I was outside planting spring flowers with Jermaine and our kids, and it hit me. We had plenty of bees flying around, but absolutely nothing in our front yard was making fruit. When I started gardening in 2020 with one watermelon seed, I quickly realized that space is valuable. Treating the front yard like a performance for the neighborhood instead of an asset for your family just does not make sense to me.
Today I am sharing 11 plants I have had good luck with in my Zone 10a Central Florida front yard. These plants are beautiful enough to pass as professional landscaping, but productive enough to actually feed us. Here is what works.
RESOURCES AND LINKS
Jermaine’s book and website: growfitfl.com
Shop my favorite garden gear on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/shop/rootedinjs?ref_=cm_sw_r_apin_aipsfshop_DFD48YZ9F11YKCWR2QDR&language=en-US
Join this channel and become a member: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsDaiJ94xAnB4vlLTowLJiA/join
CATCH UP WITH TONI
Website: rootedinjs.com
All Social Media: @rootedinjs
PLANTS WE COVERED TODAY
* Roselle
* Cranberry Hibiscus
* Pigeon Peas
* Okra
* Pineapple
* Shampoo Ginger
* Taro
* Rosemary
* Barbados Cherry
* Loquat
* Mulberry
TIMESTAMPS
0:00 The problem with perfect lawns
1:30 My front yard design framework
3:00 11 plants for your front yard
11:00 How to get started today
📍 Florida | Zone 8-11 | Grow food not yards
#GrowFoodNotLawns #FoodForest #FloridaGardening #RootedInJS #Zone10a #EdibleLandscape #FoodIndependence #Taro #Roselle #BarbadosCherry
33 Comments
thanks for watching. I want to know what you are swapping out in your own front yard this season. Drop what you are planting in the comments below.
If you want to dig deeper into why we decided to ditch the grass, you need to read Jermaine's book. Here is where you can find everything we talked about today:
• Grab Jermaine's book Grow Food Not Lawns: growfitfl.com
• Shop my favorite garden gear: https://www.amazon.com/shop/rootedinjs?ref_=cm_sw_r_apin_aipsfshop_DFD48YZ9F11YKCWR2QDR&language=en-US
• Become a channel member: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsDaiJ94xAnB4vlLTowLJiA/join
Love your videos and yes we’re doing a garden in our spaces it looks different but so far I love it!
Very good advice I going to start planting in my front yard
I planted banana, natal plums, coco plum, pineapple and goji berry in my townhouse front yard and the gingers, cranberry hibiscus, dwarf banana, Chaya, potted guava, potted sweet potato vine and a papaya along the side strip with some herbs and pineapples mixed in with ornamentals and orchids.
I planted 2 Moringa trees in my front yard. The whole tree is nutritional, the flowers are really pretty. I also have lemon grass. My HOA likes grasses, I give them grasses.
Great video!
We have taro in our backyard. Beautiful plant but never knew what it was until this video!
Can I plant rosella in containers ? Do it need direct sunlight?
Hey there, I'm up in zone 9b, lost alot this winter, even citrus and my old guava. But blueberries, fig, and curry leaf have new leaves. Everything I have is out front. I'll be adding acerola next to the blueberries, restarting the mustards, with more marigolds and this time chamomile too and basil. And I'll try katuk in the partial shade out back.
Keep up the good work. I love your family's videos. Thank you
I commented before I watched your whole video. Yes, the loquats, rosemary, and gardenia survived fine and philo is coming back. I do want to try pigeon peas too this time, and I'm about to plant some turmerics that sprouted by themselves in my kitchen. You inspired me for okra now too. And I will put zucchini in my mustard bed this time too. My neighbor does roselle. It is lovely!
❤Last season, my front yard had peppers, squash, okra, beans, and CORN LoL. It is my first home/garden; and I have no HOA. I got overexcited, with a whole cattle panel out there. I also planted 4 fruit trees, and have 4 more in 20 gallon tubs. I enjoy your informative videos and ideas. Although in Zone 8, I am going to get some roselle seeds. Oh, do you sell seeds??💃🏽
This winter i lost my pineapple plant after 3 years 😢
As I work on converting our mature, tropical landscape to an edible, tropical one, I'm making a point to identify edible plants that are also perennial, evergreen and the harvests are not readily identifiable for the front & side yards of our corner lot. This approach provides year-round beauty out in the publicly viewed spaces, while also making the stealing of our fruit and nuts by passersby less likely.
