Planning Your Subtropical Garden

One of the questions I am asked from clients who have a new property or blank canvas is, “Where do I start?”

The answer is simple—start with a plan. That plan could include the first section of the design process.

Coming from a design background, I always approach a garden the same way I would any design project. Every site is different, every family is different, and the best gardens are the ones that reflect the people who live in them.

To sum it up

  1. Get inspired.

  2. Ask yourself questions.

  3. Make a plan and get feedback.

Step 1: Get Inspired

Before buying any plants, spend time collecting ideas. A great garden is so much more than just plants.

My favourite ways to find inspiration are:

  • Get visiting. Visit public gardens such as Auckland’s Botanical Gardens or the Hamilton Gardens to experience different garden design styles. This helps you define your style and can point you in the right direction and away from others. Obviously, this blog is specifically about a subtropical theme, but these gardens are truly inspiring. I lived next to the Hamilton Gardens when I was a student at university and still go back when they open new spaces.

  • Browse books from the library or op shops. One of my best finds was ‘The Royal Horticultural Society Encyclopaedia of Garden Design’.

  • Create a Pinterest mood board or a paper version.

  • Use AI to visualise plants in your own garden before you plant. I love when clients photograph our plants and impose them into their space to see what it could look like. There are apps that can design your garden for you!

  • Walk or cycle around your neighbourhood and notice what catches your eye. What is thriving in the local habitat? Take photos (respectfully) of what you love.

  • Magazines.

  • YouTube, Google.

  • If your budget allows it start looking for a landscape designer that people recommend.

  • Join a local gardening club or garden swap group, they often organise monthly/weekly meetings and trips to wonderful gardens and nurseries and have guest speakers.

  • Make lists, write down plant names you adore from garden centres.

  • TV: HGTV – I love gardening shows! Remember the good old days with Maggie's garden show. BBC’s ‘Your Garden made perfect’.

  • Instagram – My favourite plant pages include: Xanthe White Design, Kirsten Sach & Natural Habitats. Favourite Tropical themed garden centre: Touch of the Tropics. Favourite local landscapers – Rochford landscapes

Visit our nursery and we will show you around the show garden. At the time of writing this I am finally organising formal dates for bookable tours for gardeners, we often show customers for free, or host paid garden tours for garden groups. I love seeing visitors’ reactions, most people say wow, or I had no idea this was here or do you have functions here, do you swim in the pond, how do you keep the water so clean looking, but my favorite reaction was holy shit! It really is inspiring. One of my favorite things to do in the world is sharing my parents’ garden they made. I have met some interesting passionate gardeners and love talking plants.

The more gardens you see, the more you will discover what you naturally gravitate towards.

Step 2: Ask Yourself the Right Questions

Every successful garden starts by understanding your site and your lifestyle.

Think about:

  • The size of your property.

  • How do you plan to use your garden.

  • Soil type and drainage. This is important and will affect how well your plants thrive.

  • Subtropical plants like free draining soil. Clay soil does not drain well; sandy soil does not hold water. But there are ways around this. I recommend getting as much good topsoil you can afford. But also, when planting mixing it with the existing soil and add compost. Palms are gross feeders and will thrive by feeding them every spring. On our websites FAQ I have included what we use, specifically in our Nursery.

  • The conditions: Wind, salt spray, and frost. Harsh coastal winds can make large tropical foliage look scrappy e.g. Heliconia. Only choose plants that are suitable for your conditions – Do you need to consider frost protection? In Matakana we have some indoor plants thriving under the canopy of palms!

  • Challenges: slopes, tiny, flat, need terracing? I recommend getting your hard scaping done first when it comes to actually getting dirty, I’m talking diggers, retaining walls, drainage, you’ll need to do this work when it’s not too wet, otherwise your garden will turn into the little yellow digger kids story. If you have a blank canvas – even better. Do the big stuff first, it will create structure and address problems.

  • Sun and shade. Which way is north? I find it annoying when we are eating dinner on our deck and the sun blares into my face blinding me! What side of the house is shady. Clivia are great.

  • Views you want to keep, enhance, block, frame?

