Growing a REAL Urban Jungle – Dr Simon Olpin’s Sheffield Garden Paradise

An evergreen jungle garden hidden in Sheffield, England – today’s garden tour is a visit to Dr Simon Olpin’s plant paradise filled with giant bamboo, rare exotic Schefflera umbrella plants, huge Trachycarpus windmill palm trees, towering Eucalyptus trees and countless evergreen exotics – a REAL urban jungle garden in a UK city! Walking around the garden, Simon gives a tour of his jungle garden’s journey from 1988 and evolution into an established tropical paradise with plant ideas, care tips, garden regrets and what he’d do and grow if he started it all again… Not shying away from invasive running bamboo with huge canes, the fastest growing Eucalyptus trees and packing in countless Trachycarpus palm trees, the overall effect is stunning and Simon’s enthusiasm for growing the unusual is contagious. He reveals his top tips for mulching to create a rich & healthy forest soil structure, providing food and the perfect growing conditions for his Asian and Himalayan garden plants as well as how he maintains, prunes and cultivates his evergreen urban jungle. An amazing garden transformation and inspiration for those of us wanting to create a rainforest, bamboo or palm garden in colder climates. You may be wondering what happens when you go FULL jungle in a garden for over 30 years, well, I think you’ll enjoy exploring round it with me!

0:00 Intro
1:44 Dr Simon Olpin’s Sheffield Jungle Garden – A 30 Year Transformation!
2:23 Huge Trachycarpus palm trees – UK tropical garden growth rate after 30 years
4:35 Phyllostachys nigra black bamboo & Semiarundinaria fastuosa screening hedge
5:35 Growing Trachycarpus fortunei fan palms in clumps for tropical jungle effect
6:47 Camellias, Rhododendron singogrande & Schefflera delavayi evergreen exotics
7:41 The importance of soil and mulching for healthy plants & low maintenance garden growth
12:37 Schefflera macrophylla, Rhododendron macabeanum – creating a year-round tropical effect
15:04 Rare blue hardy clumping bamboo – Borinda papyrifera KR3698 (CS1046 alternative)
16:59 Exotic underplanting with Camellias, Hydrangea aspera, Schefflera & Trochodendron aralioides
19:50 Hardy exotic Fascicularia bicolor epiphytic bromeliad flowers in palm tree
21:39 Garden failures, plant hardiness, the evolution of a jungle garden & Jubaea chilensis palm
23:59 Blechnum chilense evergreen fern perfect for UK tropical & jungle gardens
24:29 Naturalising / self-sowing Trachycarpus fortunei windmill palm seedlings
26:09 Huge Schefflera rhododendrifolia & impressa hardy, evergreen umbrella plant trees
29:09 Giant golden bamboo Phyllostachys vivax ‘Aureocaulis’ in UK jungle garden
31:30 Walking stick bamboo Chimonobambusa tumidissinoda & invasive running varieties
33:45 Combing large leaves, lush bamboos & Trachycarpus palms for a tropical garden effect
35:48 Using evergreen bamboo plants & hardy palms for winter interest in UK exotic gardens
38:34 The most invasive running bamboo? Growing Bashania fargesii panda food!
42:03 Borinda KR 5600 rare giant bamboo in lush UK jungle garden grove
45:17 Exotic evergreen shrubs, Fatsia varieties, tree ferns & huge Schefflera in shady jungle garden
49:10 A HUGE Eucalyptus snow gum tree, grown from seed in 1989 – extremely fast growth rate!
50:41 Dicksonia antartica tree fern thriving in high-humidity and moisture in shady UK jungle garden
51:39 Growing Phyllostachys dulcis, a tall running timber bamboo with big culms / canes
52:26 Invasive running bamboo to avoid, controlling with rhizome barrier & clumping bamboo ideas
56:38 Eucalyptus glaucescens tree growing problems, starting small & planting tips for long term tree success
58:13 Camellias & growing a UK exotic garden with seasonal interest in spring & autumn
59:03 Jungle garden design tips, mistakes, lessons and plant recommendations
1:03:48 3 Jungle Garden tips for gardeners wanting to grow a UK tropical paradise!

