Design your garden, but don’t shun advice
Dec 08, 2006
GARDENS are always influenced by the needs of the occupants and not by the specialist designer brought in to help. A good example is of the early colonialists who came to the tropics and having fallen in love with the lush vegetation created sweeping acres of clipped lawns, neat shrubberies and cool
By Winifred Rukidi
GARDENS are always influenced by the needs of the occupants and not by the specialist designer brought in to help. A good example is of the early colonialists who came to the tropics and having fallen in love with the lush vegetation created sweeping acres of clipped lawns, neat shrubberies and cool avenues.
It is said Bangkok got its first straight avenue in the mid-19th century when foreign residents petitioned the king that their health was suffering from lack of a place to take evening carnage rides!
The colonial influences left behind what is loosely known as colonial gardens. These are created by using masses of shrubs planted in medium-size groups with magnificent shade casting trees such as the flamboyant flame tree (delonix regia) and tall palms such as the Cuban royal palm (roystonea regia).
One problem that faces gardeners in the tropics is the inability to resist having too many different plants. This is understandable because there are too many varieties of plants in the tropics and they all seem to have wonderful bright-coloured flowers.
A client had a perimeter wall that needed dressing to avoid regular painting. She had in mind three types of climbers all absolutely lovely – bougainvillaea, honeysuckle and the flame vine. Despite all the advice she decided to section the wall into three areas and planted all the three climbers.
After a year the wall had turned into a tumbling mess of creepers. They were all removed and one type of creeper was planted. It was a lesson learnt the hard way!
GARDENS are always influenced by the needs of the occupants and not by the specialist designer brought in to help. A good example is of the early colonialists who came to the tropics and having fallen in love with the lush vegetation created sweeping acres of clipped lawns, neat shrubberies and cool avenues.
It is said Bangkok got its first straight avenue in the mid-19th century when foreign residents petitioned the king that their health was suffering from lack of a place to take evening carnage rides!
The colonial influences left behind what is loosely known as colonial gardens. These are created by using masses of shrubs planted in medium-size groups with magnificent shade casting trees such as the flamboyant flame tree (delonix regia) and tall palms such as the Cuban royal palm (roystonea regia).
One problem that faces gardeners in the tropics is the inability to resist having too many different plants. This is understandable because there are too many varieties of plants in the tropics and they all seem to have wonderful bright-coloured flowers.
A client had a perimeter wall that needed dressing to avoid regular painting. She had in mind three types of climbers all absolutely lovely – bougainvillaea, honeysuckle and the flame vine. Despite all the advice she decided to section the wall into three areas and planted all the three climbers.
After a year the wall had turned into a tumbling mess of creepers. They were all removed and one type of creeper was planted. It was a lesson learnt the hard way!