I've been following this board for the last few weeks, along with other
sites but can't seem to find basic solutions to apply when you realize you
either neglected or somehow harmed a plant. I have books, brochures and
websites saved that explain how to do things correctly from the first time
but what could a newbie do when things don't go as planned?

For the first time I have a place with yard on all 4 sides of the house
the house, a couple of miles from the water in the panhandle of Florida.
Depending on where I look I'm either in zone 9 or 8. When I moved in (mid
October) everything looked pretty well established. Green lawn, a few rose
bushes, different palms and a couple other plants.

I'm looking forward to dedicate time in the yard but haven't set a good
routine yet. For example: I knew I had to put some stuff in the lawn
before the winter but things happened and before I had the chance, we had
to endure a couple of frozen spells. So what now? I have the spreader and
the bag of the product but not sure if is a good idea to apply it this
late. The grass is looking very brown, some areas have a bit of green but
other are basically light brown. Not only that, what about the water? I
realize it doesn't need as much when is cold, but what if there are 5 or 6
days in a row with temps in the high 60's even low 70's?

With the roses. They stopped making flowers for a bit but it looks like
some branches may be ready to make some. I couldn't figure out if I
should've pruned them very short or not. Now they have some branches close
to 4 feet long.

Containers from the back patio I placed either in the garage or inside.
But what about the good sunny days? So far I'm moving them back and forth
but not sure if that is the proper thing to do. What would be the deciding
temperature to keep them out, no doubts when they warn us of a freeze or
a hard freeze like this past week, but what if the low for the night is
going to be 50? I realize it depends of what is in each container, so
that is why I'm wondering if there is a site or a book that can help with
this.

Other question that comes to mind is about introducing new plants. Bulbs
seem to be easy to figure out but let's say an eucalyptus plant. I know my
area is good for them because other houses in the street have them and
some appear to be many years old, with trunks as big as a couple of feet
diameter. Doing some research I learned that the best way to have
eucalyptus is to start with a very small plant. I couldn't find one until
mid December. Just my luck the day I bought the plant, it was 24 hours
before a hard freeze warning. Well I didn't put the plant in the ground
that day... or the next. It has been in the garage at nights and outside
close to his future location during the day. When would it be a good time
to put it in the ground?

I could go one but I suppose you are sick of this post by now... I just
hope to find some sort of "Gardening troubleshooting 101"


thanks
Ana