Ground Plantings

Create a simple garden vignette like this one in a single weekend.

Filed under: Bamboo, Trees, Plants

Project time: 10 hours

Materials and Tools:
Standard gardening tools
Large ceramic pot (for water garden)
Round and square steppingstones
Millstone (optional)
Mulch
Tiki torches (optional)
Foo dogs (optional)
Plant material

Steps:

The first step in creating your garden is to prepare the area. Begin by designating the area to plant and marking the outline with spray paint.
Remove grass and prepare the soil with a spade or by tilling.
With spray paint, outline areas for walkways and water garden.
Install steppingstones for pathway.
Note: Plants used in this garden are tolerant of a Southeastern climate. Check your local nurseries or home centers for plants that are compatible for your climate.

Screen the back of the border with a planting of Alphonse Karr bamboo ( Bambusa multiplex 'Alphonse Karr'). Since this variety of bamboo produces rhizomes (thick rootlike plant stems that grow under or above the ground), it is best planted in a container, leaving the lip of the container aboveground so it will not have the opportunity to become invasive in the garden. The edge of the container can then be covered with mulch.

Follow with a variety of palms. Palms are unusual due to the fact that they have no cambium layer; this characteristic causes them to function more like grasses. Unlike most plants, they hold water not in their rootball but in their trunks. The water is carried through the plant in a series of tubes running up the middle of the trunk. If a palm encounters frost, the outer layers of the tubes can die: these tubes then act as a layer of insulation for the interior tubes. Young palms are therefore often not as cold hardy as older palms and may require protection on a cold night.

The following plants are used in this garden :

Mexican fan palm (Washingtonia robusta), which produces fruit at maturity

Queen palm (Arecastrum romanzoffianum)

Mediterranean fan palm (Chamaerops humilis), which can be cold hardy to 0 degrees, in some cases.

Banana plants are also characteristic of an exotic garden. The large leaves provide wonderful contrast in texture, size and color. Bananas can be tender in some climates, and windy areas can result in tattered leaves.
The following bananas are used in our demonstration:

Red-leaved banana (Ensete ventricosium 'Maurelii')

Pink fruiting banana (Musa velutina), which has been known to survive cold temperatures and regrow

The rest of the garden is planted with the following:

Cut-leaf philodendron (Philodendron selloum), which has interesting air roots that can be trimmed away or left for interest

Cherry blossom bougainvillea (Bougainvillea 'Cherry Blossom')

Canna (Canna X generalis) (can be separated into additional plants by breaking apart weak areas of the root system using your hands)
Tropicanna (tm) canna (Canna indica 'Phaison')