Here's my half empty tropical style garden, what can I fill it with?

[Kitsmummy]

I moved in in December and this is my side garden which doesn't get a lot of sun. Once I've finishd putting the stone down there will be a table and chairs in the middle of it but I would like the borders to be lush, green and tropical style, with no fences showing. There is currently a banana type tree, cordylines (which I hate), bamboo and a fig in the sunny part of the fence between the cordylines. I have also just bought a fatsia japonica, a yucca and another low spiky thing to go in, but can you suggest other stuff which would work well please?

Have a look on iplayer at this week's Gardener's World. Joe Swift went to visit a fabulous jungle garden in Surrey.

Agree the cordylines are grim. Do you get frost?

If not then:

for bromeliad wall

I have on in my garden and post a pic if I can find one. I do live In Melbourne, no frost.

Well, that link didn't work, but if you google bromeliad wall, you'll see lots of examples. I think many are way too tidy and manicured, but then I am an untidy gardener.

For the fence, you could plant climbers like passiflore and clematis. Passiflore grows really quickly, and the flowers look exotic.

I think you will need to balance your long spiky leaves with other shapes like colocasia, bergenia, gunneras. I'd also put cannas. Perhaps some euonymus or euphorbia to add different flower shapes?

Morrisons does cheap climbers, and sometimes cannas and Phoenix palms, if you are so inclined.

Am also trying to develop a jungle theme in one border. Lots of trials and errors!

*not euonymus, eremerus (fox tail lilies)

Why spiky plants? I detest spiky plants unless they are giving you something splendid back like fruit.

Are you in an area that will support jungle type plants?

Thanks everyone, well I've seen the Surrey jungle garden, absolutely fantastic! I've decided to pull the two cordylines out, don't know what it is about them but they offend me so much!

Unfortunately I am in an area that gets frost (rural Somerset!) but the banana type tree seems to do ok (and there's another large one on the lawn). We're in a bit of a valley so the weather's not too harsh.

I will look up all the plants suggested, although I do know what a gunnera is, I've always wanted one of those!

In somerset? Well then you can go for it. Go visit Heligan and see what they have growing in the jungle down the bottom and emulate what you like down there.

When you say banana type, do you mean a wide leaf one like ensete or musa basjoo? If so, that means your winter is quite mild.

You may find these give you some inspiration:
www.cooltropicalplants.com/tropical-garden-design.html
www.urbanjungle.uk.com

Fatsia Japonica looks really exotic/jungly but s actually pretty hardy and evergreen in the UK.

More bamboo and Euphorbia would look good.
And passion flower and Clematis armandii for the fences.
I wouldn't go too much more jungley as it could look a bit odd.

Here are two views of the subtropical bed in my garden and the bromeliad wall.

Don't know what happened there. The bromeliads are all cheap ones bought in Sunday markets. The wall is an oblong of rebar hung on the fence by hooks. In the bed are clivia, bears' breeches. more bromeliads, hoya, swiss cheese plant, aspidistra and a massive staghorn fern.

What makes this garden do-able, as well as the no frost is it's narrow, so shaded by next door's trees. I noticed on the jungle garden programme it looked very much like a valley, so much cover would be given from both frost and sun by the trees.

Could you grow gunnera? I'd love to but far too dry.

Ooh that looks lovely echt, is that a cheese plant I can see in the bed? We always had those in the house when I was growing up!

Right, ref the banana plant, I got it wrong. It's not a banana plant, it's that big Palm type thing you can see in the right of the pic, I'm not sure what the real name is but I've just realised bananas have totally different leaves!

I pulled the cordylines out yesterday, much better but I am now left with even more space to fill!

I already had a fatsia japonica to go in, I love them and agree they look v tropical too.

I tried to get an armandii but they were out of them so will try another day. I did get some ivy to grow over the fence though. With the cordylines gone it's not looking so tropical so I thought i might now just go for a lush green look rather than overtly tropical. I bought a silver birch for the big now empty corner and will also get lots of ferns and hostas too. Think I'll have to scour car boots for the hostas at least as I can see this is going to cost an arm and a leg.

And no, I don't have the space for a gunnera (or the moisture either in fairness. Ah, one day)

And I'll get more bamboo too and euphorbias, hopefully it will all blend and not look too random?!

Just a word of warning on euphorbia, they do spread quite a lot. I've just had to move all of mine as they were crowding everything else. Don't be fooled if you plant a single stem, next year it could be a dome 50cm across.

I love castor oil plant ricinus, fabulously lush and beautiful, but it is poisonous.
also melianthus major

I second cannas. Easy and give you a nice lush feel from fairly early on. Some have really nice coloured foliage.

Not tropical but if you are going for lush leaf textures I would consider a japanese maple. Nothing like them for interest in all seasons, and they come in lots of sizes to suit the space you have available. They are expensive though.

Update, I thought I'd take a pic to show the good progress after all the great advice! I now have more bamboos along the left hand fence, an acer, two fatsia japonicas, a silver birch, one(!) euphorbia but it does have a few baby plants growing with it that I'll seperate off soon.

They're all tiny but hopefully in a couple of years it will look much more lush.

Ps it's in the shade at the moment but by the afternoon it's a real sun trap (didn't actually notice this before having not ventured out much in the winter, doh!)

Bamboo ... my neighbor did that and now we have it too

Or bamboo in pots if you Don't want t to share it with your neighbours

It's ok QOD I researched the bamboo and have gone for fargesium murielae (sp?) which is clumping and won't spread like that