Episode: Singapore Special
Presenter: Trevor Cochrane

We can all create that exotic effect at home whether it be indoors using a tropical plant or utilising an outdoor area. The outdoor area needs to have protection from the cold of winter for it to be effective though. For example, a polycarbonate roofing acts like an atrium and protects from the elements but also heats up by solar rays and creates a micro climate that encourages tropical plants to grow beautifully.

Before you go putting the plants into your garden what you really do need to do is set the scene which is achieved by setting up the hard scape.

Granite is the stone of choice in most Asian garden styles with the blue and the black being most commonly used. The good news is, they are easily found in Australia but the hard thing about them is manoeuvring them into place. The rocks can be enormous and very heavy weighing between one and a half and two and a half tones so you have to use a special forklift.

Trevor’s garden is a fusion of various Asian beliefs and cultural pieces. Trevor added magnificent lava stone calving of Buddha which was hand calved in Indonesia. It is set atop a small water feature that is home to the sacred lotus lilly and a stone calving relief as a backdrop wall setting.

The large flat granite rock makes the perfect platform for a water feature. It is not about using lots of water but more about creating a gentle trickle into the reservoir below that is really important to create a wonderful ambience.

The rocks that Trevor used below in the pond section are also really important. They are not river stones taken from some tropical river system, they are rolled granite stones, just chunks of granite that came as a by product from the larger rocks being broken out of the quarry. Once they have been put though a tumbler, they make the perfect river stone feature.

The plants Trevor chose for the garden are really special. He has used tropical gingers like Beehive Torch and Butterfly Gingers. He has also used Giant Elephant Ears Alocasia for effect; Birds Nest Ferns (Asplenium nidus), Cane Begonias, the waterwise Fire Lily (Lilium bulbiferum) and the incredible Giant Fern (Angiopteris evecta) which is an ancient relic of the dinosaur era.

Then there is Trevor’s favourite, the orchids. There are two distinct types, terrestrial orchids or epiphytes which grow up in the air on branches. To guarantee success there are three things you need to do and one of them is to make sure you reduce the competition from other plants.

Weed mat also acts as a weed suppressant and every garden should utilise as it also acts as a water saving mulch, reducing evaporation. Regular watering is important and so is making sure water stays in the soil. Add wetting agents and Yates Water storage Crystals to make the world of difference to a plants performance in a tropical garden.

The third and most important key to success is making sure the soil is really healthy, and if you are not sure then uses something like Yates Dynamic Lifter Potting mix as it has plenty of nutrients in it and will guarantee great gardening success.

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