Tropical garden

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A tropical garden features tropical plants and requires good rainfall or a decent irrigation or sprinkler system for watering. These gardens typically need fertilizer and heavy mulching.

The tropical garden is no longer exclusive to tropical areas. Many gardeners in colder climates are adopting the tropical garden design, which is possible by the means of careful choice of plants and flowers. A well-designed tropical garden can be a spectacle to the eye. Main features are plants with very large leaves, vegetation that builds in height towards the back of the garden, creating a dense garden. Large plants and small trees hang over the garden, leaving to sunlight to hit the ground directly.

A tropical garden is one of the most difficult gardens to build, or to maintain, it becomes more difficult the more your local climate differs from the natural habitat of your plants. Key to a healthy tropical garden are lots of light and lots of water. The large leaves that profile tropical plants require the soil to be humid at all times, so irrigation might be a must-have for some gardens. Over-watering can kill your plants as well, as it will cause the roots to rot.

[edit] Tropical plants that work well in non-tropical climates:

acanthus mollis
Algerian ivy
canna
crocosmia, aka Lucifer
passiflora caerulea
paulownia tomentosa
secrecia
trachycarpus

If you find a tropical plant that will not survive the colder seasons in your garden, you can consider taking the plant in your house, and putting it out in the garden during the summer months.