​Do you ever wish that you could travel to somewhere like the coast of France, Italy, or Greece? Simple things like bright greens, earth tones, the sound of flowing water, rustic wood, and organized tiles can transport you to a Mediterranean style environment. 

​There is such a large range of different plants you can choose to help create a Mediterranean landscape. Plants that can help you add more texture to your landscape include plants like the anchor plant, canary island foxglove, lizard plant, and cunco rujo.  Plants that can help give you garden a pop of color include plants like bugle lily, kangaroo apple, and the rock purslane.  Mediterranean landscapes can be enhanced by adding wonderful trees such as lemon or olive trees. Additionally, clipped hedges will not only make your landscape look nicer, but it will also add to the aesthetic if done correctly.

Plants found in the Mediterranean mostly consist of plants that can survive long period without water such as succulents, coronillas, or bupleurums. There are some Mediterranean plants that you might have to water more often such as camellias or hydrangeas. It is important to keep in mind that you might want to choose plants that are more suited to your enviorment if you are taking care of them yourself. For instance, if you live in a very dry climate and you are not able to water your plants often, then purchasing plants that are more suited to the hot climate which do not need consistent watering may be a better choice for  your lawn.

Designs found in the Mediterranean usually have a warm and neutral color scheme. Mediterranean landscapes generally consist of features such as statues and columns. Other things that can be included can be rustic features, wood features, fountains, tiles, stones, rocks, and gravel.

Rustic and wood features can be added through furniture. Tile work is often found in Mediterranean style landscapes and can be found on the ground, in fountains, or on stairs. Stones, rocks, and gravel can be added around the landscape beds to contrast with the foliage. You can also add stepping stones in your lawn as well. Statues and fountains can also add a more ornate feature to the landscape that you might have not had before.

​You can find gravel, stones, tiles, and rocks at home improvement department stores. Putting in a fountain or statue might require you to do some research in order to find a style your prefer and a place which sells them. You can find rustic and wooden furniture can be found at department stores, online, and of course local furniture stores. 


Make a Mediterranean style garden of your dreams and bring the vacation to you. 

​Tropical plants are very beautiful to look at. After all they are usually vibrant, extravagant, feathery, glossy, or textured. It makes sense that these plants would bring some life to one's landscape. Louisiana is a very hot with a considerable amount of rain fall. However, that makes an excellent environment for tropical plants. 

All plants of course need water, light, and soil to grow successfully. Additional things such as fertilizer and pest control can also improve your plants health. Tropical plants tend to flourish more when they are constantly moist rather than being overly wet. Overwatering your yard could possibly damage the plant. It is also important to try to give your plant enough sun and water if you do not live in a warm and wet climate like Louisiana. 

There are one of two things that usually happen to tropical plants during the winter. Tropical plants will either wither and die to the weather conditions, or they will be able to sustain the cold temperatures and live to bloom another season. However, there are several precautions you can take to help prevent certain tropical plants from succumbing to the cold temperatures in the winter. 

​Assuming you are able to take some of your tropical plants inside and give them proper conditions, it might be one of the best options to help them survive in the winter. Another thing you can do is cut the foliage down because the leaves will eventually fall by themselves due to the cold weather. Another thing you can do is wash the plants. Washing the plants is important if you want to move them inside, because it will help remove any unwanted dirt and possible pests. Speaking of pests, make sure you rid your plant of bugs before you bring it inside.
In contrast, some tropical plants that are more likely to survive the winter. Hardy ferns and clumping bamboo can be found in colder climates, and plants like these are usually the ones to survive harsher climates. 

Palm trees are a widely use landscaping plant both for indoor and outdoor landscapes.  They are generally easy to care for and thrive with sunlight, warm temperatures and good soil.  Most species of palm perform very well in southern Louisiana.  When their leaves turn yellow to brown have many people at at a loss as to what to do.

Palm Leaves Have Yellow Spotting
If your palm has yellow spots appearing on an otherwise healthy tree, it needs some potassium.  Apply a slow release fertilizer with a good amount of Potassium.  Potassium in the middle number in the fertilizer breakdown on the front of your fertilizer package.

Palm Leaves Have Yellow Stripes
If there are yellow stripes on the lowest and oldest leaves then your palm has a magnesium deficiency.  Use fertilizer with added magnesium and some extra dolomite on the soil around the tree  to turn the tree's health around.  Magnesium will be listed as Mg on most packaging.

Older Palm Leaves Turning Yellow
When older leaves begin yellowing, there is a lack of Nitrogen in the soil around your palm tree.  The tree is literally canabalizing its older leaves for the nitrogen in them to support new growth. A bag of fertilizer labeled for palm trees from any nearby hardware store should have the tree looking great in no time.

This probably means you are dealing with either a fungus or an insect.

Fungus will usually appear to be blotchy or spots of yellow on the leaves. An example of palm tree fungus would be fusarium wilt or bud rot. There may also be a powdery substance on the leaves.  Insects will usually be accompanied by black soot on the plant, holes or tears in the leaves and damage to the trunk. An example of insects damaging to palms would be giant palm borers or thrips.

The palm has proper nutrition, but the leaves are still turning brown.  This is natural. as long as the transformation is fairly even.  The leaves will eventually turn brown as part of the tree's life cycle.  There is no need for them to turn prematurely though.  Keep your palms fertilized and they will stay looking good for a much longer duration.

In best practice, you should not prune the leaves off the palm until they are completely brown.  Doing so removes some of the nitrogen and other nutrition stored in the plant.  That being said, a lot of people do not want leaves on their palms to be any color but green.  If you are one of these people, you can prune the lower yellowing leaves off as long as your have the soil properly fertilized.  If the leaves at the top of the palm are yellowing, you have one of the problems mentioned above.  If you begin seeing other leaves yellow soon after pruning, your soil may not have had the correct amount of fertilizer.

When pruning your palm, be sure to follow the same pattern of cut as all of the other branches have been cut so the trunk of the tree is uniform.  Usually all you will need is protective glasses, a hat, gloves, a pair of loppers, a ladder and someone to hold it for you.  If it is your first time pruning a palm, remember to take your time, be careful and it will probably take you a lot longer per tree to prune than you originally thought, especially if its been a few seasons since you pruned last.