Tips On Tropical Landscaping
Tropical landscaping is a different ball game
altogether. A move to a tropical climate can be the fulfillment of a
dream. No more snow shoveling, no more ice, just a warm retreat. Not to
even mention the fabulous tropical gardens. Giant blooms and lush green
leaves all year around, and never any freeze to kill the plants.
However, living nearer the equator brings new gardening challenges. In
humid weather, everything grows so well that tropical landscaping is
sometimes more about pruning and pulling instead of fertilizing and
nurturing.
Selecting Plants For Tropical Landscaping
When it is time to set up a tropical yard, a lot of the plants in the
local nursery may look like temperate houseplants. That is because in
their native tropical habitat, plants like Crotons and aloe flourish
outside. It makes temperate houseplants look puny. For example, in
tropical landscaping, ivy can never be the vine of choice. Instead,
people plant philodendrons – and they grow leaves bigger than sheets of
notebook paper.
The closer to the equator you are, the easier it is to grow orchids.
Tropical landscaping in the most elaborate gardens can include hundreds
of pots of orchids. Orchids absorb moisture from the air into their
roots. Therefore, they do not like to be planted in soil. Instead, they
must be planted in lava rocks so that air can circulate well around the
roots.
Many of the flowers in the temperate garden simply cannot live in the
tropics. Any flower that needs a dormant period, like daisies or lupine,
cannot survive long. The best plants for tropical landscaping are
usually things with thick, waxy leaves. Think bird-of-paradise or canna
lily. Some plants that are annual in temperate zones can handle the
tropics. Things like bougainvillea can grow to an unimaginable size in a
place where it never freezes.
Garden foods in the tropics are much different from temperate crops. It
is too warm and humid for most carrots, radishes, lettuce and other
cool-weather crops. But in return, tropical landscaping makes up with an
array of fruit. Bananas, oranges, lemons, mangos, kiwi, and even more
exotic species must grow in a hot, humid climate.
Stellar Growth Rates
The plants that are grown in the tropics grow much faster than temperate
plants. Though kudzu may grow a foot in a day, this is nothing unusual
in tropical landscaping. Your biggest chores will be pruning away
overgrowth and cleaning up dead leaves.
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