I’d love to continue making the best videos I can featuring garden tours, plant growing tips and documenting the progress of our North Lincolnshire jungle garden, if you enjoy my videos then it would be amazing if you’re able to spare a few pounds and help support my channel here: https://ko-fi.com/georgesjunglegarden

Thanks,

George

As we head into November there’s no doubt now the autum is well and truly here the last Heat in the sun all but gone replaced instead with chilly nights Misty mornings increasingly shorter days that never seem to truly get bright and in today’s video I want to ask three

Questions firstly can you truly have a tropical style jungle or exotic Garden here in the UK that looks just as magnificent spectacular in the middle of winter as it does in summer secondly if you do grow that kind of garden full of the Hardy Evergreen Exotics you see

Behind me are they really tough enough to survive in the coldest snowiest harshest cities in our Northern parts and thirdly if you do plant them and grow them in those places if you went full jungle what would that Garden look like after 30 years today’s video is a

Garden visit that I’m incredibly excited to share with you a garden I’ve wanted to see and a garden that I wanted to meet for quite some time today I’m visiting Dr Simon Alpin in his beautiful Sheffield jungle there really are some jaw-droppingly impressive plants you’ll see today some incredible bamboo

Specimens Sheffer that Tower over you like trees and Eucalyptus grown from seed that you truly have to see to believe Simon I’ve got to say incredibly friendly enthusiastic full of knowledge is Keen to share so I really hope you enjoy this video and feel free to leave

Your comments in the section below let’s go into the jungle So Simon this is a view straight out the back of your kitchen I’ve got to say it is a full-on jungle and there’s a lot of plant I recognize in here it’s mostly tracky carpus bamboo and big leafed exotic Evergreens isn’t it tell me about

Some of your favorites here yeah so as I say we moved here in 1987 from Cambridge uh and uh reasonably early on I decided that um bamboo and tracky carpers which were already becoming an interest of mine yes would be the sort of thing that

I would be able to grow and use as as a main structural framework for a jungle type uh Garden so we planted some of these tracky carpers back in uh the late 1990s yes and early 2000s these wag wag is here this is one of my favorite from the Palm Center for

£250 each yes um and have grown very well over the last 30 odd years 250 each so £750 deal a good deal I felt at the time um and I’ve serviced us very well um some of the some of the first track is we put in again around

1992 about years in the ground basically um they the largest one here is the one with a huge uh trunk which was bought that’s a beauty isn’t it that one one of the one of the most I ever spent on the palm it was about

90 from the Palm Center and it’s one of the first Palms I put in um and it’s now got uh probably well there’s a good 20 probably 26 feet 25 ft of trunk there yes I’ve got to say seeing them in the ground at this size it completely you

Know transforms a feeling of space doesn’t it and I can imagine when you were first planting these I’ve seen that picture of you stood next to your first one did you have an idea that they’ll be this tall and Majestic one day or was it very much a journey no honesty another

Tour I told a group of uh very interested visitors uh they asked me if I’d planned the garden I said yes of course I did I when I first moved here I decided we’d have some bamboo over there and some Palms over there and i’ probably put a few eucalyp at the top

And I said no I didn’t really no no it over time and that’s how things are you take you plant plants you decide they’re in the wrong place you decide they’re not the plant for you or the weather kills exactly all the weather decides for you doesn’t it so so it evolves it’s

Very much an evolutionary process definitely and I think that’s partly why I was so looking forward to you know coming to meet you and see your garden because you grow a lot of the same Palms like tracky carpus the wagies you grow a lot of the same bamboos that myself

Chris and my friend Mark grow but here they’ve been in the ground for that long you can really see what the event end game is you um so could you tell me some more about you know some of the bambo in this area so we so here I’ve got I’ve

Had a a f stack is it’s probably more of a punk TARTA actually it hasn’t flowered uh with its present uh series of flowering as yet um that plant has been there since 1991 it did run out quite a long way which I cut back again but I’ve but it’s

Been very well behaved generally generally to the side of it and right through is um semi arundinaria fastuosa I’ve got to say it’s quite dark in here with with all the shade but that is beautiful bamboo and so that’s that’s up at about uh well certainly up at about

20 ft isn’t it if not slightly more um that’s been there a long time and probably since about 1994 or something like that and it slowly migrated from one small plant so it’s got several hundreds of canes now it’s a really nice it’s actually good wind barrier um uh uh

For the garden garden there are tracky carpet here there’s about eight in this area um one was a large was a relatively large Plant bought um probably about probably about 18 in of trunk back in 1991 wow that’s the main trunk there we dug up seedlings from the hillside in uh

In uh around the Ian lakes in Italy in 1988 when we were on our honeymoon and I grew them on for a couple of years and then planted them out around the base of the original tracky to generate a large Plant Clump effect yeah definitely and I

