Florida-Friendly Low Water Plants for Palm Beach County

A landscape that needs constant irrigation to survive in South Florida is usually a landscape planted with the wrong things. Choose plants suited to our sun, sand, and rainfall pattern and the yard largely takes care of itself between storms.

The Florida-Friendly Approach

The University of Florida IFAS Extension runs the Florida-Friendly Landscaping program, which sets out principles for landscaping that works with Florida conditions rather than against them. A few of them do most of the heavy lifting.

Right Plant, Right Place

The foundational idea. Match each plant to the sun, soil, drainage, and salt exposure of the actual spot it will occupy. A plant in conditions it likes needs little intervention. A plant fighting its site needs water, feeding, and treatment indefinitely.

Water Efficiently

Water deeply and infrequently to encourage deep roots, and let established drought tolerant plantings rely largely on rainfall. Our guide to watering a South Florida lawn covers the mechanics.

Mulch

Two to three inches of mulch holds soil moisture, moderates root temperature, and suppresses weeds, which reduces the water a bed needs in the first place. See our guide to refreshing mulch beds.

Group by Water Need

This one is quietly the most useful, and the most often ignored. Putting thirsty and drought tolerant plants on the same irrigation zone guarantees that one group is wrong. Either the drought tolerant plants sit waterlogged, or the thirsty ones go short. Group plants with similar needs so each zone can be set correctly.

Low Water Plants That Work Here

Natives and Grasses

Coontie is a tough native cycad with stiff, glossy foliage. Extremely drought tolerant once established, handles sun or partial shade, and is generally left alone by iguanas.

Muhly grass produces clouds of pink-purple plumes in fall over fine blue-green foliage. Drought tolerant, salt tolerant, and striking when planted in groups rather than singly.

Fakahatchee grass is a larger native grass with an arching form, useful as a structural element in naturalistic plantings.

Saw palmetto is about as tough as Florida plants get, with fan-shaped foliage, excellent drought and salt tolerance, and essentially no maintenance requirement.

Firebush offers orange-red tubular flowers through the warm months and brings in hummingbirds and butterflies. Ask for the native species rather than the non-native lookalike.

Beach sunflower is a low spreading native with cheerful yellow flowers, excellent for sandy coastal sites and as a groundcover in full sun.

Blanket flower produces red and yellow daisy-like blooms over a long season and thrives in poor sandy soil, which is exactly what many properties have.

Native lantana is a good low groundcover for hot dry sites. Ask specifically for Lantana involucrata, since the commonly sold non-native lantana is invasive in Florida and should be avoided.

Coastal Workhorses

Silver buttonwood brings silvery gray foliage with excellent salt and drought tolerance, usable as a shrub, hedge, or small tree.

Cocoplum is a native with rounded leaves and red-flushed new growth, salt and wind tolerant, and a strong hedge or mass planting choice.

Sea grape gives large leathery leaves and outstanding salt tolerance, suited to properties with room for its scale. Our guide to salt tolerant trees for oceanfront properties covers the larger coastal plantings.

Color With Very Little Water

Bougainvillea delivers more color than anything else on this list and actively prefers to be kept on the dry side. Full sun, sharp drainage, thorny, and excellent near the coast.

Crown of thorns flowers almost continuously with minimal water and thrives in heat. It has spines and an irritating sap, so keep it back from walkways.

Succulents

Agave and aloe bring strong sculptural form and need very little water. They demand sharp drainage and will rot in soggy soil, so raise the bed or amend for drainage if the site holds water. Many agaves have sharp terminal spines, so site them away from paths and play areas.

Getting Established First

Drought tolerant does not mean drought tolerant on day one. Every plant here needs regular water through its establishment period, often several months, while roots grow out into the surrounding soil.

The mistake is planting a native, low water landscape and immediately treating it as self-sufficient. Water consistently at first, then taper deliberately. Once established, most of these will get by on rainfall through much of the year.

Planning a landscape around plants that suit the site is the difference between a yard that thrives quietly and one that needs constant intervention. Our landscape design team plans for exposure, drainage, and water zoning together, and our landscape installation crews handle establishment so the planting gets the start it needs.

Talk to Ocean's Edge About Your Property

Every property in Palm Beach County is a little different, and the right plan depends on your soil, your exposure, and how you actually use the yard. Call us at (561) 779-5765 or request a free on-site evaluation. We will walk the property with you, talk through the options, and put together a plan at no cost.