Spice Up Your UK Garden with These Top 16 Tropical Ideas!

One might think it’s impossible to have a tropical garden in the often unpredictable and chilly weather like in the UK. But you can enjoy your tropical vacation right in your own backyard with just a little bit of planning and some careful maintenance of your garden. The trick to achieving a garden reminiscent of the tropical wilderness is to choose plants which are hardy. Also, make sure that the plants you choose can thrive in the cooler climate, even though they are not necessarily tropical in origin. 

The trick to achieving that tropical garden of your dream is to ensure having large, stunning foliage with vibrant colours. Varying the placement and structure of different plants also adds a dramatic effect. Since bright colours are akin to bright sunny days, it’s best to plant flowering plants in bloom into hot colour flowers to keep the garden interesting. 

Read on to understand how you can enjoy a tropical haven with ease right at home in your garden.

1. Fast-Growing Annual Flowers

Nothing speaks tropical like the varied colours and lush greens of a tropical garden. Some plants bloom all around the year, and they make for a stunning sight, especially in the colder days. Opt for plants which have bright-colored flowers for that lush and exuberant look. 

You can also choose plants which have leaves in varied shades of red, orange and yellow, which can add more drama to the entire look. Fast-blooming plants like amaranths make for a good addition if you intend to add a tropical garden. They are quick growing and go from seed to blooming stage in no time, giving you that stunning flower cover of your dreams.

2. Vine Garden

Flowering Vines and vines with lush foliage are a much-loved feature of most tropical gardens. These lively climbing vines make for excellent cover and also are extremely low maintenance and hardy. Since these grow vertically by climbing onto any support, they make good use of space, giving you that lush green look without doing much.

To add to the drama, you can train these vines to climb over a focal point like a feature wall or a trellis or canopy to make for a stunning sight. Some flowering vines which you can consider for your tropical garden are the flame vine, lady’s shoe flower vine, passion vine and so on. 

3. Adding Dramatic Tropical Trees

When you think tropical, the first thing that comes to mind is the stunning palm trees which tower. These trees make for a good scale and drama with their stunning heights. Adding variants like date palms, banana trees, Chusan palms, Dwarf fan palms, Jelly palms, Banana trees etc., is an ideal choice.

The towering palm trees add a contemporary and quaint feel and can easily be incorporated with other tropical elements for a timeless appeal. Though these plants can withstand cold pretty well, they cannot withstand drought and need to be watered well. 

4. Layered Planting

The trick with achieving any tropical garden look is to go with layered planting right from planning the canopy to the ground cover. The idea is to intersperse trees and plants to create a lush verdant look which can add height, density and drama to the entire look.

Adding flowering plants and edible fruits can add to both the look and fragrance of your tropical garden. It is best to plan the layers ahead of planting so that you can create small zones of shade and sun and plant trees accordingly. Though the UK sun is not as bright, it is best to make sure that the plants are planted according to their needs for lush growth. Also, keep the lower branches pruned for better growth. 

5. Adding Edible Plants for a tropical feel

Most landscape planners and designers take two factors into consideration- lush foliage and flowering plants. It is best to add a third element to the mix, which is the edible fruits and herbs. Tropical edible plants are equally beautiful as their flowing counterparts, and what’s more, they give you the most amazing sights and smells and also luscious fruits. 

These plants are not only stunning but also useful to the ecosystem as a whole, with a whole range of flora and fauna depending on them. 

6. Adding Orchids

Orchids are the quintessential tropical flowers adding a beautiful tropical theme to your garden. Though these are tricky plants to grow in colder climates, placing them strategically in your garden can make your garden look stunning. Orchids thrive in bright, shaded light, so placing them under the canopy of a large tree with less direct sunlight can be advantageous. 

Since they don’t do well in colder seasons, bringing them indoors inside a greenhouse is better when the temperature dips. Orchids like cymbidium and cattleya orchids are hardy and can thrive better.

7. Hardy Palms

Palms are such an important part of the entire tropical look and feel. The bold symmetrical foliage and hardy nature make them a dream to plant and maintain. They can withstand a dip in temperature contrary to popular belief and even down to 12ºC. Palm trees need a bright sunny spot sheltered from strong winds when they are just planted, but when established, they do better in shady spots away from harsh sunlight.

If you are on the fence about palm trees, you can consider sub-tropical plants like ornamental grasses, castor bean plants and so on for a tropical exotic feel.

8. Bold Florals

Think tropical, and the first thing that comes to mind is the bright flowers. Big and bold florals add colour and warmth to the entire garden. Flowering plants like Daylilies, canna lilies, eucomis, jasmine etc., add a wonderful smell and sight to the garden. These are also hardy plants which don’t need a lot of maintenance.

A pop of colour with reds, whites, oranges and purple against the lush green is always an enticing sight. Always consider the size and growth of the plant when you plan the garden. Varying the heights, varieties and colours of the blossoms keep the entire space interesting and fresh to behold. 