Know it can slow the growth of the main plant down but the overall effect here and people will see this as we head right on into the jungle it’s such a lush I don’t use word naturalistic but in my eyes a proper jungle you know it’s all about these leaf on Leaf as

Different heights is everything in here isn’t there yeah I mean subsequently I planted a couple more truckies on the base as well so it’s it’s a big huge clump of trackers yeah um and then there’s a whole range of other plants put in here I’ve I’ve actually recently

Started to introduce a bit more flour so I am very keen on Chamas and also I’ve got uh number of roadog gendrin I I dismissed them early on in my planting career and then have started to reintroduce some small ones to give gives some color and a couple of large

Leafed ones like uh rodendan C Grande yes which is the one in here isn’t it yeah um courtesy of our mutual friend Shane that one isn’t it yes absolutely um Absolut stunning plant got a small plant of um Rog gendan F conai which I’ve just planted yes uh you can see

Over the back here there is a uh sheerer uh Lai which has been there um over for a long time probably 12 years years or so not really been touched by the winters rather neglected by me it’s only in recent years that it sort of appeared almost suddenly growing up yes yeah

Become a plant of some stature and I’ve got to say everything here just looks so healthy like the tracky carpus the the thickness of the trunk you know admittedly with all the fiber on everything’s you know full of leaves it really is incredible to see this in

Sheffield as well it’s amazing one of the things I’ve always believed in is an increasingly so over recent years is the importance of the soil everything is in the soil it is a living breathing organism I think this is something we i’ share philosophies on really it’s the

Soil is if you look at the soil Everything grows you don’t need fertilizer you need minimal extra water plants Thrive so much better with the mulch in as we see going through this Garden here you got some bamboos that have got mulch mounded up around them

Haven’t they I I fed the bamboo with I do give them farmyard manure yes um but most of the other plants certainly in recent years is I don’t all I do is all the green material and all the bamboos and all the Palm leaves everything I cut

Back I cut down and there’s a lot I mean there’s probably 400 more Palm leaves a year probably 400 if not more bamboo canes a year I’ve got a big Shredder I shred everything I don’t compost anything just put it straight down on the ground I put I I put a mulsh around

The base of some of The Trackers very careful not to cover the base of wood I that but you can throw almost anything on bamboo at the B yes that’s exactly what I do to be fair it was actually seeing your garden was it around six or

Seven years ago on Garden this world I remember you’re saying about um using uh bamboo essentially as a compost heap so just just using lots of these off cuts and you know back and it really helps create a damper you know better soil structure Mal nutrition they’ve got

Everything they need haven’t they yeah absolutely at one time we used to think that you know bark ch was very poor in nutrient which it is generally but there is a whole cycle going on within the soil recreate recycling nutrients bringing stuff in from the actual soil structure itself it’s those microa it’s

Those soil bacteria it’s it’s those Aradia all those all those all those organisms which are working there which are actually taking nutrients and actually working in Junction with the microa to actually actually Channel nutrients to the plants it’s the natural system system which not surprisingly is often the best because it’s Tak had

Quite a long time to establish yes I mean I’ve made it it’s one of my bizarre objectives to basically do a video every single year on mulch in my garden because I think it is literally the most important thing you can do you know for the health of your garden and the plants

And again when I visited vent in the botanic garden they’ve come under a bit of fire for having a more you relaxed approach to gardening and using a lot of mulching and chopping and dropping the various sort of procedures but I think personally if you want to create a more

Lush again we use with naturalistic aesthetic if you want to grow a lot of these Exotics they absolutely thrive on a good Rich moisture retentive but well draining soil don’t they yeah absolutely I mean this this soil this is obviously bark we brought in oh yeah this is more

Decorative isn’t it yeah this is part you’re getting close to the house but the res but the the garden is literally I mean this this area here is is nearly 2 feet taller than the AG edges and the edges have been mulched as well so the

Whole garden generally is is at least a foot to 2T taller than the other Gardens because it’s 30 odd years of continually mulching the soil if you go into it is like a a woodland floor Pete Pete based almost really Oran Rich really rich in invertebrates and obviously microf and

Flora definitely I know people do talk about you know back for instance it takes nitrogen to actually break it down and that’s some people use that as a negative but I would say the benefits in terms of like you say attracting the insects the fungi all that life on the

Soil that comes alive with you know decaying organic matter it’s absolutely worth it isn’t it I mean when you take the best examples of what we have in in terms of the world around us yes we have to look at nature we don’t create very much ourselves in in terms of in terms

