The Garden of Eaden: July 2023

Small Tropical Garden UK

An exotic garden is a great design choice for small gardens. However to get that tropical look with relatively hardy plants requires a little research, both for information and ideas. In this video English horticulturist Simon explains the thought process and plants that went into his exotic garden. Just remember that there are no right or wrong ideas in gardening so long as the final effect makes you happy.

Put simply, plant evergreens such as palms, yuccas, cordylines and phormiums to create a permanent, tropical-effect frame work. Then look into a range of plants for architectural and contracting coloured foliage. Roughly plant smaller plants at the front with taller ones at the back but don't be afraid to chop it about abit to create a more natural look. Regarding flowers think about strong bold colours which will evoke that tropical feel.

If you would like watch more content like this then check out our YouTube channel 'Walking Talking Gardeners'. It is absolutely free to subscribe to and you can unsubscribe instantly at any time. Click onto the notification 'bell' icon to informed as to whenever we publish a new video.

Poisonous Garden Plants That Can Kill You!

You may think that the plants brought from your local garden centre are entirely safe but think again! Many of these species found on display are highly toxic, which if ingested in sufficient quantity could easily kill a grown man! If this is a concern you, and why shouldn't it be, then English horticulturist Simon points out some of the most poisonous, commonly found garden plants.

People often say that you have more deadly products under your kitchen sink than anywhere else and while that may be true at least you know they are there and not to touch them. When it come to garden plants the majority of people have no idea what plants they have let alone their phytotoxicity! Of course, death through accidental plant poisoning in the UK is extremely rare but knowledge is power. Is it better for general population to know the risks of some of these commonly planted specimens which will increase the risk of their misuse or is there a strong case for 'ignorance bliss'? Well, that is for you to decide.

Five Reasons Why Lorna Hates Roses

At face value roses can be a wonderful garden plant, however for those who try to keep them in top condition there are many reasons why they can attract a certain amount of hatred from seasoned gardeners! So here are five reasons why English horticulturist Lorna hates roses!

If you imagine that the next time you see a rose in full bloom is the very first time you have ever seen one then it is hard to argue that this plant group is among the most impressive of all ornamental flowering plants. However the reality is that their thorns are vicious, the plant breeders have focused on flower size and shape over all else, and put simply they are a disease ridden, scruffy mess.

There are more issues to pile on which are covered in this video and I for one are in complete agreement with Lorna's five reasons for hating roses.

Tropical Gardens UK: How to Create an Exotic Garden on a Budget

Large tropical-effect, exotic gardens can be both very impressive and extremely expensive to achieve so when trying to achieve the same effect in your own garden what can you do in order to keep costs down? In this video English horticulturist shares a few tricks of the trade so that you can create an exotic garden on a budget. Get it right then any cash to manage to save can be spent on the big ticket items without breaking the bank.

Gardens take plants to fill them and the larger the garden the more plants you will need, so to manage costs which can easily spiral English horticulturist Simon explains some simple methods of propagation for some of the easiest plant genera.

How to Grow Giant Tree Lilies

Tree lilies are a fantastic collection of robust cultivars that aren't really grown in perhaps the numbers they should be however if you have your eye on growing these spectacular plants then check out our advise on how to grow tree lilies.

They are hybrid of the oriental lily and trumpet lily, and as a hybrid tree lilies express hybrid vigour in size strength and hardiness, however you just need to be aware that they do not like to have their bulbs overwinter in cold, wet conditions. That aside they are surprising easy to grow and establish, and will attial their tree like size once they have had a few years to mature.

UK Tropical Gardens: Welcome To Our Newly Planted Exotic Garden - PART TWO

First of all, check out the first part of 'Welcome to our Newly Planted (But Not Yet Finished) Exotic Garden' video which you can find at the link below:

https://youtu.be/WApjlUHNwos

You will see that changes have been afoot! The plants have grown considerably and some have even begun to flower - finally! So join us as we take a walk around our cold-hardy, tropical effect, exotic garden and show you the highlights so far. You will find in comparison to the previous video much has changed especially with the amount of blooms now on show - and we still have the main show to come!

Why is My Camellia Plant not Flowering?

