Jungle Effects

At our April meeting Trish Symons shared some amazing pictures with us and some suggestions for creating a jungle effect in your own garden either on a small or large scale.

Photo By: Chris Brown Left Beverley Farmer Right Trish Symons

Here are some of the elements she suggests to create a jungle effect
•  Looking in or looking out – by creating a “wall” with foliage with a peek-a-boo lookout

Photo By: Trish Symons

•  Have a strong contrasting background
•  Lots of foliage (not too many flowers) gives a dense and damp feeling like the jungle

Photo By: Trish Symons

•  Water elements create the hot humid damp feeling

Photo By: Trish Symons

•  Sensory – have things that brush against you, things tumbling into the path, hanging down
•  Create visual hidden surprises like large alliums amongst hostas or a sculpture, old iron pieces, decaying trunks, concrete pieces

Photo By: Trish Symons

•  Create your garden under a big canopy tree for filtered light
•  Lots of contrast with form, shape, colour, height and texture
•  For a smaller effect create a jungle container garden for the corner of a deck

Some plants she suggests
•  Fat Spike Amaranthus
•  Elephant Ears
•  Wisteria for twirly vine look
•  Fox tail Lilies
•  Angelia lime/purple
•  Digatalis Foxglove – at eye view, this needs to be staked
•  New Zealand Flax Chocolate – great for floral design as well
•  Japanese Maple – a type of tree that a troup of monkeys might hang out in
•  Canna – Tropicana

Photo By: Trish Symons (Pretoria Canna)

•  Black Sweet potato vine for contrast and growing on things like stumps and sculptures
•  Willow Tree – for the looking in/looking out concept
•  Cabaret Ornamental grass – plant in old tree trunks
•  Japanese anemone
•  Taro elephant ears – huge leaves can be grown in a pot or ground
•  Virginia Creeper – for fall colour