Jason
Melbourne Beach
In October of 2016 we completed a major renovation of our home at 311 3rd Ave in Melbourne Beach, Florida. Our yard at the time was, except for the live oak in the front yard, completely nonnative and invasive plants. Saint Augustine grass, rubber plants, cottons, figs, Brazilian pepper, etc. Inspired by our friends and neighbors we enlisted the help of GoNative Landscaping to transform our yard. They removed most of the existing plants and replaced them with literally hundreds of Florida native plants from shrubs and bushes to groundcover and trees. In the past 5 years these plants have thrived. As a result, our water usage for irrigation has dropped to next to nothing. Our yard is filled with birds, butterflies, bees, and animals of all kinds. As the plants have grown, they have become their own weed control eliminating the need for weedkillers. Fertilizer and insecticides are a thing of the past. Perhaps one of the most interesting and unexpected results of our native yard has been the attraction of the Eumaeus atala florida. This butterfly was at one time believed to have become extinct due to over harvest of its host plant, coontie. It was not collected in Florida from 1937 until 1959. Attracted to our many coonties, they are regular visitors every year and a beautiful visitor at that. We are confident that our yard has inspired friends, family, and neighbors to GoNative!