Camellias only flower for a few weeks of the year, so for the other 11 months they are generally forgotten. This is a mistake and can be disastrous for the following spring if they are neglected over the summer months - especially during periods of drought which are becoming increasing common! Why, because if your Camellia becomes heat or water stressed over the summer its can react to this by dropping its flower buds? If this happens than you will have no flowers for the coming spring.

To prevent this from happening is a relatively simple affair, it is just a matter of recognising that you plant will need additional watering during periods of drought, especially for newly plantd specimens.

Tropical Gardens UK: Mistakes to Avoid When Growing Tree Echium from See...

Tree Echiums will readily produce viable seed, much of which will germinate into seedlings near to the parent plant but they will often fail when potted on - even by experienced gardeners. So in this video English horticulturist Simon explains the two mistakes you need to avoid in order to successfully pot on Tree Echium ' Echium pininana seedlings.

There are two characteristics that you need to manage when potting these plants on. the first is its surprisingly small, fibrous, root system and the second are its large leaves. Combined this means that that any replanted seedlings are likely to loose so much water through its leaves before new roots can form to mitigate it that they will almost always die due to desiccation!

Five Mistakes to Avoid When Growing Tree Ferns - Dicksonia antarctica

Tree ferns are expensive and usual struggle to maintain their conditions in most UK gardens so to help stop the decline in quality check out my five mistakes to avoid when growing Tree Ferns - Dicksonia antarctica.

The most important cultural aspect to growing these bad boys is to replicate as best as you can the environmental conditions that they have evolved to thrive in. That means proving a regular amount of water and fertiliser, then protecting them adequately over the winter so that they can bounce back with vigour in the spring. In this video English horticulturist Simon explains in painful detail exactly the techniques that work for his specimens.

Tropical Gardens: Spain's Secret Exotic Islamic Paradise Garden

This was an absolute treat! We were making our way to the Tourist Office only to find that it was housed withing a stunning Islamic style palace with adjoining paradise garden! Something we really weren't expecting. So despite this being a complete surprise I took out my mobile and began filming, so apologies for the complete lack of research. Anyway, check out Spain's secret exotic Islamic paradise garden.

Unfortunately our knowledge of Islamic gardens is not as good as we would like it to be but hopefully we have made up in enthusiasm. If you have any questions or have something you would like to add then you are very welcome to leave a comment.

Tropical Gardens UK: Is this Orchid Cactus 'Disocactus ackermannii' Genu...

You don't normally associate orchid cacti as being cold hardy plants but Disocactus ackermannii may be the exception in being genuinely cold hardy. English horticulturist Simon has been growing this particular hybrid outside for approximately 10 years on the south coast of England and this is what he has to say on the matter.

In cultivation, Disocactus ackermannii isn't actually the genuine item as it has been confused with Disocactus × jenkinsonii, a hybrid between D. phyllanthoides and D. speciosus. As in most cases this hybridisation produces 'hybrid vigour' which has expressed itself in this cultivar as being particularly robust under cold and even freezing conditions! The genuine Disocactus ackermannii is in fact as weak as a kitten!

Tropical Gardens UK: 10 Ten Easy Exotic Plants for Beginners

Cold hardy, tropical effect gardens have been popular in the UK since the Victorians but over the past century so much more is known about which plants are suitably hardy enough to provide an exotic look all year round. So if you are just starting off then check out my 10 easy exotic plants for beginners.

There are all cold hardy (some extremely so), all of them have been tried an tested in the UK for decades and on the whole should be easy to find in your local garden centre at a reasonable price. In fact you could consider this this as a planting by numbers guide to exotic gardens as you will find the majority of those featured in most UK Tropical-effect gardens. Of course there are other species and cultivars that could have been on this list but maybe that will be food for another video.

Tropical Gardens UK: Did My Free Exotic Plants by Propagation Succeed o...

We've been on a journey of propagation this last year to help build up plant stocks for our cold-hardy, tropical effect, exotic garden, but did our attempt to gain free exotic plants by propagation succeed for fail? Well there is only one way to find out and that is to watch this video!

Salvia cuttings have been a great success and there have been plenty of them as the neighbours cat like to snap off the stems by walking through them as with the Ricinus seeds and Echium seedlings. However, the large cordyline stems which were transferred earlier on on the year look very ropey!