Of natural beauty uh the history of the forest is that everything that fell in the forest got recycled the system is honed to generate the you know a good solid natural FAA and Flora with there that’s the way things have evolved over a millennia we interfere to be honest

With you in many cases our own to to the disadvantage oh completely yeah to make things tidy and these other completely arbitrary objectives that we have the gardens and in reality the the environments were the fastest growth so genuine rainforest are the environments with the fastest turnover of you know

Decayed matter and to me your garden I’ve seen it in Chris’s video I saw it in Gardener’s world and to me this view here completely summarizes some of the incredible plants that you’ve chosen for your garden so straight away over there that’s Sheffer at mailer or maciller

Isn’t it yeah how have you found this to be Hardy here in Sheffield you that really is incredible it’s only been in the it’s only been out for about four years and in reality we’ve only had about minus six of the coldest in that period of time I have put a little bit

Of cover on it um uh last winter I did despite the fact we actually it it turned out not to be as cold as was forecast so I actually built a tent of of blankets over it when we’d had 12 Ines of snow in March and I shoveled

Snow around the base and put and put a couple of bamboo canes in three blankets over the top because we had a minus 9 forecast probably unnecessary because to do all that because we didn’t only had about a then again A minus 9 forecast can easily be minus 11- 12 counted so

Now I completely understand you but so far it does very well touchwood and I’m aware of its tenderness uh so we’ll try and cover it if I if we have def particularly cold weather again um but that’s that’s the most tender really around around here um this maanam has

Been here for about 12 13 14 years for seedling um that’s been fine flowers now only started to flower about the last 3 years unfortunately been frosted most Years cuz it flowers so early yes it’s an awkward time isn’t it yes even with your sort of microclimate and you know

Huge surrounding vegetation which we’ll look into in more detail shortly um I’ve got to say I am also a big fan of the big leaf roaded endrance like the C of Grande and for me a lot of the Exotics that we grow now they pair so well with

You know these roaded ends anything with large glossy leaves preferably Evergreen they just go so well visually together don’t they yeah I mean the natural habitat of course would be these are growing in North India into nagaland in combination with sheers growing in mix decious and and Evergreen Woodlands

Essentially this is one of the key reasons why I wanted to come to yard and see this you know Splendor in it yeah True Glory it’s because you haven’t restricted yourself to purely will use air quotes tropical plants it’s very much a subtropical Himalayan influence

Garden isn’t it so you grow a lot of the Exotics that people watching this video will have heard of but the way you combine them and the time they’ve been in the ground really creates a completely different environment and feel doesn’t it yeah so I mean let’s

Just show people because I can’t not show them this the blue bamboo which one’s this one here so this is um KR 3698 so it’s it’s basically one of the it’s basically uh binda papera but it’s the it’s the other form there’s the Chris Stapleton form both collected um

In Yan on the same mountains um at about uh about 13,000 ft this one is supposedly slightly harder and has and has seemingly proved slightly harder yes um probably probably okay at about certainly okay at minus 12 possibly -4 15 but I wouldn’t I wouldn’t want to

Test it to those I understand but for people who want a we’ll say a more Lusher jungly or you know Woodland type Garden if you want a bamboo that’s not going to spread like some of the ones that we’ll see shortly this I mean it doesn’t get much more beautiful than

That does it that color of that blue the other interesting thing about this form which is say KR form as opposed to the Cs form is the new col sheets are a beautiful deep uh maroon Pur I can see the base there yeah they don’t these are

Late ones so they don’t look very the same colors in the spring they are a really lovely color really deep purple and they’ve got lovely very very hairy very H suit look really nice I’ve got to say my I grow yinan 4 which is luu Enis

And that when the she fall off they’ve got a beautiful sort of pearlescent Sheen to them and it really is one of those things that you think bamboo you think about the canes or the cols but in reality there’s so much more the plant and it’s about seeing these Fallen CM

Sheaves in that that beautiful sort of gloss when the Sun Shines on them it’s about the noise you know that this literally the paper makes doesn’t it in the breeze they really had so much to a garden and there’s definitely no reason to be afraid of them as long as you

Choose the right varieties but on that note we’ll see further down the garden some of the ones that you grow here that are a little bit more um we’ll say adventurous the word first we look here yes yeah so the other thing is as the Palms have grown tall you can see there

You know it’s a good example I’ve now started to plant in or have for some years started to plant in understory plants yes particularly I put in a few quite a few Chamas cuz I do like Chamas and it gives you nice color earlier in

