SOL & ARBOR

The Journal

Journal

Ideas, process, and inspiration for designing a yard you will love to live in.

Low-maintenance Florida backyard with travertine pavers set in pale gravel and mulched beds of native grasses
November 11, 2026

Low-Maintenance Landscaping Ideas for Florida Yards

Ten practical ways to design a Florida yard that needs a few hours a month, not every weekend.

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Florida front yard with a stone walkway, layered grasses and cycads, and sabal palms framing a modern home
November 9, 2026

Front Yard Landscaping Ideas for Florida Homes: 12 Ideas That Work

Twelve front yard landscaping ideas for Florida homes, from wider walks and layered beds to plant choices, lighting and HOA rules.

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Landscape design plan for a Florida home laid out on a table
November 4, 2026

How to Get a Landscape Design Plan Online: The Complete 2026 Guide

What a real landscape design plan includes, how online design works, what it costs, and how Florida conditions change the answers.

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Small Florida backyard with a plunge pool, large porcelain pavers, built-in bench, vine trellis, privacy hedge, and a lit multi-trunk palm at dusk
October 9, 2026

Small Backyard Landscaping Ideas for a Luxury Florida Home

Small backyard landscaping ideas for luxury Florida homes, from zoning and vertical planting to plunge pools, privacy screening, lighting, and plants sized...

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Terraced sloped backyard with a stone patio, seat-height retaining wall, wide steps, and planted banks stepping down toward a lake in Florida
October 9, 2026

Sloped Backyard Landscaping Ideas That Create Usable Space

How to turn a sloped backyard into level, usable outdoor rooms with terraces, retaining walls, steps, and patios, plus drainage, Florida plant...

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Terraced sloped front yard with low limestone retaining walls, stone steps to the front door, and pink muhly grass on the banks of a Florida home
October 9, 2026

Landscape Ideas for a Small Sloped Front Yard in Florida

Practical landscape ideas for small sloped and hillside front yards in Florida, from terraces and low retaining walls to steps, drainage, and...

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Modern South Florida backyard with an outdoor kitchen, pergola, pool, uplit sabal palms, and native plant beds at dusk
October 9, 2026

Landscape Design Trends for Luxury Florida Homes

The landscape design trends worth adopting on a luxury Florida property, grounded in the latest Houzz outdoor survey and UF/IFAS research. From...

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Front entry garden of a Florida home with a limestone walkway, sabal palms, and structured native plant beds
October 9, 2026

Landscape Architect vs Landscape Designer: Who Do You Need?

How landscape architects, landscape designers, and landscapers differ in training, licensing, and scope, what Florida law allows each to do, and how...

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Printed landscape design plan with a scale ruler and plant list on a patio table in a Florida backyard
October 9, 2026

How Much Does Landscape Design Cost?

An honest breakdown of landscape design cost: typical national ranges, flat fee vs hourly vs percentage pricing, what drives the price, and...

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Florida-friendly front garden with native grasses, coontie, firebush, and sabal palms around a permeable paver walkway
October 9, 2026

Florida Friendly Landscaping for Luxury South Florida Homes

How Florida friendly landscaping works for high-end South Florida homes, covering the nine UF/IFAS principles, a native and low-maintenance plant palette, HOA...

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Curving shellstone stepping stone path through tropical planting beds leading to a bench under a shade tree
October 9, 2026

Garden Pathway Ideas: Materials, Widths, and Layout

A guide to garden pathway ideas for Florida yards, covering path materials, comfortable widths, natural layouts, edging, drainage, groundcovers between stones, and...

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Stone stepping path through a narrow side yard between a stucco wall and a green hedge, with ferns and a palm at the far end
October 9, 2026

Side Yard Landscape Ideas for Narrow Florida Spaces

How to turn a narrow side yard into a usable garden walk, with privacy, shade-tolerant South Florida plants, screened equipment, proper drainage,...

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