Landscaping and landscape design in Mount Dora, FL

Beds, plants, rock, borders and lighting for Mount Dora yards

• Plants and shrubsFoundation shrubs, hedges, flowering plants and groundcovers, set at the right depth and spacing for their full size, not their size in the pot.
• Bed designNew beds laid out, old ones reshaped into curves a mower can follow, and tired plantings pulled and replaced.
• Rock and decorative stoneRiver rock, decorative gravel and larger accent stone, laid over landscape fabric so weeds and sand don’t come up through it.
• Borders and curbingA set border of stone, brick or block along the bed line, so mulch and rock stay in the bed and the edge stays sharp.
• Landscape lightingLow-voltage path lights, uplights and spotlights, run from a plug-in transformer.

Designing beds under Mount Dora’s live oaks

Plenty of Mount Dora front yards, especially in the older neighborhoods around downtown, sit under a big live oak. When the grass under one has been thinning for years, the shade is usually why, and no amount of watering fixes it. A bed planted for shade usually does better there than another round of sod.

Shade beds here lean on plants that handle dappled light and dry sand: cast iron plant, ferns, mondo grass, and azaleas where some sun gets through. We plant between the big roots instead of cutting through them, and we don’t pile fresh soil over the root zone. An oak’s feeder roots sit near the surface, and burying them stresses the tree.

Rock or mulch: which goes where

Rock is the right call in sunny spots away from trees: the strip along the driveway, the drip line under the eaves where rain splashes mulch onto the siding, around the AC pad, and narrow side yards. It doesn’t float or wash out in a summer storm, and it doesn’t need topping up every year.

Under the oaks, mulch is the better choice. Live oaks drop their leaves from late winter into spring, and picking oak leaves out of river rock leaf by leaf is a chore nobody keeps up with. Mulch also breaks down and feeds the sand underneath, while rock holds heat and gives nothing back to the soil. Most yards end up with some of each.

Low-maintenance landscaping under the watering limits

Mount Dora is under a Phase III water shortage order from the St. Johns River Water Management District, so a home landscape gets odd-numbered addresses on Saturday and even-numbered addresses on Sunday. No irrigation between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. A yard planted for that schedule costs less to keep alive than one that fights it.

The approach has a name: Florida-Friendly Landscaping, from UF/IFAS. Put each plant where its sun and water needs are already met, group thirsty plants together on their own zone, and swap turf for a planted or mulched bed where grass struggles. Once established, plants like muhly grass, coontie, firebush and dwarf yaupon holly get by on the one weekly watering. New plants need steady water for their first weeks, so we time planting for the cooler months or the summer rains where we can.

Landscape lighting, low-voltage only

A live oak lit from below is hard to beat in a Mount Dora front yard after dark. We install low-voltage systems only: a transformer that plugs into an outdoor outlet, cable buried along the beds, and fixtures aimed at the tree canopy, the front walk and the house.

We need an existing exterior outlet near where the transformer will hang. If there isn’t one, adding it is a job for a licensed electrician, and we’ll tell you that before any work starts. Cable runs are kept clear of sprinkler lines, which we flag before digging.

How a landscaping job is priced

Like everything else we do, the price starts from your address. We measure bed areas, borders and lawn from Lake County parcel records and current aerial imagery, then send a fixed price for the job with the plants and materials listed. You don’t pay by the hour, and you can compare our number with another bid line by line.

The same crew that mows can keep the new beds up afterward, on one invoice.

Ready for a number? Use the form or call (352) 383-9213. Mount Dora Lawn Care is run by Golden Lawn Care, the Eustis crew behind this site.