I've come to rely on the pelleted bait - I often sprinkle it around new plantings of seeds to keep the slugs & snails from destroying the seedlings before they can take hold. I had a bad infestation of Cuban brown snails a couple of years ago & now they're almost completely gone from my yard. I buy it @ Home Depot - most garden supply stores should have it - it's iron phosphate & breaks down into fertilizer... Thinking those in the photo might be tree snails? This article says they are not a pest... Here is a link that might be useful: Tree snails

Thank you, Brad! I repotted the plants in dry porous mix. I did not see any white web like you described. While I usually hold off watering immediately after repotting. Your advice has now made me realise that for the last lot of plants I bought, I removed the soil from the roots by holding under running water and then potted them up at the end of the day as I was afraid the roots will dry up. Two of the plants ended up having root rot. I guess then using water to remove old soil from the roots is not best practice. Happy growing to you as well! :)

Function comes first, and you haven’t give us much guidance. How do you use it now? How would you ideally want to use it? Do you like the all day sun? Do you want to add shade? Do you have large groups of people hanging out and chatting or do you want an intimate outdoor living or dining room or kitchen? Is it associated with a pool or spa or .... and how does it relate to the rest of the yard and the house? Do you own space to the other side of the metal railing for planting or is the fence your property line? Give us more information and you may end up with a space that suits your needs.

My landscaping experience is DIYing/low budget in the Midatlantic on a bare suburban lot. Different climate but I relate to how overwhelming the blank slate is! If I were you I'd start small, focus on the landscaping around the house, and then work my way out. Mulching is easy and cheap, so getting some foundation beds established around the house would be my first goal. (Not sure if there are different considerations for mulch & foundation planting in Fla?) I'd also find a way to clean up the paths between the raised beds so I wouldn't have to worry about grass and weeds (gravel, pavers), and create some sort of border (shrubs, fence, herb & perennial garden) around the veg beds to visually establish the first outside "room," since that space is further along than any of your other planned spaces. Having one space defined will probably help you sort out what you want to do with the rest of it. Those two jobs alone would be plenty of work for this year. Later, as soon as I had the cash, I'd hire a pro to expand the porch/patio area off the house (you mentioned entertaining; that space looks cramped now, especially in relation to the size of the planned gazebo) and install a nice curving path to the gazebo pad. I'd make it my long-term goal to have garden beds along the entire fence perimeter because string trimming that much grass is a PITA! I'd also learn all I could about native plants for the area and climate-smart landscaping. No point in planting things that will be a burden. :)