The year and then I’m also putting in a few hydranges now the Aspira there which is a which is a lovely plant just getting going it’s been in a couple of years it’s grown 2T this year I’m sure it’ll start to spread uh quite significantly there’s a Sheffer at the

Back which is one of the Nova shefflers oh from Nick Nick Mesa and that’s in in a good position there this is a very this lower part of the garden is very sunny you can see there’s a bit of a Virginia Creek oh yeah I do like that

There just a shot of autumn going up through the up through the tracky carpus that’s one of the tracky carpus we brought back from our honeymoon in 19 uh 1988 tiny seedling I know at this stage this is going to be a longer video but

I’ve got to say it’s got to be eye opening for a lot of people watching it that just how big these trucky carers get and I mean it really is unreal when you’re walking past something like this I talk about underplanting when a plant’s six foot high these plants here

Yeah pushing sort of what 20 foot high maybe yeah yeah something like that I mean you can have so many different layers to planting like you have done so they’ve got the bamboo you got the various Sheffer of shrubs below them you planted Hy ranges it really is such a a

Lush jungle Vibe isn’t it trendon aides in there which is which is a nice plant and it it it it mixes well with the shefer uh and indeed the the sort of contrasting Leaf form of Chamas really the rounded rounded shiny leaf of of chia they’ve all got that sort of you

Know glossy look to them haven’t they like they all belong in a rainforest so if if I just sort of zoom out here there isn’t one single plant that jumps out to you that says I’m a specimen plant I think the beauty of having so many similar and contrasting plants in the

Ground for so long is everything sort of meshes together doesn’t everything flatters each other and the overall look really is a a natural caling Vibe which you know it it really does look beautiful but we’ll head in further okay well if before we just snip into there

Let’s look at this pan because this one is an absolute stunner isn’t it yeah bed a Fed a large house for £850 probably about probably about 10 years ago as just a very small PL PL and I thought well that looks a reasonable tracking car because it didn’t look

Really out of the ordinary but I have to say it’s one of the best formed tracky carbers I I certainly that I have we were discussing we think it’s got some wacky blood in it don’t we just have those really stiff leaves but that really is a beauty almost has that sort

Of you know that coera some are they coera the more tropical PS that really have the finely yeah really divided leaves cardia as well it’s a bit like that yeah it really is a stunner and just very quickly touching on facular areas we’re both a fan of these and here

You’ve got some grown here as Brads what eptic plants on your track carus they look amazing and then the ones in the ground how long have these been in uh probably about 15 15 or 18 years probably um and they FL regularly in this time of the year they’re just prob

A little bit lateer in the year this is an October visit a late October visit but they still look just we was saying earlier you know we’re both seen the film Avatar to me plants like this with this shot of red it really has that sort of alien otherworldly feel to your

Garden and it sort of transports it from being a woodland Garden to a fullon exotic par doesn’t that yeah absolutely uh behind is a chamelia which I’ve had for probably about 40 years and moved it from Cambridge uh my father bought it me it’s a very it’s a very blousy pink um

Actually but it’s a lovely and it flowers for probably three months of the year in the spring yes it’s a it’s a lovely backdrop and as I say I’ve mixed in Chamas uh quite a few Chamas here i’ got about eight eight chameleos in this under in this space here underneath the

Palms really I know when you moved in you start off with a pretty blank HS for this Garden but I think it’s really a great example of people that have just moved to a new Garden that you don’t have to just rip everything out and replace it with tropical to to me

There’s so many of these other chamelea the large leaf evergreen pants especially that just fit in beautifully with an exotic garden and whatever you’ve got potentially you can work with it and to me a jungle Garden this is what it’s about it’s such a variety of plants and Heights isn’t it yeah

Absolutely I mean I say if I was given my time again I would use more roaded dungeons I think not not wouldn’t go wild i’ I’ve introduced would your class is going wild some would say you’ve already gone pretty wild probably probably the wrong use of the term there

But but yes but um the other thing which I will say is of course not everything many things are are not successful so you can see the stump there of uh of um Chilean wine Palm oh CH which I bought many many years ago from mulu um and

It’s it’s never been damaged really by the wind but it’s never grown very well so I’ve actually hacked it back in disgust because it was it was it was in which again those are you know supposedly very very hardly tough P I know I said that time and time again but

Potentially it just doesn’t suit your you know soil climate gr just doesn’t grow very fast I’ve also had um a booty capitata quite a few and and though they survived with me they never grew very well so so you know I might get two two

