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…

How to Lift and Store Dahlia Tubers Before Freezing Weather

Dahlias can bloom spectacularly right into fall, which makes it painful to watch freezing weather turn a thriving plant black almost overnight. The flowers may be finished, but the valuable part of the plant is still underground: the cluster of tubers capable of producing next year’s plants. In colder climates, those fleshy tubers generally can’t…

The Right Way to Cut Back Hostas After Frost

Hostas put on one of the best foliage displays in a shade garden all summer, but they aren’t particularly attractive once cold weather arrives. After a hard frost, those broad green leaves can quickly collapse into a yellow, brown or slimy mass lying over the soil. That’s normal: hostas are herbaceous perennials that go dormant…

Why Some Perennials Should Be Left Standing Through Winter

When the first hard frost turns a perennial garden brown, grabbing the pruners can feel like the obvious next step. But those dead-looking coneflowers, asters, and ornamental grasses may still be doing important work long after their flowers disappear. Standing stems can shelter overwintering insects, seed heads can feed birds, and dried plants can give…

How to Divide Daylilies Before the Ground Gets Too Cold

Daylilies have a way of quietly taking over a flower bed. A plant that once produced an attractive mound of foliage can eventually become a dense clump with fewer flowers in the center, signaling that it may be time for some attention. Dividing an established plant rejuvenates the planting while turning one daylily into several…