9. Canopy Cover

Planning the garden should also take into consideration the canopy cover and height of the trees you plan to grow. It is best to get in a mix of evergreen and deciduous trees to fill in the garden. This also keeps the interesting elements going all around the year. The deciduous trees, with their interesting foliage in fall, interspersed with the evergreen lushness, give it a typical jungle look and feel. 

Adding fern trees like Dicksonia Antarctica, which is an evergreen tree but may turn deciduous in colder climes, keep the canopy cover majestic. Mixing tall plants like Bamboo and banana plants gives the necessary canopy to grow shorter plants like ferns and shrubs. Adding flowering plants like cannas, dahlias etc., give a dazzling display of blooms even when the weather turns chilly.

10. Focal Feature with Water Elements

The idea of a garden is for you to have that personal haven of peace right in your home. Nothing brings peace like the sound of water, and the soothing pleasantness of adding a water body is essential to bring the tropical elements to the garden. It is a fun and exciting way to increase the beauty of your garden.

Choose to add a water slide or a fountain, a pond or a stream for a tropical feel. You can make it the focal point and add elements of entertainment and relaxation around this. You can also make it sustainable by adding a rainwater harvesting mechanism which feeds into this water body. The humidity brought about by the water body is also useful for plants. 

11. Fragrant Garden

Flowering plants tend to add to the fragrance of a tropical garden. But the intense fragrance of citrus trees and some shrubs is completely true to the nature of a quintessential tropical garden. You can easily add citrus trees to your tropical garden by planting them in a container. This can be left outside during the hotter months and brought indoors during the winter. 

They make for lovely additions to your patio or deck, and the edible fruits mean that your table is always going to be filled with yummy homegrown goodness. 

12. Patio Garden in a Tropical Theme

Have a small space and worry that a tropical garden is impossible to behold? Don’t worry, coz even if you have only a small space like a patio or a balcony; you still can have your own tropical garden. Utilise the space effectively by placing containers and pots at varying heights with plants of differing sizes and growth. Palm trees are especially useful for re-creating the tropical look and feel.

Plants like pygmy, date palm, European Fan palm etc. are plants which thrive well even in small containers. They are also hardy, which means you would have to do much less in their maintenance. Adding a pop of colour with flowering plants and citrus plants can add to the drama and feel of a tropical garden. 

13. Ground Cover

It is not just important to plan the canopy but also to plan the ground cover of your tropical garden. These are plants which are at your eye level and below and add to the most interesting elements of your garden. You will need to plan what will grow over the soil in your garden to fill the gaps and make it look a cohesive unit.

These ground cover zones are also sometimes treated as zones of transition for planting. A tropical garden is known for its green lushness, and you wouldn’t want any spots of brown peeking, so keeping your ground cover lush with evergreens works best. Some of the plants you would want to add are black mondo grass, Bergenia, Lily of the Valley, ostrich fern and so on. 

14. Incorporating Architectural Forms

Adding interest via architectural forms is a great addition to your tropical garden. You can achieve this by adding architectural foliage or by adding physical architectural forms like pergolas and arches. 

Adding plants with bold, large leaves instantly gives a very tropical look. Adding foliage which is colourful with dramatic structure can also look impressive. For adding physical structures, these can double up as comfortable resting places; you can choose to add pergolas, arches and so on. Climbing vines can be trained to climb the arches and trellis and make for a delightful pitstop in your garden.

15. Ambient Lighting

While the delight of a tropical garden rests in its appeal in the daytime, the look and feel after sunset is unmatched. After sunset, these could be places for entertaining, lounging, or even just having family time. For all this, you need a good effective lighting setup for the ambient light. You can use fairy lights, string lights, and solar lights to light up the winding pathways and the focal points.

While designing, plan the light fixtures ahead so that the wiring can be done accordingly. Adding energy-efficient solutions like solar lights can help make a sustainable tropical garden.

16. Tropical Container Garden for Small Spaces

So houses, where space is a constraint, growing a tropical garden in a container makes a lot of sense; in places which have colder climes, like the UK, where it is cold and chilly, growing tropical plants in containers makes for a better fit because these plants can be easily brought indoors when the temperature dips. In summer, the plants can be left outdoors to soak in the sun and brought indoors or into a greenhouse setup in winter. 

Choose plants with bright foliage and splendid blooms which are colourful for that typical tropical feel. Growing plants like roses and agapanthus might work well in small containers and also look splendid.

The Bottom Line

As you have seen, growing a tropical garden is not as difficult and daunting as it seems. You can easily plant and grow your tropical garden with just a bit of planning and have your tropical vacation right in the comfort of your own home. Owing to the lushness and density of these plants, you will find a plethora of birds and beautiful insects in your bustling garden.

The best thing about this style of garden is that there really is no right or wrong. You can go big and bold with the scale, height, colour and size of the plants to create a lush and abundant feel. Adding flowering plants and fruit trees ensures that you have a bounty right in your backyard.

So which of these ideas sparked your tropical vibe? Tell us in the comments.