  • Do you want to incorporate permaculture philosophies into your design? What even is permaculture? I took ideas from it like positioning my vegetable garden and compost bins close to my kitchen.

  • Your budget.

  • Your partner – what do they want, are you on the same page?

  • Your time – Ask yourself how much maintenance you are willing to do. Can you afford others to do the work, or do you love gardening and plan to spend every day in it because you will be retired. For me gardening is my therapy.

  • Whether you want an instant garden or are happy to watch it develop over time. Some clients have just built their retirement house and do not have 15 years to get 3-4m plants.

  • When you will be planting and whether you will be around to water during establishment. Remember, there is no point planting a new subtropical garden before heading away for a month over summer if no one is there to water it.

  • If you have just moved in – actually live there for a while, experience the 4 seasons, look at how you use the garden, each window in your house has a view of your garden – is there anything you want to highlight, take out, do more of.

  • Water – Are you on a limited supply? Do you need irrigation because you have sandy soil? Where do you get it from? I have three hose points in my garden (for washing the car, my flower patch and general use.)

  • Weed suppression. Mulch, spray, weed mat, rocks, ground cover plants? I do not recommend weed mat as it does not feed the soil it compresses it. Mulch helps to feed the soil, stop weeds and looks good. But choose 1 type and stick to it. I regrated using different mulch products – so now use forest floor. I do not like spraying, but we have such a large property to maintain that we must in some contexts. In the nursery – mowing lawns helps and using weed mats does help a lot as we grow 99% of our plants in bags.

Employing a landscape designer to give you a garden consultation is a useful thing to do at this point. Flourish Garden Concepts is a good place to start. They can also offer you planting plans, garden concept drawings, and landscape build coordination. I recommend Kirsten Sach’s Landscape Design work too.

Step 3: Draw a Plan

If you can afford it employ a landscape designer to do one for you. This will take some stress out of the process. Or sketch your garden plan with the above in mind. Use google earth to get your scale right.

Types of plans

  • Birds eye view.

  • Cross section – important if on a slope, look at your property from different perspectives.

Include existing trees, buildings, and pathways, then think about how you want to use the space and how others will. Don’t be afraid to take things out you don’t like, Taking green waste to the dump isn’t that expensive at all.

Things I considered in my own garden:

  • Outdoor entertaining. When we have BBQ’s it is handy to have them near our kitchen, so we are not forever walking back and forth. Do you want an outdoor kitchen? When Raewyn and Bruce put the Fale next to the pond, having a fridge, sink, power, bench, storage, bins, lighting, wind protection, and heating would all make the space more functional.

  • Children’s play areas. We inherited an old playhouse which I moved a couple times with the forks on our loader. I had always wanted one for my children but after talking with friends who had one, they said their kids did not actually use them that much, unless they had friends over but they make good toy storage for the kid’s bikes. I found this to be true too, but I had a fun time doing it up. My husband and I built a sandpit next to it. I wanted the kids to have shade over it, so I upcycled old bits of steel and grew Tecomanthe speciosa aka Three Kings Vine over it. We ended up positioning the playhouse in direct view out a set of side doors to frame the scene from the house. It is also in view from my kitchen window while we cook so I could watch them in the sand pit. I also wanted it near vegetable/dahlia flower farm so I could work in it next to them playing. I find it really annoying having to move our kids tramp when I mow the lawn so I plan to position it with mulch under it so it has a permanent spot.
  • Flower cutting bed. I grew up with my great grandparents and grandparents growing dahlias, and when we moved from a five hundred square meter property in Napier back to the family farm and nursery in Matakana, I had the opportunity to create something special. Dahlias was always something I wanted to grow – I have now had 4 seasons of growing them and I absolutely love them. I do not have the time to manage them all so I am at the stage when I am streamlining my flower side hustle. This looks like only including colours and forms, I love with strong straight flower stems for the vase.
  • Where my mates would pitch their tent.
  • Access points and paths for maintenance. Think about main routes and secondary routes. How do you use the garden currently? Plan your routes. Can you drive around your house? Do you need to? I know councils like it if you wash your car on the grass instead of putting soap down the drain. I like being able to drive the loader with a big bin into my garden to take away palm fronds and bring mulch in easily.
  • Vegetable gardens or orchards.
  • Parking and overflow parking.
  • Guest accommodation. We have a sleep out which I did not want to see from inside my house.
  • Fire pit area. This was my husband’s zone. He created a ‘outdoor room’ which is protected from the prevailing wind so we would not have smoke in our faces. I love the way it feels cozy being in this space on a fire pit night. We love our ‘Whitianga’ fire pit that we cook on.
  • Service areas like where to position washing lines, rubbish bins, garden sheds.
  • Future projects – I want an outdoor bath, surrounded by a screen of lush foliage and a black aluminium glass house for winter growing.
  • My protea picking garden. I love the Protea Patch Nursery. I dedicated a mound for proteas because they do not like wet feet, I also incorporated a kid’s bike pump track into it!

