New show transforms Florida yards in environmentally friendly ways

A new home makeover series debuts on WRDQ-Channel 27 this weekend.

“Flip My Florida Yard” aims to teach Sunshine State homeowners how to transform their yards by utilizing natural, Florida-specific, water-conserving landscaping principles throughout the 10-episode season.

“I like to describe the show as kind of a home improvement show disguised as a conservation show,” said host Chad Crawford, noting it’s similar to HGTV programming. “It has that makeover, that flip feel, the big reveal, crying, the shock and awe … but woven throughout it are very science-based, conservation landscaping tips for people to use in their own yard as a way to help Florida’s environment.”

Lake Mary-based Crawford Entertainment partnered with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and the University of Florida IFAS Extension’s Florida-Friendly Landscaping Program to develop the series. They sought to highlight a variety of environments, from a house on the water to a home with an HOA and a new build. They also wanted demographic diversity.

The show received more than 1,500 submissions before narrowing the participants to 10 Florida families, who hail from locations including Panama City, Tallahassee, Tampa, Orlando and Miami.

One of those families is the Lewis family (Bonnie, Brian and their son, Nick) of Winter Park.

Bonnie Lewis had been researching how to become a Florida-friendly landscaper to redesign her gravelly front yard with two small, struggling palm trees to help it fit in with the lush yards of her neighbors. When her stepmother told her about “Flip My Florida Yard,” Bonnie immediately applied.

“Most people thought that our front yard was a parking lot and they would park on it,” the 48-year-old said. “Our little yard really felt sad.”

After finding out she would be on the show, Bonnie and her

COURTESY PHOTO family met with a designer who laid out a plan for the yard.

“I realized that her vision was going to be so much better than anything I could come up with or describe, so I basically told her I don’t want to know anything,” Bonnie said with a laugh.

On makeover day, the Lewis family awoke to an 8 a.m. knock on their door, as did other show participants. Outside, giant machines and landscaping materials were at the ready to complete the makeover in eight hours.

“Flip My Florida Yard,” which began filming in October 2020, added precautions to the production amid the coronavirus pandemic. Crew members wore masks and workers were kept in pods.

“If we had a landscaping crew that was used to working together, they would kind of stay in their own group,” Crawford said. “We would try not to intermingle different crews.”

And filming outdoors had its benefits, Crawford noted.

“Luckily, we were outside,” the 48-year-old Lake Mary resident said. “That was a big advantage for us. We weren’t in a studio or in the house. Everything we shot was outside.”

While the team was hard at work, the Lewis family went to Lake Louisa State Park for an eco-tour on horseback. In addition to the yard transformations, the series brings selected families to local state parks to learn more about the environment’s plight.

Eight hours later, the Lewis family came home and donned orange glasses for the reveal.

“It was surprising and cool,” Nick said.

The family returned to a surprise sculptural walkway and a yard filled with blooming plants — some meant to attract butterflies and others that are medicinal.

“We were speechless … It was a lot better than we imagined,” Bonnie said. “It went from being completely gray to just bursting with life.”

Crawford hopes the show teaches people that they can improve Florida’s environment by starting in their own backyard.

“Most people see what’s going on in the Everglades, they see what’s going on on our coasts, and they really feel a little disconnected from helping,” he said. “We really want people to know that they can make a major impact on our environment by starting with something that they can control, that they do own, and that’s their yard.”

Bonnie learned that native plants should be spread out to encourage growth, pesticides aren’t necessary if planting is done wisely and it doesn’t take a ton of water to keep Florida-friendly yards thriving. Using less fertilizer, recycling yard waste and incorporating more native and Florida-friendly plants are a few additional ways to help, according to Crawford.

“If we want to grow as a state,” he said, “we just have to do this.”

“Flip My Florida Yard” makes its Central Florida debut April 10 on WRDQ-Channel 27. The first episode airs at 2 p.m. followed by the second episode (featuring the Lewis family) at 2:30 p.m. New episodes will air through June 27. The entire series will be available for streaming via Roku on the Discover Florida Channel starting July 1. For more information, visit flipmyfloridayard. com.