How To Make A Tropical Garden In France ?
With increasingly hot summers marked by record temperatures, milder winters and earlier springs, it is tempting to turn to exotic species to create a garden adapted to global warming. We explain how to make a tropical garden in France in 5 questions.
1- Where to install this exotic garden ?
From now on, it is possible to make a tropical garden in France and not only in the most southern regions! You can try the adventure just about anywhere in France, as long as you have a space sheltered from cold winds and frost by a wall or a fence.
Also favor a location benefiting from a little shade for example under a tree to prevent the foliage from burning in direct sunlight and to preserve a good hygrometry.
If these growing conditions are met, you can get started even if you have a space of only a few square meters, in a small garden or in a corner of your yard.
2- How to design this tropical space?
In addition to the slightly shaded exposure and shelter from the cold, you must take special care with the soil you will use. To make a tropical garden in France, you must reproduce the conditions of a tropical forest by making sure to enrich the soil with humus.
In practice, you will not only have to make contributions of potting soil but also add a mulch of dead leaves and plant debris that will feed your exotic plants and protect them from drought.
3- How to set the scene?
As we said above, it is not necessary to have a vast space to make a tropical garden in France and recreate a jungle atmosphere near your home.
In order to create an atmosphere worthy of a lush forest, you can play on the density of plantings, the volume of plants and the contrast between foliage. So, to make this corner of your garden truly exotic, don't be afraid to accumulate many species!
This type of exotic garden is not ordered like a French garden but should rather give an impression of plant clutter and disorder like in a primary forest ;-)
4- Which plants for a tropical garden?
As temperatures rise, the choice of plants to make a tropical garden in France is growing. We will give you some ideas of species that can be used for their exuberant foliage or colorful flowers (see lists below).
Note, however, that it is best to favor species with some cold hardiness. Ask around at a Garden center to select exotic-style plants that can withstand the winter temperatures in your area.
To make this space lush and green, choose the hardiest species like:
- the Chinese palm
- the Hemp palm (Trachycarpus fortunei)
- the Japanese banana tree, which must be installed sheltered from the wind
- the non-tracking bamboo Fargesia robusta
- the oriental ostrich feather fern (Matteuccia orientalis)
- the giant rhubarb or Gunnera
- the shrub Fatsia japonica with large palmate leaves .
As for the flowers, you will be spoilt for choice between :
- hibiscus (the most rustic of which is the marsh hibiscus)
- the cock's crest
- birds of paradise or strelitzia
- arums
- the blue passionflower, interesting for its ability to climb and to quickly cover a wall or a trellis.
- the jasmine another climber with a delicious perfume
- the wattakaka a beautiful climbing plant also called Chinese dregée (Dregea sinensis).
Caution: if your area is regularly subject to watering restrictions due to drought, find out the water requirements of these different species beforehand.
5- How to maintain this exotic garden ?
You will have understood, making a tropical garden in France, it is not so complicated!
However, you will have to try to reproduce in our latitudes the conditions in which these exotic plants flourish in their natural state.
You will not only have to enrich the soil as we explained above, but also :
- ensure watering and good hygrometry in summer.
- protect some species from the cold in winter by mulching their base with a good thickness of dead leaves and covering them with a wintering veil for the most frigid ones.
