Building a tropical garden in Essex

Discussion in 'Tropical Gardening' started by aways987, Feb 26, 2014.

  1. aways987

    aways987 Gardener

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    Hi, I am new to this site but I thought that I would share my current garden project. I am currently trying to turn my terraced garden into a tropical garden.
    I am currently in the landscaping stage and I am having major structural works going on. One of the terraces is being rebuilt and extended. All f the other walls are being repaired and a new raised bed being built. All the paved areas are being re-paved with granite.
    I am currently still figuring out what to do plant wise but have been getting some ideas and am finalising a plan.
    I will post pictures over the coming months.
     
  2. JWK

    JWK Gardener Staff Member

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    Hello and welcome to the forum. Looking forward to finding out more about your project, there are a few of us interested in tropical/exotic plants.

    I can't see your photos though, it looks like you've linked them to a microsoft live account and it needs a login. I use Photobucket to display images or sometimes upload and attach (you might need a few more posts before you can do that method).
     
  3. aways987

    aways987 Gardener

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    Thanks for the advice. I was using a OneDrive account to host the photos. I have since moved them to my own hosting.
     
  4. kindredspirit

    kindredspirit Gardening around a big Puddle. :)

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    Whoever built the terrace first day.....................it's brilliant.

    Is it facing south or which way?
     
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    • mowgley

      mowgley Total Gardener

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      Looking forward to more updates, coming along nicely
       
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      • aways987

        aways987 Gardener

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        Yes it is South facing :)
         
      • pete

        pete Growing a bit of this and a bit of that....

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      • aways987

        aways987 Gardener

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        I don't quite understand what you mean by that? Could you clarify please?
         
      • pete

        pete Growing a bit of this and a bit of that....

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        Well its been raining for weeks, most places are near to flooded, but your garden appears dryish, I just thought that although it is on a slope there might be some mud around.
        If its that dry now, I'm just wondering what it is like in mid summer?
         
      • JWK

        JWK Gardener Staff Member

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        I can see the photos now. That is quite a slope you've got there but it's already starting to look good, it has loads of potential.

        It reminds me of a part of Will Giles' garden in Norwich, he has a terraced area that is pretty dry, ideal for cacti and succulents. If you get chance it's well worth a visit. This is the link to his 'dry' garden:

        http://www.exoticgarden.com/xerophytic-garden.php

        He doesn't open again till June - the reason is a lot of tropical plants need overwintering indoors, so he moves them into a polytunnel then moves them back again in the spring. If you choose your plants well you can avoid having some that need such care. There are plenty that are hardy but look exotic.
         
      • clueless1

        clueless1 member... yep, that's what I am:)

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        Hello and welcome.

        Re your photos. I can't see them. Well, that's not quite true. I'd be able to if I could be bothered to wait for them to download on my 3MB connection. It may be a good idea to scale them down a bit to make them load faster on slower connections:)
         
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        • JWK

          JWK Gardener Staff Member

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        • aways987

          aways987 Gardener

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          I'm about 3 miles from the dryest part of the country so that helps. Down here there hasn't been any rain for about 4-5 days now.
          The garden drys out pretty quickly to be honest. In the summer there isn't that much rain compared with other parts of the country.
           
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          • aways987

            aways987 Gardener

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            Thanks for the links, I have had a look and they have given me some good ideas.
            The garden is very steep but it it is split up enough that it is a pretty interesting space to work with.

            Thanks for your comments :)
             
          • aways987

            aways987 Gardener

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            I'll bear that in mind next time. The most recent photos have been reduced in size.
             
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