I have learnt a lot from just doing it, letting my parents’ guide me but also, I have made mistakes (Yes, Mum you were right). I have planted things too close together! ‘Negative space’ to let your eye rest. An over flowering garden can feel overwhelming visually but also from a maintenance standpoint. Visual consistency is important. When people put too many plant choices into one space it can look all over the place! Choosing key plants to repeat through the garden creates visual cohesion.

A good garden is about much more than beautiful plants—it is about creating a space that suits the way you live.

Also consider:

  • Do you want to plant fully native only?
  • Privacy and security - fence/hedge – do you have time to maintain a hedge or is a Chamadorea Costaricana screen a better option that you do not need to maintain. Aucklanders are using this to screen out their close neighbours. Black fences look amazing as a backdrop with Dypsis Baronii in front of them enhance the plants form with a flat contrasting backdrop. They also love a north facing sunny sheltered spot next to a structure as they are frost tender.
  • Do you know your local councils banned plant list. It breaks my heart when I see people planting agapanthus!
  • Screening plants – is there things you want to steer your eye away from by screening them out like tanks?
  • Sculpture or seating – great for creating a visual full stop at the end of a path as a ‘destination’.
  • Colour – My design teacher once called me a ‘chromophobe’ as I was shy about colour! Not anymore baby! I love fully curated colour gardens all white and green for example. Or having strelitzia’s (bird of paradise) orange flowers as a accent colour. I love pinks and purples. For a consistent feel I recommend choosing 3 main accent colours then using different tints and tones of it. Clivia groves look amazing when planted on mass in one colour.
  • Street appeal – will you be selling your house any time soon?
  • Do you want an enclosed feeling/open aspect or more of a balanced approach?
  • Wet zones – some plants like tractor seat plants love wet feet.
  • Flooding: where does water flow when it floods, do you need to address drainage.
  • Outdoor furniture.
  • Multi-level gardens – do you need to install steps.
  • Recycling material – if you’re on a budget or just like to up cycle this is a way to give your garden unique character. When we moved to the nursery, it scared me how much random stuff my father had collected over the years – I have had lots of fun clearing out his sheds and finding things I can use in my garden like old wooden power pole cross arms as garden edging. 

Design elements to also consider:

  • Shapes and space – geometric, circular, diagonals, angles, organic, curved, straight, traditional…

  • Height and Structure – for the large ‘canopy’ plants

  • Perspective – leading lines. You can use paths or edges to direct the eye.

  • Texture (when choosing materials and plants) One of my favourite feature plants for texture is giant grass tress – specially the Australian Xanthorrhoea Glauca

Subtropical Plant Guide/Ideas

To mimic a natural jungle: (Layering the below plants can create shade, protection, and traps moisture)

Tall Canopy Palms

  • Nikau, Rhopalostylis sapida, NZ’s only Native Palm, Classic shuttlecock form

  • King Palm (Very cool ribbed trunks with green crown shafts)

  • Kentia, Howea forsteriana (Water fall frond shaped, adds the most value to a property)

  • Ravenea Glauca – Majestic Palm (Triangular shaped trunks once established)

Smaller or Slower Growing Plants

  • Rhaphis Multifida

  • Tracycarpus wagnerianus (Can cope with snow!)

