Green Onion Landscaping can create you lush tropical borders that will bring a taste of paradise to your back or front garden, whatever the weather.

Big foliage and loud colours are all the rage. Green Onion Landscaping’s tropical borders are an unashamed celebration of all plants bold, blousy and brash. From sexy cannas to funky red-hot pokers, every bloom is vibrantly coloured and overstated and every handsome leaf oozes impact.

Green Onion Landscaping can help you to create tropical borders to provide non-stop colour and interest in your garden from early summer to early autumn. You’ll see that the majority of the plants we have used can be easily grown from scratch and, for the most part, you won’t need any specialist equipment – our tropical borders are created without using a greenhouse or artificial heat.

You can actually start Dahlias and cannas into growth in a shed, an unheated greenhouse, a spare room or even a cold frame. The only instance where you would ideally need a heated propagator is for raising the coleus, gazanias and annual dahlias, but they will germinate in the airing cupboard, or you can buy pots of ready – germinated seedlings in April. If you prefer, you can also buy established plants in May.

Green Onion Landscaping will show you the basics of creating tropical borders, but you don’t have to follow our planting plan slavishly – feel free to improvise with other tropical substitutes or additions of your own choice.

Exotic combinations to recreate 
Successfully planted tropical borders should not only show off individual plants but also highlight exciting plant combinations, to create an eye-catching contrast in shape size and colour of foliage and flowers. Make the right choices and you can achieve a striking blend of colour and texture in your border. Here are a few of Green Onion Landscaping’s favourites to set you on your way with your very own tropical borders.

Canna and melianthus – The hot red striped leaves of Canna ‘Durban’ are cooled by the serrated, sea-green leaves of the honeybush, Melianthus major, providing long-lasting sculptural foliage. In milder parts of the country, Melianthus will survive happily outdoors but may need frost protection in colder areas. Cut leaves back hard in spring for a surge of fresh, new foliage.

Kniphofia or Red Hot Poker – Kniphofia caulescens ooze with exotic appeal. The red stripes of the canna leaves are reflected in the vibrant blooms of dahlia and are set off by the background of dark, soft green leaves which create a muted, calming foil to the busy group of plants in front.

Gazania – Yellow Gazanias help complete tropical borders beautifully with their pretty yellow dainty petals. These flowers are also available in orange or white.

Tropical borders champion plants
Although the majority of the plants we’ve used are not strictly tropical, they are all natives of warmer countries and should, therefore, be treated as half-hardy or tender plants, plant them out only when the danger of frost has completely passed. Store them in frost-free conditions during the winter.

Green Onion Landscaping’s selection focuses on plants with either bright, vibrant flowers, or bold, handsome leaves (or both), all chosen to achieve the desired lush, exotic-feel. Dahlias form the mainstay of the border with gaudy cannas creating a structural, big leaved contrast. Skirting around the edge of the border are daisy flowered gazanias, with their bright blooms opening wide in the warmth of the sun.

As a centrepiece, we’ve used musa, a banana plant, which is impressive for its huge fan-like leaves. The spiky cordyline or a tall-growing New Zealand flax (Phormium) are good alternatives. To add some extra height to your tropical borders, plant the centrepiece in a large pot, raised on a few bricks.

Dahlia – Dahlias are among the most striking and flamboyant of summer flowers. A single plant will fill a large space and their non stop flowering makes them excellent value for money. This particular Dahlia has bright orange double blooms. Height: up to 1.5m (5ft)

Ricinus Communis – ‘ Carmencita’- Castor Oil plants (r.communis) have handsome foliage and grow at an extremely fast rate. All plants are poisonous if eaten, so treat them with care and respect. Carmencita bears spiky pinkish-red flowers. This can reach a height of 1.8m (6ft) or more.

Helianthus ‘Lemon Queen (Sunflower) – ‘Lemon Queen’ is one of the fantastic new varieties of annual sunflowers that have been bred in recent years. Available in a huge range of sunny. fiery shades, they are easy to grow from seed too. Height: 1.5m (5ft)

Lilium ‘Corina’ – Lillies, although exotic in appearance are very easy to grow from bulbs. ‘Corina’ is one of the many relatively short growing Asiatic hybrids and, although unscented, bears stunning waxy petalled blooms of deepest red. Height : 75cm (30 inches)

Site and soil

For the best results, site your tropical borders in a sunny, sheltered spot. using free-draining soil, with plenty of well-rotted organic matter mixed in will ensure that your plants put on the best possible show. Our plan can be scaled up or down to fit any border so don’t worry about that.

Plant list for your tropical borders

  • Canna ‘Durban’ Indian shot x 5
  • Carex flagellifera x 1
  • Dahlia ‘Bishop of Llandaff x 3
  • Dahlia ‘David Howard x 3
  • Dahlia ‘Redskin x 7
  • Gazania ‘Talent Mixed x 21
  • Helianthus ‘Lemon Queen’ (sun-flower) x 9
  • Helianthus ‘Sundance Kid’ (dwarf sunflower) x 12
  • Kniphofia caulescens (Red hot poker or torch lily) x 2
  • Lilium ‘Corina’ (lily) x 6
  • Lobelia tupa x 3
  • Melianthus major ( honey blush) x 1
  • Musa basjoo (Japanese banana) x 1
  • Ricinus communis ‘Carmencita’ Castor Oil plant x 1
  • Solenostemon ‘Peter’s Wonder’ (coleus) x 5

Now all that’s to do is get planting. Enjoy your tropical borders. if you’d like to view our soft landscaping or hard landscaping work take a look on our Facebook page.