems abundant and it is free.

Yardvark, to my eye it seems that the bed under the tree should be greatly expanded. That picture from a distance shows how massive and magnificent it is for the whole neighborhood. I don't I'd leave a narrow strip of grass between the bed and the driveway or walk either. Or don't you agree?

kitasei, I would definitely leave grass between bed (around tree) and driveway. I like a big bed but also a big path, of which the drive and lawn are. It's a balancing act with the drive and grass strip contributing to the visual and physical invitation to the entrance beyond, and 2' height groundcover (bromeliads) all the way to drive obstructs this too much in my view.

Hmm I understood the reasoning when you were advising an earlier poster to think of the lawn as part of the sidewalk path leading to front porch, but here it is just the driveway, isn't it? And driveways and garages are better minimized, not?

Don't know where you get that rule -- that driveways are better minimized. I don't think one could count on that.

I agree there is no reason to draw attention to a drive. I don't see how widening the bed would minimize it though.

Having any height at all will narrow the view of the drive, just as a deeply inset window narrows the view of the glass from any angle other than straight on. As a narrow strip on either side of the drive, it also becomes a frame which further highlights the driveway. To me, the important thing is to highlight this tree at the expense of everything else.

As for not minimizing pavement, I am a fierce parkway preservationist. A parkway is a park with a road through it. I wouldn't want a private driveway to be less parkway and more expressway! But I guess we all have different taste. Do you also like garage doors as landscape features?

The problem with many of these elements -- garage doors, driveways, etc. -- is that in our modern, budget world, they are cheap and unsightly. If all driveways were gorgeous bricks or stones and all garage doors were hinged carriage doors with windows, no one would complain about them. I am not opposed to these elements themselves, but to their cheapness. Nevertheless. they are usually in a grade we can tolerate and we make do. Here, I wouldn't say the tree and bed below it are so important that everything else is subordinate. I think the entrance as a whole is the important part and things are subordinate to it. I consider the tree and its bed, and the driveway to all be parts of the entrance experience.

Wow. Yardvaark that is stunning!

The former was too engulfed for my taste. This is stronger and easier to maintain. Glad you like it.

So much nicer now.

So, I'm still working on cleaning out and making decisions after looking around and talking to some local nurseries I found the bromeliads to not be very cost effective. I went to several more nursies trying to track down the tri-colored ginger and today I scored!

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Plenty more work today but just thought I'd give an update.

Nothing wrong with tri-color ginger. It will look great as soon as everything else is out of the bed and the ginger is solid within it.

I mentioned that bromeliads could be expensive if coming from a typical retail outlet. However, they are prolific growers, plentiful, and many individuals are willing to part with them for a song. I looked on Craigslist (for Orlando) and found https://orlando.craigslist.org/grd/5408100466.html, flaming torches for $1 each. Its typical to see ads like this at this time of year.

The massed Stromanthe sanguinea looks great. The Dietes (Fornight lilies) behind them are okay, too. Both plants are easy to care for.

Join your local bromeliad society, and you will soon have more bromeliads than you know what to do with, all very cheap. And you will learn a lot about how to grow them, and make some friends.

The Dietes was overdue for dividing anyway. Keep a few for some other location and if you cannot give away the rest then compost them or put in trash.

I can see how a uniform planting will be so much nicer. It is restful to the eye, not chaotic.

Thank you for the update. I would enjoy seeing future progress as well.