Zoning review reminds us how important our natural environment is

Leavenworth’s tickseed (Corepsis leavenworthii) makes a beautiful border plant in garden with native Florida plants.

March 10, 2023

One of the takeaways from last week’s all-town zoning code review was that the natural environment is our superpower.

Our designs must embrace open spaces, including porticos, terraces and loggias, providing shade, light, and air: design over density. We are a town, not a resort or a gated community; we need to be unified without uniformity.

The Dahoon holly has showy red berries in late summer and fall.

Appreciating that native plants are central to our identity should incentivize native landscapes that require less water, less maintenance, and no chemical pesticides while providing diversity essential to maintaining a sustainable environment. This will also result in less traffic, as fewer vehicles from the "trade parade" will be needed if we lessen the chemicals added to our landscapes.

A friend in the North End asked me recently to look at some landscaping plans for her new guest house; she had requested natives but wasn’t sure about the plants specified by her landscaper. I was astounded to see more than 600 green island ficus along with numerous schefflera, trinette, podocarpus and jasmine minima on the proposed plan. You see these same five plants in every landscape on the island.

The landscaper suggested she remove three old ligustrum and replace them with some native trees to fulfill the “native requirement." This defines our underlying problem in a nutshell: for most landscapes, no thought is given to diversity, interest, or sustainability. Native plants are added as an afterthought and only because the town now requires a minimum amount.

The satinleaf plant

We need to change the whole paradigm of design on Palm Beach. More and more people are tired of the same old manicured, boring, cookie-cutter monocultures that are ubiquitous on the island. Hedges are great, but they don’t need to consist of a single species trimmed and sprayed to within an inch of its life. Hedges comprised of numerous different plants with contrasting textures and colors are far more interesting, and if they are native, they will bring birds, butterflies and other essential pollinators into your landscapes.

Another friend on the North End has transformed her property into a magnificent native paradise. One of her wonderful hedges, which provides as much privacy as any ficus hedge, is made up of pigeon plum, satin leaf, dahoon holly, wild coffee, Jamaica caper and saw palmetto. Other hedges of silver and green buttonwood are mixed with wild coffee and background plantings of thryalis, Panama rose and woolly tea bush.

Beds of rouge plant, native lantana, ageratum, milkweed and coontie are surrounded by borders of bright yellow coreopsis with ground covers of ernodia, mimosa, twinflower, and fog fruit. Light and airy yellow Bahama senna borders her entry. It’s a delight to visit; you are literally surrounded by butterflies, bees, dragonflies and songbirds serenading happily in the trees.

The Bahama Senna is a good native plant to have in your garden

A real garden provides not only beauty and interest, it becomes an educational tool as well. Watching plants and pollinators interact and discovering how seedlings grow in different situations is thought-provoking and fun. Diverse native plantings are the integral base to any great garden design. Let’s encourage our landscapers to learn about our native species and then integrate them into our designs. If anyone is worried about the 30% native rule, just replace all your green island ficus with ernodia, cocoplum, or wild coffee, depending on the amount of sun available.

If we request more natives from our landscapers, growers will respond to meet the demand and these plants will become much more readily available. Here are some great native plants for hedges that will provide dense cover, beautiful foliage, and essential habitat for pollinators, birds and butterflies. You’ll never miss your manicured ficus and you will never need to spray carcinogenic pesticides that are damaging to all aspects of our environment — from the air we breathe to our drinking water and the soils in which we grow our food. Your children, pets, neighbors and friends will all thank you.

Pigeon plum (Coccoloba diversifolia) is in the same family as sea grape; its rather narrow, upright habit makes it perfect for hedges or anywhere space is at a premium. Growing 30-40 feet, it does well in sun or shade, with interesting mottled bark, white flowers and clusters of green berries that mature to red and then purple. These fruits are relished by birds and a variety of wildlife. They are used medicinally in the Caribbean to treat stomach problems. The leaves are deep green with a leathery texture; young foliage is bronzy-red and very distinctive. Salt- and drought-tolerant, and not particular as to soil, this small tree should find a place in any garden.

Flowers on a pigeon plum plant

Dahoon holly (Ilex cassine) is a wonderful, medium-sized tree with white flowers and showy, bright red fruit in late summer and fall. It is a host to a variety of insect pollinators and its berries attract numerous birds and wildlife who also find cover in the thick foliage. This is a beautiful specimen or accent tree in moist or wet locations; it is dioecious, meaning male and female flowers are on separate plants. You will need to plant the female if you want berries.

Satin leaf (Chrysophyllum oliviforme) is a stunning ornamental, and one of our most overlooked native trees. Long glossy green leaves have coppery undersides, which create a beautiful display when wind rustles through. Whitish yellow flowers become dark purple berries sought after by birds and wildlife. This is a lovely specimen tree or can be incorporated into a hedge or background planting. It’s fine in full sun to light shade but does need adequate moisture to become established. Listed as endangered in the state of Florida, this tree should be more widely planted and enjoyed.

Rouge plant (Rivina humilis) is a wonderful perennial for shady locations or where grass may be unable to grow. It produces panicles of delicate pinkish white flowers and clusters of small brilliantly red berries all year, providing pollen and food for butterflies and birds. This smallish shrub, growing 3 to 4 feet, will seed readily once established, providing you with a continuing supply of plants to share with neighbors and fellow gardeners. The berries add a delightful spark of color to shady locations.

Berries on rouge plant (Rivina humilis)

This brings up the wonderful social aspect of gardening; gardeners love to share information on plants and love to share the plants themselves. Almost anyone with an established garden will tell you about the shrub grown from a seedling gifted from a friend’s garden, or the plant grown from a cutting given by a neighbor. Another friend on the North End has a beautiful gumbo limbo tree he grew from a branch he found in a trash pile. The tree is stunning, and gumbo limbos are incredibly easy to grow from cuttings, a fact I wouldn’t have known (or believed) if he hadn’t shown me the tree!

In any event, these are more incentives to nurture a real garden, rather than just a lawn surrounded by green island ficus. Most importantly, please stop spraying needless and harmful chemicals insisted upon by your “environmental” company — you are wasting your money and polluting the air, water and soil upon which we all depend.

-Kim Frisbie

Original article on the Palm Beach Daily News is HERE.