DRY TROPICAL GARDEN

Mexican desert agaves team up with some tough tropicals to create a dry garden for one young family.

THE BRIEF

A young family with a brood of little people to keep them busy turned to us for a garden that was not only beautiful but seriously low-maintenance – one that would not need watering or drain their most precious resource: time.

THE SITE

The coastal site had sandy soil that needed mulch and plenty of organic matter to build up the structure. The site had a front lawn the clients wanted to keep for their young children to play on and existing Strelitzias - both the Bird of Paradise and the larger Nicholi form – which the clients loved. In the rear garden a large pool dominated the space with concrete almost entirely covering the rear space. A long side driveway connected the two areas, with the driveway and rear garden both needing visual screening from neighbours.

THE DESIGN

Taking a cue from the clients’ love of their existing Strelitzias – extremely tough plants that thrive on neglect and dry conditions – we designed a dry tropical garden showcasing a variety of extraordinary agaves from the deserts of Mexico.

We had fun with the strongly spherical shapes of the agaves and repeated this shape throughout the garden, adding lomandras with fine strappy leaves and a delightful spherical form, and large strappy Doryanthes with its imposing scale and clumping habit. Layers of other tough plants were added including hardy Salvias and Phlomis, the tough strappy Beschorneria, native Saltbush, the prolific blooming Tree Marigold and Cistus, along with varieties of Euphorbia, Eleagnus and Broom to fix Nitrogen and support the soil. Groundcovers included Vinca major, creeping Thyme, Lamb’s Ear and the native Pigface. Creeping Fig was chosen to cover the exterior of the house, to soften and green the vertical walls, and additional feature vines included a colourful Bougainvillea for a startling splash of vibrant tropical colour, a tough Mandevillia laxa and the resilient Star Jasmine.

The result was lush and tropical; full of texture, contrast, surprisingly green and full of flower, with feature trees including the gorgeous Cussonia and Judas Tree, and what we consider to be one of the great children’s climbing trees of all time, the hardy Arbutus.

The clients wanted some productive trees in the mix so the long driveway bed was turned into a food alley and was the only garden bed to be irrigated and set on an automated timer. The driveway bed was planted with a row citrus trees but also included Pomegranate, Feijoa, Fig and dwarf Mulberry, which helped to provide visual screening from neighbours, a sense of enclosure and privacy as well as perimeter structure and definition.

In the rear garden the clients did not want to demolish the existing hardscaping around their large pool so perimeter trees were planted to provide visual, sun. pollution and wind screening with layers of trees including Native Daphne, Bangalow Palm and Chinese Windmill Palm – that provided a tall distinctive tropical silhouette – with deciduous trees such as Mulberries and Fig strategically positioned to block neighbouring eyelines. Large water pots were scattered around the rear garden to green up the area and provide dramatic vertical form and a lush tropical feel with plants such as Black Taro and Powdery Alligator Flag. More play on spherical forms came in the form of Cycads, Foxtail Fern and the aquatic Dwarf Lotus.

A sun room at the back of the house was exposed to the glare of the hardscaping in the rear garden so we designed a long, deep verandah with a thick covering of Wiisteria and Grape to provide welcome summer shade and allow in winter sun and added lots of lush large indoor plants to connect the sunroom with the rear garden. One entire side of the rear garden, which was formed by a garage brick wall, became totally covered in Silver-Vein Creeper, chosen for its controlled growth, year-round lushness and elegance.

The site was transformed into a lush tropical garden full of interest, colour, texture, flower, geometrical form and a whimsical play on spherical structures, while being tough, resilient and low maintenance.

The garden created privacy, shelter and screening for its young family and even provided a Food Alley that would yield harvest in the years to come – all the while growing with the young family.