This tropical look courtyard garden is something we could happily live with. Our garden is a of a similar size and is laid with granite setts. We’re never going to have manicured lawns and large, cascading perennial borders. However, it does lend itself to this kind of look – an intimate, welcoming space. Perfect to accommodate relatively small scale beds, some containers & pots, a seating area and perhaps a barbecue.
The garden pictured above is located in a built up part of London – arguably the warmest area of the country. Tropical plants such as bananas and palm trees are easily grown in the capital. Up here in the rainy, frost-prone North they need a little more care & attention.
We love big, showy, architectural plants; they’re contrarily suited to small-scale gardens. Our garden is quite sheltered, but damp & shady in parts too – and often very cold in the winter. Some plants do well… others not so keen.
When we first moved to our current house 15 years ago, we planted a black bamboo in the ground and it’s flourishing – reaching heights of about 20 feet! Other tropical (or tropical-looking) plants that we’ve managed to successfully nurture in our decidedly temperate back garden include Fatsia Japonica, Rheum palmatum and Gunnera manicata.
- Phyllostachys Bissetii (Bamboo)
- Musa basjoo (Japanese banana)
- Canna indica (Indian shot)
- Colocasia esculenta ‘Black Magic’ (Taro or Elephant ear)
- Agapanthus Africanus
- Hedychium Densiflorum (Ginger lily)
- Dicksonia Antarctica (New Zealand tree fern)
