Patio jungle with leafy layers
Tree ferns, houseplants and Fatsia japonica create leafy layers in this verdant London oasis. Owner Juan Carlos Cure explains his approach
This tiny London garden has all the key ingredients for a colourful jungle fantasy. “I love the tropical look and wanted to create something that reminded me of the Colombian countryside I knew as a boy,” says owner Juan Carlos Cure. “I wanted to make a wildlife-friendly green oasis right here in the heart of the city.” The south-facing garden belongs to a lower ground-floor flat. “It was quite barren when I moved here in May 2010; just a dreary little garden filled with sandstone paving and a scrap of soil around the edges,” says Juan Carlos (see left). “When the estate agent showed me the flat, I poked a stick into the ground to check it wasn’t concrete. To my surprise and joy, it was actual soil.”
ROOM WITH A VIEW (clockwise from above) Tender houseplants enjoy an indoor-outdoor existence; the succulent collection, which lives in a coldframe in winter; Soleirolia soleirolii ‘Aurea’ engulfs a Buddha head, with asparagus fern and hosta; hebe ‘sutherlandii’, blue hosta, purple-bronze cordyline and arum lilies with Colocasia esculenta ‘Black Magic’
The compacted London clay didn’t deter Juan Carlos. “I’ve since raised the beds 35cm, buying in tonnes of compost, farmyard manure and worms. Every year I top up the beds with blood, fish and bone and a thick mulch of well-rotted manure.” Juan Carlos began the garden transformation by covering its timber baton fences with small-leaved climbers and perennials. “The fences were screaming ‘The garden ends here!’ so I had to do something about them,” he says. “I filled the niches between the batons with soil and planted drought-tolerant erigeron, bluebells and ivy in them. By choosing small-leaved plants to hide garden boundaries you create
I poked a stick in the ground to check it wasn’t concrete... it was actual soil
the impression they’re further away, making the garden seem bigger.” To build up the leafy, layered look, Juan Carlos planted tree ferns next. “I became a bit obsessed with them and bought two even before I’d moved in,” he says. “I planted them a foot deep, as small tree trunks, and watered them from their crowns – you have to keep their trunks moist. In winter, I wrap the crowns in horticultural fleece as soon as temperatures dip below -3C (26F). “After that, the layers evolved by instinct and accident. As the garden is south-facing it means the area next to the patio doors is sunniest – the ideal place for my little gravel area filled with sempervivums, succulents, lavender, agapanthus and osteospermums. “In contrast, the back of the garden is shaded all day, so here I’ve planted ferns, hostas and a large Fatsia japonica. They get no direct sunlight from October to March.” The dark-leaved fatsia and arching tree ferns cast deep and shapely shadows, creating a sense of mystery. Other small trees include a bright red Acer palmatum ‘Bloodgood’, while shade-loving hostas, Hydrangea macrophylla and asplenium ferns are among the mid-height plants. “As groundcover I’ve planted mind-yourown-business (Soleirolia soleirii ‘Aurea’) between the pavers,” says Juan Carlos. “It’s very invasive but it does create a neat green mat. In spring I like to throw some nasturtium seeds into it – their leaves have an attractive, waterlily look.” Juan Carlos’s stone bird bath draws in the birds, which love to forage for nesting materials in spring. “The blackbirds can make quite a mess of the mind-your-ownbusiness, looking for grubs underneath.” Flashes of colourful foliage help differentiate between the mass of plants. “There’s a purple cordyline, red acer, Colocasia esculenta ‘Black Magic’ and blue hostas, which are definitely more slugresistant than the green-and-cream ones.” A small path leads through the garden to a hidden cache of arum lilies and clematis ‘Princess Kate’, which clambers over homemade bamboo trellis. “There’s a small Buddha head too, that I bought at Columbia Road flower market,” says Juan Carlos. “I’ve allowed the soleirolia to grow up around it. Together with an asparagus fern and the bird bath, the area has a very peaceful, Zen-like feel.”
The dark-leaved fatsia and arching tree ferns cast deep and shapely shadows