The Center of It All

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May 1st

The deck begins

May 29th

June 5th

June 10th

June 16th

July 18th

Around the bend on August 24th

The tropical garden began in earnest with "hardscaping" in late April. We decided to place a spa in the middle of our jungle-to-be. We poured a slab where it would sit and then built a deck around the spa. Gary skirted the deck with plywood, topped the plywood with concrete board, and finished it with mortar. After weeks filled with wonderboard, lumber, mortar, levels, and power tools, the actual transformation occurred only when the plants were introduced. We were finally getting to the fun part, if you can call moving pallets of bricks and soil fun.

Gary planned a raised bed to extend around three sides of the deck. A curved path emerged between the raised bed and the bed that was prepared several months earlier. The path was covered with weedblock and pea gravel and edged with short wooden posts.

First, we ripped out the tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers to make way for the jungle-to-be. Tropicana canna went in their place. Then came the palm trees.

In the raised bed we planted two Phoenix roebelinii, a Wodyetia bifurcata, Rhapis koban, Syagrus romanzoffiana, Trachycarpus takugai, Trachycarpus takii, Trachycarpus khasyanus, and two other Trachycarpus of which we are uncertain. The Trachycarpus we found locally was labelled as a T. fortunei, but we suspect it may be a T. wagnerianus.

In addition to the palms, we also planted hibiscus, split leaf philodendron, papaya, anthurium, bird of paradise, croton, and assorted flowers for color. After that, we added some Rhapis excelsa, Ravenea rivularis, and Dypsis decaryi (formerly Neodypsis decaryi).

All of a sudden, we had a beautiful pathway beckoning us to wander in further. Equally as sudden was the abrupt end of the path. We just had to keep going around the bend and put in MORE PALMS! No surprise there. The remainder of path quickly transformed with a few dozen assorted plants. The deck will eventually be surrounded by a canopy of lush emerald green jungle delight.

As we patiently wait for the jungle to arrive, ample water is provided. Regular feedings with fertilizer are essential, with the bananas and papayas getting extra doses. Gary also uses SuperThrive hormones and EcoSane to stimulate vigorous growth.

Be sure to remember raingardens.com and see how the yard will continue to transform. If you want to know what the latin names were describing, be sure to visit our garden gallery