Plants for a leafy jungle look
By selecting plants with a variety of shapes, sizes, colours and textures, it is possible to create a full and attractive border with year-round interest and a leafy jungle look that will make you feel transported to an exotic destination
Quick facts
- Choose hardy plants that can withstand outdoor temperatures
- Foliage can provide colour interest, as well as flowers, giving a jungle feel
- Look for microclimates within your garden that may suit some jungle-feel plants particularly well
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The planting plan
This simple design of plants, once established, will grow well and create a leafy jungle look while still providing a variety of interest throughout the year.
Plants to give a jungle feel
Choosing plants with a jungle feel
Trachycarpus is the focal point with its large palm leaves, which contrast with the strap-like leaves of the Phormium and more rounded leaves of Bergenia and Umbilicus.
This planting scheme of tropical-looking foliage also provides seasonal colour and interest. Bergenia flowers in spring, with Umbilicus flowering in spring and summer, while Acanthus and Dahlia follow on to flower through the summer.
Bergenia and Dahlia will help to attract beneficial insects to the garden. Providing a variety of different flowering types over a long period will help to attract a wide variety of pollinators.
The Bergenia and Umbilicus provide groundcover and will help prevent erosion of bare soil. The groundcover can also reduce loss of soil moisture by evaporation and will help to suppress weed growth.
Additional organic mulching, preferably with homemade compost, can further help with soil moisture retention and weed suppression.
1 - Phormium ‘Yellow Wave’
2 - Acanthus mollis
3 - Trachycarpus fortunei
4 - Dahlia ‘Bishop of Llandaff’
5 - Bergenia purpurascens var. delavayi
6 - Umbilicus oppositifolius
2 - Acanthus mollis is a herbaceous perennial with large, deeply cut, glossy green leaves and tall spikes of white flowers, sheathed in dusky purple bracts, in summer.
3 - Trachycarpus fortunei is an evergreen palm, forming a small tree with a stout, fibre-covered trunk and deeply divided, fan-shaped leaves. Large arching sprays of small, light-yellow flowers hang beneath in summer.
4 - Dahlia ‘Bishop of Llandaff’ is a herbaceous perennial with dark, blackish-red divided foliage and semi-double, brilliant red flowers in summer that are attractive to pollinators.
5 - Bergenia purpurascens var. delavayi is an evergreen perennial with large, round, dark green leaves that become beetroot-red in winter. Slender reddish stems bear drooping clusters of deep pink flowers in spring.
6 - Umbilicus oppositifolius is a prostrate evergreen perennial with large, fleshy leaves and arching spikes of small, bright yellow flowers on brownish stems in spring and summer.
About leafy jungle-look plants
AGM plants tend to be more naturally resistant to pests and disease and, once established, will reduce the need for extra inputs that weaker-growing plants would need, such as excessive water and fertiliser.
A simple planting plan helps create depth, interest and good coverage in a border.
The challenge of growing leafy jungle-look plants
Why choose a sustainable planting combination?
Get involved
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