  • Dypsis Baronii, Sugar Cane Palm or Black Petiole which has a super cool blank trunk

  • Pony Tall Palm, Beaucarnea recurvate

Mid scale layer of shrubs

  • Philodendron Xanadu

  • Stralizia Bird of Paradise (There are a number of types, check you have the space for large varieties)

  • Elephant ears

  • Hibiscus – This can be used as a tight hedge)

  • Gardinia (smell amazing too)

  • Anthurium Coriaceum (Paddle Leaf)

  • Giant Bromeliads Alcantarea or Vinicolour

Foreground/ lower ground cover

  • Tractor Seat Plants

  • Bromeliads

  • Clivia (requires shade)

Edging plants

  • Liriope

Climbing Plants

  • Star Jasmine

  • Bougainvillea

  • Passionfruit

Screening Plants

  •   Chamaedorea varies like Costericana (AKA Bamboo Palm)

Focal point/Specimen Plants

  •  Umbrella Palms, Hedyscepe Canterburyana

  •  The rarer Kentia Balmoreana

  •  Large Grass Trees – Mexican or Australian

  • Cycads, Encephalartos natalensis, Lepidozamia Peroffskyana, Sago, Macrozamia communis, Australian Bottle Trees

Fruit Trees

  • Passionfruit (climbing also)

  • Banana

Choose a Garden Layout

Most subtropical gardens have a relaxed, lush feel, but there are no rules.

For a more formal look use straight lines for paths and garden beds. Use even numbers with plants. For a more subtropical organic relaxed feel use curved lines, odd numbers 3,5,7 etc. Use triangles when positioning plants. But also, do you know how big these plants will get! Visiting the show garden at Matakana Gardens is useful with this in mind.

I’d recommend sorting out larger plants like palms first – to create a canopy, then layering mid layer plants such as hibiscus, philodendrons, vireya, frangipani etc, and in the foreground ground cover plants or edging plants.

One lesson I learnt was to use Liriope around the edges of my garden beds. It keeps mulch in place (birds cannot pull it out as easily), creates a tidy border and is inexpensive because it’s so easy to divide and propagate.

Do not be afraid to mix formal elements into a tropical garden. My mother has box hedging in her subtropical garden. But it does not look out of place as it is curved.

Think Beyond the Plants

Plants are only one part of great garden design.

Also consider:

  • Your neighbors. If you plant a hedge, are they likely to maintain their side of it? Will you effect each other’s views.

  • Lighting to highlight feature plants and extend the use of your garden after dark.

  • Heating: such as a fire pit, heaters, or outdoor fireplace.

  • Water features for movement and atmosphere. Keep in mind health in safety with this one with drowning hazards if you have kids.

  • Spiky plants and slipping hazards also come to mind when considering Health and Safety.

  • Pool/spa? Do you need a changing room that includes the pump house and a bathroom. Will this require an outdoor shower?

  • Garden edging to keep mulch tidy and create definition. I love Tiny Anvil’s Corten edging

  • Sculptures, seating, or other focal points. I adore Modscene’s enormous feature pots, they come in a wide range of colour. The best palm for pots is Kentia.

  • Tree house

  • Man Cave/She shed/Art, yoga, office, bike shed, storage buildings.

  • Sorna

Learn as Your Garden Grows

No garden is ever truly finished. Every decision has reflected how we wanted to live, rather than simply how we wanted the garden to look.

Final Thoughts

A beautiful subtropical garden does not happen overnight. It develops over time, and that’s part of the joy.

Once you have a plan – get feedback on it, share it with others. It is your space so you do what you want with it. Others perspectives may give you ideas you haven’t considered and may be useful. Once you have done this refine your plan.

When it comes to get planting – I recommend starting with one area and finishing it. Like your entry point to your house – This will give you a sense of achievement and you’ll walk past it every day!
I love Claude Monet’s famous quote about gardening "My garden is my most beautiful masterpiece".

If you plan, you are less likely to waste time and money and more likely to create something unique that meets your needs and brings you so much joy and pride.

Take your time, gather inspiration, ask the right questions, and do not be afraid to adjust your plan as your garden evolves.

Nic Whistler Smith