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06 March 2011
There are many people around Australia who dream of having a tropical garden, not only those of us in the tropics, but also people in subtropical and temperate areas. How do you start a tropical garden when your block of land is bare, or all you have is grass? Or maybe you already have some plants in your garden, but they do not tie together well and don’t give you that lush, exotic, rainforest garden look. Below are some pointers as to how you might start.
You will need to make sure your garden is ready for tropical plants. Tropical plants are often heavy
feeders, meaning they thrive in fertile, moist, humus rich soil so you need to prepare it well with plenty of mulch and organic matter or fertiliser such as Blood and Bone or Dynamic Lifter. Think about how you’re going to water, are you hand watering or installing a sprinkling system? In case of a sprinkling system, you might find it easier to set that up first, before planting your plants, and then plant the plants to suit the amount of water. Sprinklers can be very erratic, creating wet and dry spots, which will suit certain plants better than others.
You then need to look into which plants you like the look off, and I have also suggested some below. Read about them and make sure you know what position they should grow in. A true shade lover will not perform in a sunny position and may even die, whereas a sun lover will not thrive or flower in a shady spot.
How to start would depend on the shape of your garden. If you are creating 
a tropical garden which is rectangular, or long and skinny, I recommend going for a ‘stepped’ garden. This means you would plant tall plants at the back of the garden, probably against a fence or the barrier which indicates the outside of the garden. These tall plants should be fast growing to establish a canopy and provide shade for other tropical plants which are so often shade lovers.
Good plants for your backline are fast growing, sun hardy and dense so they provide a screen as well against nosy neighbours or ugly fences, if needed of course. A really good look is to start with a tall palm such as the Queen Palm, Bangalow Palm or Cuban Royal Palm to add height, and have bushy plants in between those. You can use the Golden Cane Palm, Hibiscus which comes in many stunning colours, or the ultra fast growing clumping bamboo. You could also add a Bougainvillea in the corners, tied to a trellis or fence or pruned to a shrub for some spectacular colour.
You can then work on your next line, the slightly smaller plants. If your tall line of gard
en plants is fairly green, like palms and bamboo, you might like to consider adding some good flowering plants here like Gardenia’s which are incredibly beautiful and fragrant or Canna’s and Cordylines which provide year-round colour. If you chose Hibiscus as your tall screen, or other flowering plant, you could go for some tropical foliage plants like Gingers or Bird of Paradise plants.
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f your garden is square or round, start with a large tree in the middle such as a Frangipani or Lilly Pilly to provide shade and shelter. Another option which is also very suited to a rainforest garden is a trio of palms planted close together so they fan outwards from each other, creating a really graceful feature in the middle of your garden. You can then work outwards in circles, similar to the lines of garden plants above in the straight garden but in circles around your large tree.
To help the smaller plants out, you could erect a shade roof and leave it in place for the first couple of years. By then your taller plants will have established themselves, and will provide shade for the smaller plants.
Add some aroids such as Bromeliads or Philodendron on branches, in hanging pots or as ground cover and some very tropical looking shade lovers such as the Ruffled Fan Palm if your climate permits. Creating an upper story as described above will create a better climate for growing tropical plants, but if you are in a temperate are they may still need further protection from cold, or may not be suitable at all.
Some groundcovers will finish the lush garden look, like the colourful Rhoeo (Moses in a basket) or amazing Clivia, the Orange Lily for impressive flower power. Having your ground fully covered, be it with plants or with mulch and grass clippings, will stop weeds and prevent you having to spend hours weeding rather than enjoying your tropical garden plants!
Add some ornaments such as statues or a Bali Hut to enjoy and relax in, or a water feature to attract birds. Add a small winding path with beautiful pavers, some solar nights to add to the night atmosphere and some potted plants to finish off!
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Comments
I used your idea with the 3 palm trees planted together and this really is starting to look fantastic. They do really fan out and lean away from each other, and although they don't all grow at the same speed (one is very tall, the others following), this adds to the look in my opinion. Keep up the great ideas! I love your new 'Garden Inspiration' section
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