This Floridian Designer Overcame Neighborhood Restrictions for a "Lawn-like" Look

The landscape of the Villages, in central Florida, is dominated by the trim turf grass of verdant lawns and golf courses. But the planned retirement community is home to an increasing number of landscape outliers, led, in part, by Steve Turnipseed, a certified master gardener and former chemical engineer who converted 7,000 square feet of lawn on his property to a lively and lush oasis.

Turnipseed, who is the founder and inaugural president of the Villages chapter of the Florida Native Plant Society, has long had an interest in native plants. But when he first arrived in Florida he was disappointed in the aesthetics of a lot of the native landscapes that he toured. "I knew I could create something stunning, but I’d have to do it myself," he says.

Central to his process was navigating the strict regulations outlined by the Villages’ Architectural Review Committee—the equivalent of a homeowners association—including a "neat and tidy" requirement, he says. He had to plant enough ground cover maintained to a uniform height of less than 12 inches to achieve a "lawn-like" appearance.