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Itemized Plant Card Explanation

Itemized Plant Card Explanation

40+ Years of Experience | Licensed and Insured | Competitive Pricing

40+ Years of Experience

Licensed and Insured

Competitive Pricing

Plant and material prices and availability may change depending on our suppliers.

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How to Read Our Plant Cards

Stevenson Landscaping has lots of data for you to look at when it comes to our plants. We don't want you to be confused, so take a look below at how you can better understand how the data is arranged.

Plant Card Information

COMMON NAME: This is the common local name for the plant.


BOTANICAL NAME: This is the Latin name for the plant. This name is universally understood.


HEIGHT: DO NOT plant a tree that will reach 30′ tall next to power lines or alongside the wall of a one-story house! Take into consideration the dangers this plant may possess in years to come (Example: a 30′ Silver Bismark Palm Tree could have expended palm fronds where they fall and drop, potentially causing severe injury or killing someone if they are hit by it!).


WIDTH: The key to plant spacing is to plant according to the desired appearance while also not planting too close together or too far apart. For spaced plants, plant 70% to 100% of the plant’s maximum width. (Example: A plant with 10′ width to grow spaced apart should be planted 7′ to 10′ apart.) For plants forming a dense hedge, plant 20% to 30% of the plant’s maximum width (100) 1.5 (50) .75 (25) .25 (083). If you plant too closely, your plants will look wonderful for the first few years, but as plants grow taller and roots go deeper, the demand for nutrient content will be higher, and plants will begin to struggle. If spaced too far apart, it will either take some time for plants to grow close enough for a hedge (this is how you should do it, though this requires patience and understanding!), or if too far, they will never touch branches with each other!


MONOECIOUS OR DIOECIOUS: If your plant is monoecious (has both female and male flowers), then it will be capable of self-pollination. Of the many synonymous words for monoecious, a couple of other commonly used words botanically are bisexual and hermaphroditic. If your plant is dioecious (separate male and female flowers), you will need one of each sex for pollination. That is, of course, unless your neighbor has a nearby tree of the opposite sex! The odds are slim.


DECIDUOUS OR EVERGREEN: Deciduous trees lose their leaves during the cold season while evergreen trees keep their foliage. Deciduous trees will have fallen leaves all around them which may require raking or leaf blowing. Deciduous trees aren’t desirable to plant around unscreened outdoor pools. Evergreens ARE messy sometimes though, so if you want a clean driveway or pool, do your research before you plant! A crape myrtle with beautiful blooms will drop flowers all over the ground below once the flowers are depleted. An elegant Pygmy Date Palm produces lovely cream-white pollen that can litter your pool, so be mindful! Sometimes a plant can be considered semi-deciduous. Semi-deciduous or semi-evergreen is a botanical term that refers to plants that lose their foliage for a very short period when old leaves fall off and new foliage growth is starting. The live oak is a semi-deciduous tree.


LIFESPAN: The longevity of the plant, or how many years it lives for, is called the lifespan. Of course, the better one cares for a plant, the longer the plant will live! Another classification of the plant’s lifespan: annuals live for one growing season and then die afterward, biennials live between two to four years, and perennials have a lifespan from two years to indefinitely (and can sometimes live for hundreds of years!).


COLD TOLERANCE: This is the coldest temperature tolerated by the plant. Some plants have a low cold tolerance and are sensitive to frost. One should cover cold-sensitive and frost-sensitive plants with frost cloth or blankets the night before a frost warning or when temperatures are forecasted at 32° F or colder. Keep them covered for the few days that we Floridians ever even have freezing temperatures, and remove them once conditions have warmed to 33° F thereafter.


SOIL TYPE: This is the plant preference for substrate, and it can vary from dry to immersed in water and from sandy to loamy clay. One can amend the soil with organic matter such as compost, farm manure, or shredded leaves to help enrich and increase drainage. Perlite, vermiculite, compost, and mulch are also good soil additives to mix into soil to help with drainage. The pH of the soil is another important factor one should know. Azaleas, camellias, blueberry bushes, and strawberry plants prefer acidity, while plants such as watercress, peach trees, and black currant bushes prefer alkaline.


WATER REQUIREMENTS: Overwatering and underwatering are both bad. You should have plants with similar watering requirements under irrigation, or in the case of xeriscaping, without irrigation. During the hottest and driest months of the year, it's good to supplement plants with water even if they're drought tolerant! Some plants are capable of going into a drought-dormancy when left without water for long enough such as with turf grass, though this can be avoided with ample irrigation. Some plants, such as cactus, will do just fine without any additional water during the hottest and driest months! For dry areas without irrigation, materials such as Terra-Sorb, a non-toxic hydrogel, can be mixed in to absorb 150 times its weight in water and slowly release the water back into dry soils for roots. Overwatering can cause root rot, fungal growth, disease formation, and a myriad of other problems. Watering salt-intolerant plants with a source that contains salt can also damage plants. Salty irrigation can have accumulated salt in the expanse of land affected by the irrigation if the area has poor drainage and/or lack of rainfall.


