Former HGTV star John Gidding offers gardening advice in Lakewood Ranch

John Gidding, the former star of HGTV’s “Curb Appeal,” made Manatee County an important stop on his book tour that runs through Florida this summer.

Gidding spoke to Gardeners Out East on July 15 at the Robert Toale and Sons Celebration of Life Center and will be speaking to the Lakewood Ranch Garden Club on July 20 at Lakewood Ranch Town Hall. He also will speak to the Keeping Manatee Beautiful group on July 21 at the Manatee Performing Arts Center.

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Gidding’s new book is titled “At Home with Nature.” While every author wants to sell books, Gidding said he has two main messages he’s trying to deliver to audiences through the tour: Get rid of the grasses, and plant more trees.

He used slides to point out the visual oddity of a sod delivery. The grass often comes rolled up like carpeting. Gidding said putting it down in your yard is essentially the same thing as using a carpet. It smothers and kills the soil, plus grass requires a lot of water to maintain.

While planting trees seems manageable, getting rid of grass in Lakewood Ranch seems impossible. But Gidding had some tips for the deed restricted homeowners in attendance. 

“HOAs, oftentimes, only specify height if you go into the bylaws and look,” he said. “They just say your wall height is a maximum of X.”

Gidding recommended plant alternatives with deeper roots than grasses that only root about an inch into the ground. He suggested the commonly known sunshine mimosa plant instead. Not only does the leafy green plant spread into a luscious ground cover, it doesn’t require as much water and offers puffy pink blooms. 

It’s an easy, low-maintenance landscaping choice for Florida. In the warm weather, the leaves are evergreen and the flowers bloom almost year round. It’ll also bounce back after a cold snap and is considered “aggressive,” so one plant will spread like an octopus, Gidding said.   

Gidding likes the sunshine mimosa so much, it inspired him to create a cocktail by the same name using champagne, Chambord and pineapple juice.

The plant, not the drink, was exactly the kind of recommendation Greenfield Plantation residents Jim and Lisa Eicher were looking for when deciding to attend the presentation. 

“We’re trying to find some stuff we can plant,” Lisa said. “If I only had to plant it once or twice in my life and be done with it, that would be great.” 

Just don’t plant peanut grass, Gidding said. Driving around the area over the past few days, he couldn’t help notice the abundance of peanut grass being planted in medians and at intersections.

“Meanwhile, here’s the saddest part," he said. "Despite their gorgeous and cute little yellow flowers, the pollinators ignore them entirely because they have no pollen and no nectar. It’s just a little yellow blip that does nothing, and it’s not particularly friendly. It’s invasive, so despite all the peanuts you see, don’t plant any.”   

Before and after the presentation, Gidding chatted with the crowd and signed books. His appearance was a last minute plan initiated by Charter Member Carolyn Lowry-Nation when she heard Gidding was scheduled to speak at The Villages outside of Orlando. 

Lowry-Nation was thrilled to see a strong turnout of about 125 people. 

“We are just delighted. The doors opened at four o’clock, and they were piling in here at 3:30,” she said. “And he’s a delightful person, too. He’s the real deal. He mixes with the audience and is so gracious about it. And he’s so cute.”

Francesca Tulski said he looks younger in person than on television.