Yes I had a whole tik tok last week on this. 😂 I have blue berries in one area and Roselle in another space all my extra herbs.
Nice video , I have been growing fruit trees and fruit bushes for at least 6 years in my front yard blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, peach tree, cherry tree new 2026 and persimmon tree planted 2025..
I also has 6 garden beds made out of centerblocks and I grow different varieties of brassicas, peppers, tomatoes and whole bunch of herbs and i have been growing corn as well, I make sure its still cute , so too walk in my front yard and have food as well is blessing for me and my family, yes utilize all your space its yours
Taro is very popular in some states in Brazil, including mine. I used to eat it almost daily, and it’s delicious! We call it taioba, and we usually sauté it with salt and spices. Another plus is that it’s very affordable—it grows like crazy!
Peppers and herbs in the flower bed near the front porch. Grew up with pecan, fig, and plum trees along with honeydew and muscadine grape bushes in the front yards in my town. We ate well while playing outside.
Great info
I don’t understand what she meant about okra. She said if you miss a day the okra becomes not edible. What does that mean?
My family comes from Barbados, and I would love a cherry tree in my garden. I grow mostly in raised beds but have blueberries, a fig tree and roselle in ground. Loved your tips!
Celery started growing up in my front yard on it's own. It looks nice and it's edible.😊
Beautiful garden and flowers ❤❤😊
Nice sharing friend ❤😊
Good morning thank you so much I am going to look at my space and see what I can move
Great video. I was looking at your Amazon store and saw the seeds you have listed. Which are the best for us? We are also 10A.
I'm in Central FL too no lawn perennial peanut as ground cover. I grow a small butterfly garden in the very front and edibles behind that. Katuk and Cranberry Hibiscus a like small hedge in front of my house that I eat a lot. Aunt Lilii's South Sea Salad Hibiscus is great eaten raw or cooked.
I also have taro, walking onions and lemon grass as a border to keep out my neighbors lawn. There are some fruit trees most in the back bananas, Jamaican Cherry, mulberry, just got a mango, and I'm going to try having a dwarf coconut tree. In a raised bed I have Okinawa spinach and New Zealand spinach.
I want edible/medicinal landscaping…there has to be a way for landscaping to be more purposeful…thanks for sharing.
My lawn is manicured edible and medicinal herbs. It's green with chickweed dandelion purslane and st augustine grass.
Good morning. I have most of my plants in my back yard, I have2 trees in my front yard ( Thai mulberry and beauty berry) that made it through the freeze) my plan it to put my orange tree and fig tree in the front yard.
Mulberry is the ultimate fruit here. All you need is a cutting off a friend tree and you can have as many as you want. That stick makes as many as you want and you can spread the wealth to anyone who wants one. I have 6 fruiting trees and 18 cuttings growing from before winter. I will plant a few and give the rest away. I like them for privacy so some are going along the street. Privacy, bird food and people food, I call that a win. My front yard doesn't get as much sun as most so the grass was crappy and I'm lazy so I don't want to cut it. I had a neighbor who's a tree guy drop 2 loads of Chip for me and my entire front is now chip. The soil is a million times better after 2 years and because I don't have a paved driveway water doesn't just sit anymore requiring me to stand in water to get in my truck. It's so nice not to have to tiptoe not to get wet. I have tropical pretty plants, flowering natives and food mixed in here and there. I have a dedicated butterfly host bet but I also grow veggies mixed in like greens and peppers because it's the perfect amount of shade for things like that. I don't like being told to live in box so I refuse to.
Hi, thanks for sharing. I'm in the 8 zone.Will you send me some mulberry cuttings?
Lemongrass, rosemary and mint
Listen Lady, when I found out the point of the manicured lawn I’m like yuck
Hi Sis!! Yes!!! Fruit trees in front lawn. I hate the status symbol of lawn. Unfortunately, I live in an HOA and they are annoying and prohibitive. Then there are the deer🤦🏾♀️.