SUSIE’S GARDEN
Even in a small garden you can create an exotic jungle space in which to get away from it all – with a cocktail, of course!
Exotic looking gardens are increasingly popular. Dramatic and colourful, they remind people of foreign holidays and create a leafy space to escape. If you live in an urban area, the temperature is higher than the surrounding countryside and is known as a “heat island”. This means you can grow a wide range of plants and experiment with semi-tropical species. But even if you live in a colder area, you can create the same feeling, just by using hardy plants.
The jungle look is a good way of making a small garden seem larger. It especially lends itself to a yard or fenced in area, where the walls can be used for climbers or to grow a backdrop of bold foliage. Bright flowers and big plants seen against greenery actually increase the sense of space. You can use layering as well, using bamboo and tall grasses, so you get glimpses through them. A mirror on a wall is a visual trick to add depth.
It helps to have a background of strong structure. There are hardy palms such as the dwarf fan palm, Chamaerops, or the Chusan palm, Trachycarpus, which can be grown in sheltered areas. For drama there is the New Zealand flax which has striking sword shaped foliage and towering spikes of orange flowers several metres high.
Some plants may need protection in winter such as cannas, banana plants and dahlias. There are self seeders for mild gardens like the amazing bee plant Echium pininiana, which I have seen grow up to the second story of a house on the north-east coast and had to be tied to the wall!
Some hardy plants give an exotic feel, yet can withstand frost. Red hot pokers, or kniphofias, come in blazing colours of yellow, orange, apricot, red and lime to more subtle creams. Lilies, yuccas and oriental poppies combine well with the foliage of large ferns, grasses and large leaved shrubs such as fatsia. You can plant up colourful glazed pots with purple heucheras, black Mondo grass and vibrant bulbs. Then just sling a hammock between two trees and imagine that you are in a different world!