Tropical Garden -
Retreat in Your Backyard
A tropical garden is just the ticket for Southern California’s subtropical Mediterranean climate in frost free zones. With careful design and plant selection, it is even possible to have a tropical looking landscape using less water.< This garden is like a tropical oasis, a cool blue swimming pool surrounded with palms. The large-leaved foliage and year-round color provide make it feel like an island resort retreat in your own backyard. Comfy chaise chairs with tropical print cushions, pillows make it a place you will want to relax and sip fruity drinks, pretending it is your own island getaway. One of the key design features of this garden is selecting plants that provide the proper look, but which are completely compatible with the San Diego climate and grouping them to create the look without using them everywhere. This is called zonal gardening, so you can water some plants which are close together heavily and use less water on the rest of your landscape. A full tropical garden can be difficult to maintain and usually requires above average watering. The plants around the spa and swimming pool are carefully selected for the minimal shedding and will survive occasional splashing from the chlorinated pool water. 
Plants used in this garden: King Palm, Queen Palm, Date Palm, Canna hybrids, Hebe, Kniphofia, Coleus, Clivia, Passion Vine, Bird of Paradise, Bougainvillea etc. Tip: Most true tropical plants thrive on heat and humidity. We used hardier tropical look-alikes and cold-hardy variety plants. The plants in this garden require above average watering, but because they are clustered to create the look and feel of the tropics, they do not cause excessive water use. Tip: A key to healthy tropical garden areas is to provide lots of light and lots of water.
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