Exotic jungle... palms
Tree ferns, banana plants and palms create a leafy backdrop for flowers in this vibrant garden. Owners Lynn and Alan Nokes tell us more
Suburban gardens are famous for their simple lawn-and-borders layout, but this town garden in Bromsgrove offers a far more exciting outlook. “Over the past 22 years our view has been totally transformed,” says owner Alan Nokes, who lives here with his wife Lynn. “Where once we had a sloping grassy wasteland, now it’s a jungle of towering tree ferns, banana plants, tetrapanax and trachycarpus palms. “I’ve always loved exotic plants so I was keen to grow them here,” says Alan. “I used a set of terracotta f lagstones to create a Mediterranean patio beside house where I grew lots of potted, tender plants. They survived the first four mild winters before reality struck and I lost a number of them to Our garage is chock-a-block with stored exotic plants from October to May TURN UP THE HEAT (clockwise from top left) Tender abutilon climbs an obelisk, with dahlias behind; begonias mingle with acers, ricinus, phormiums and fatsias; red begonia; Echinacea purpurea; dahlias ‘Noordwijks Glorie’, ‘Fire Pot’ and ‘Lake Ontario’ with potted eucomis; cannas and amaranthus are started from scratch frost. After that I developed a new, more intensive over-wintering regime.” This new regime involves moving some of the smaller exotics into the greenhouse, then moving the rest into a winter garden room (the garage). “We dig up favourite border specimens to pot up and store in the warm,” says Lynn. “It’s chock-a-block in there from October to May – you can hardly move!” The couple completely empty their main hot-themed bed by the patio and replant it in late spring every year. Purple and green Ensete ventricosum (Abyssinian bananas) are dug out and potted up, while the canna, begonia and dahlia tubers are wrapped in newspaper and boxed in the loft. Potted lemon trees, callistemon, cycads, colocasia
and abutilon are also moved under cover, while annual coleus, amaranthus and ricinus are grown from seed each year and allowed to die back naturally. Some hardier exotics do survive outdoors. “Phormium ‘Maori Queen’ remains in the ground,” says Alan. “And our spiky trachycarpus palm is so hardy it keeps growing even in winter.” Other plants need swaddling in fleece. “I’ll wrap up the heads of our five tree ferns, bananas and tetrapanax and cut back the Melianthus major almost to ground level. I give it a thick mulch to protect it from cold.” The garden combines its exotic good looks with a productive veg garden. “In our last house I had a separate allotment but I was fed up travelling to and fro, so decided to make a veg plot my first priority when we moved here,” says Alan. “We built it at the far end of garden, and also contains a summerhousestyle shed, two greenhouses, compost bins and a wildlife pond. “The soil was extremely sandy so we imported loads of topsoil,” says Alan. “What’s more, the garden sloped left to right as well as downwards, so I had to barrow loads of soil from one side to the other to level it. We also installed a 400-gallon tank and 11 water butts to collect much-needed water.” After building 10x 4ft-wide raised beds, each painted in a different bright colour, the couple decided to screen off the area behind a large trellis panel clothed in honeysuckle and clematis. “Next to the veg plot Alan and I created a lush lawn with beautiful borders, which are my domain,” says Lynn. “These started out quite boring and straight, but then we made the edges wavy to add interest. However, the planting started to take over and we couldn’t cut the grass properly. In the end Alan put sleepers down the side, which he could stand on to cut the hedges.” Vibrant dahlias, fuchsias, lilies, eucomis and echinacea weave through the colourful plantings, while a circular black and white island bed features a striking combination of Hydrangea paniculata ‘Limelight’, dark-leaved Sambucus nigra, white lysimachia, alliums and a skirt of black ophiopogon. “Our next project was a large patio and pond area complete with gurgling stream,” says Alan. “It’s the perfect spot for outdoor entertaining and is home for my collection of potted foliage plants, including acers, ferns, more than 100 hosta cultivars and a podophyllum. There was a small concrete pond there which was no use to us, so I removed it, dug down to 6ft at one end and used all the soil to create the lower patio.” Hidden in the borders are unusual ornaments. “They’re here, there and everywhere to add a bit of fun,” says Lynn. “We’ve got a giant ladybird crawling up a Prunus serrula and a copper heron by the pond. Our visitors love seeing what’s hidden among the jungle of foliage and flowers.”
I’ll wrap up the heads of five tree ferns, bananas and tetrapanax in fleece