Handyman in Southbend Lakes, Port St. Lucie

Bigger lots, and some of them are on septic

A third of an acre is a different proposition than a standard city lot. There is more edge to hold, more bed to keep, and — the good part — genuinely enough room that a back yard can be designed rather than merely maintained. Most people out here are only using a fraction of what they have.

The thing to raise before anyone starts digging: parts of this area are on city water but still on a septic tank and drain field. If that's your lot, it dictates where planting can go. Nothing with a serious root system over a drain field, and no heavy equipment tracking across it. Tell us when we come out and we'll set the beds out around it. Getting that wrong is a genuinely expensive mistake and it's entirely avoidable.

Screened patios and accordion shutters turn up regularly on these streets as well. Both collect a film that a garden hose won't touch, and both come up properly with the right pressure and the right distance.