homeowners association rules

New HOA Guidelines in Florida Are Banning These 5 Garden Features

February 24, 2026 by Brandon Marcus Leave a Comment

Across the state of Florida, homeowners associations have started tightening the screws on what people can plant, install, and display in their own front gardens. New enforcement trends and updated community standards now target features that once seemed harmless, even charming. Some of these changes stem from updated interpretations of state law. Others come straight…

New HOA Rules That Are Changing How People Garden in 2026

January 27, 2026 by Brandon Marcus Leave a Comment

The gardening world inside HOA (Homeowners Association) neighborhoods has officially entered its plot-twist era. What once felt like a rigid checklist of green grass, trimmed hedges, and zero personality now looks wildly different as 2026 unfolds. Boards, residents, and even city governments have pushed gardening rules into new territory that rewards creativity, sustainability, and community…

How To Get Free Seeds From The Government by Amanda Blankenship Seeds might seem like a small expense, but any seasoned…
Should I Use Enviro Ice On My Plants? by Kathryn Vercillo Every week, I receive food from Hungryroot. It's a great…
From Trash to Treasure: Transform Shredded Paper Into Garden Gold by Amanda Blankenship Should you use shredded paper as garden mulch? It might…
What Happens to Plants If You Use Enviro Ice on Them? by Amanda Blankenship About a year ago, I wrote our first article about…

Never Burn This Plant When Cleaning Up the Yard — Even If It Looks Dead

Poison ivy can look like nothing more than a crispy pile of garden debris when the season turns, but that dead-looking material deserves a very wide berth. Burning it can send urushiol, the oily substance that causes poison ivy’s infamous rash, into the smoke, creating a much bigger problem than a few itchy spots. The…

Found a Snake in the Garden? What It’s Doing There May Surprise You

A snake sliding through the garden can turn a peaceful morning of watering tomatoes into a full-blown wildlife documentary. But that snake probably did not wander into the yard with plans to terrorize the gardener. In many cases, it arrived because the garden offers exactly what a snake needs: food, shelter, water, warmth, or a…

Your HOA Says the Garden Has to Go. What Can They Actually Make You Remove?

A backyard vegetable garden can turn an ordinary patch of grass into tomatoes, peppers, herbs, pollinators and, occasionally, a very determined zucchini. Then an HOA letter arrives and suddenly that cheerful little garden looks like a legal dispute with tomato vines. The good news: an HOA does not automatically get to remove whatever it dislikes….

The First Frost Is Coming — These 7 Garden Plants Are Worth Saving Before It Hits

The first frost can turn a lush garden into a sad collection of blackened stems almost overnight, but not every plant needs to meet its chilly fate. Some garden favorites deserve a rescue mission before temperatures dip, especially plants that can move indoors, produce more food, or return next year from stored roots. The important…