DROUGHT: Does the plant’s description indicate a drought tolerance? This is not in effect until the roots have grown further down. Accessing water that is deep underground will take some time. Some plants grow very fast, some grow slowly, and some plants have shallow roots while others have deep roots. Keep in mind, removing roots from the original protecting pot is slightly stressful to the plant. Being planted in a new environment introduces altered factors such as slightly different pH, minerals and nutrients, water intake, etc. Be mindful that TOLERANT does not mean UNAFFECTED. Your plants will still appreciate some water during the hottest and driest months!


SALT: Plants have varying tolerances to salt. Some plants can tolerate salt on the roots more than on the foliage, others can tolerate salt equally well with both the roots and foliage, (Example: Amaryllis plant can moderately take salt spray on foliage, though does NOT tolerate in the soil!), etc. Plant roots are usually far more tolerant to high salt than the foliage is. Data for the salt tolerance of plants is usually referring to the tolerance of the foliage, not the root system (Example: A citrus tree sprayed with irrigation that has a salt content of 2,300 ppm (parts per million) will drop all the leaves that make contact, while the rest of the tree remains okay). We have a tree field of palms, mangos, peaches, lychees, sapodillas, guavas, and bananas, and they're all irrigated with a source that has a salt content of 2,300 ppm. Our trees are thriving with drip irrigation with only the roots receiving water while the foliage never makes contact with the salty well water. St. Augustine grass and certain other plants do have foliage that will tolerate saltwater that is 7,000 ppm. Recorded data in writing and online rarely explains the differing salt tolerances of plant root systems and foliage. If you have well water with salt, ask your neighbors if they also use well water for irrigation. If they do, inspect their yards to determine what compatible plants to use. If planting around beach exposures, salt content in the air is a major factor to consider when selecting plants. Planting on the dunes presents a salt content that is so high, salt crystals will form on the leaves. This very extreme location greatly limits one’s choice of plants to use. Blocking the ocean wind and spray greatly increases one’s selection of plants. Block by planting further away from the dunes and by planting on the western exposure of a structure (when the beach is to the east). Again, look at neighboring landscapes and gardens to determine what compatible plants to use. Have you had your irrigation/well water tested for salt? You can have this done for free instantly at your local pool store. Salt in the soil can accumulate from irrigation water containing salt over time in areas with poor drainage and/or lack of rainfall.


LIGHT REQUIREMENTS: Some plants can only live in full sun or full shade while others can sometimes live in either/or. Plants need sunlight to synthesize food from carbon dioxide and water. Too much sun might burn certain plants or newly emerged, sensitive growth. Plants that specifically require full sun that is in full shade will not have enough light to chemically create the food it needs. When acclimating an indoor plant to the outdoors, it is better to ‘wean’ the plant off the house and into the elements. At first, place your indoor plant on/under for at least two months. Over the next several months to two years, gradually move your plant to its final desired outdoor location that fulfills proper light requirements. This helps plants slowly get used to their new environment.


FERTILIZING: Mineral and nutrient content is essential for the health of a plant. There are fertilizers that are produced for specific plant types like Azalea and Camellia fertilizer (slightly more acidic) and Citrus and Avocado fertilizer (Usually higher nitrogen content than the phosphorus or potassium.) Fertilizers have different N:P:K ratios (Nitrogen:Phosphorus:Potassium). Nitrogen is necessary for strong stems and healthy foliage. Phosphorus helps roots grow and encourages flower and seed development. Potassium (also known as potash) is good for general plant health and increases disease resistance. It's better to be sparing with fertilizer than to be overly generous. Follow packaging directions or plant nursery instructions for proper application.


COLOR OR FLOWER: The delightful hues that we so love are depicted here.


MONTH OF COLOR: This is where the time(s) of year colors of foliage or flowers are flourishing are listed.


FRUIT: Description of the seeds and fruits and whether they’re edible!


ALLERGENS, TOXICITY, AND ANIMALS: If we have information about the toxicity of a plant, we'll list any details in this row. Allergens and other health-related concerns can also be located here.


COMMENTS: Here is where we list additional information about the plants such as descriptive details, origination, suggested use in a landscape, etc.


PRICE: Self-explanatory!

Serving You Since 1981

We Respond to Inquiries by the Next Business Day

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Jerry placed large rocks, landscape fabric, added fill, and planted numerous queen ferns and jasmine to help control future erosion all along the bank. He finished with eucalyptus mulch. It turned out so well that I added to the project, and he was able to complete the additional project at the same time and he also corrected other existing issues. Jerry and his son are reliable and perform excellent work. I would definitely recommend Stevenson Landscaping.

- Satisfied Customer

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