Or three leaves if I was lucky in a summer and in the end I dug them out and disgusted I I completely understand and there are a lot of plants and I think sometimes these days people go off the the hardiness figures as a if it can

Take minus 12 it will grow my garden and the reality is there’s so many other factors you know soil exposure moisture wind you know that go into actually a plant that thrives into your garden and what we’re going to see as we head deep into the jungle now is an evolution it’s

A plant that survived isn’t it it’s a plant that battled through your tough Sheffield Winters and the plants that persisted over the years not just Hardy but tough in every bearing in mind we’re nearly 500t up in the edge of the penines here so so it’s not the warmest

Part of the UK no it’s also not the coldest we’re not the bottom of of of a frost trap um but a frost pocket but we but but we get good movement down of of of air down very good movement on Windy days yes yeah so it’s quite a windy spot

But it I have to say that as I say probably in the 30 odd years that we’ve been here minus 12- 13 is the cold for that very bad winter is the coldest we’ve had so far touch wood global warming anything can happen it’s extreme yes this is it and

Everyone’s well not everyone but as soon as there’s a cold winter a cold spell everyone’s jumps in there and says you know it’s global warming it’s not happening it’s a load of nonsense but the reality is that climate change can mean sudden and drastic swings in temperature can’t it I mean

Unpredictable weather patterns and I think as we head through we’re really going to see some of the tough some nice nice uh oh this this is a fantastic F so this this Fern has gone everywhere I’ve taken a lot out this year and given it to my friends but uh

Uh Blum chilensis which I’ve had here since 1991 has literally spread all the way through it really is a lovely Fern it’s a lovely Fern I think I’ve got a small one at the back of the Border somewhere but nothing quite as impressive as this and again ferns they

Instantly fit with the Exotic tropical jungle Vibe they just go well with so many other plants uh few other plants here a lot of Palms a lot of trackers here um some of them been I’ve taken the strip the trunk on that one there but most of them are are

Still remain uh in their natural state um and some of them have started from really very small plants but are getting quite some of these really thick trunks I mean you can literally see on the ground there can you all the germinating truy car for seedlings masses of seed hundreds and thousands of

Them isn’t there yeah huge you can see those in front of you there George on that from this year on that tracky there that’s one of the female and the male is just behind you there um but obviously both sexes uh well well dispersed within this Garden so I I

Think really to me there’s two take-home points here firstly if you’re new to growing a lot of these Pals and Exotics and you’re worried that you might kill them I think this really is proof that you know in a Sheffield exposed Garden it’s not about keeping them alive it’s

The other way around it’s about thinning them out isn’t it cuz of that prolific and the other thing is the way the you know the way you’ve combined them and you guard them you’ve got that many in a small space so if you planted these now

One foot tall these ones here and you put a photo in one of the groups you probably get people saying they’re too close together they’re going to slow each other down but the reality is as soon as they’ve trunk to this height the overall look it really is impressive

Jungle you know incredible overwhelming Vibe you wouldn’t have got this just with one or two would you you have to have that volume no no I mean that’s how it would be in nature jaie where the seeds you so you would have that situation in theal natural natural

Himalayan or Chinese other Chinese um environment there’s a huge Sheffer at the back which I think we’ve got we saw the other side didn’t which the trunk is as thick as my thigh almost that’s been there you just about sit through there but I’ll show some clips it from the

Other side it really is amazing and again a nice little reminder to people that the new plants you just bought that are a foot high that you’re planting out they’re not just foliage plant they are potentially a small tree essentially aren’t they yeah I mean that one has

Been there for a good 25 years it’s totally Untouched by anything that Sheffield’s thrown at it that’s rododendron essentially what is the same as this this is this is rendr sorry this is sheffler rendr neolia yes um the other one is the same species but the form is Sheffer what was called Sheffer

Impressor got you I mean sheffler there are relatively new species you know in terms of ation out they so there are going to be new you know forms brought out there’s going to be difference in naming and another point they I’d make on this this these these two here are

Only about 12 years old um so they’ve grown really quite quickly CU they’re up what they’re up towards 12 13 ft probably oh definitely a true 12 13 foot yes so they are in full sun yeah uh they slightly St scorched by the 38° we had uh last year which really was an

Exceptional summer wasn’t it 2022 yes but one thing I will say is the leaf is rather large on these and we do get a lot of southernly wind come up on come through here the valley side um and they actually do get damage sometimes particularly if it’s in early part of

The Year where they’re coming where they’re forming yes where impressa is much more wind more wind tolerant same wind but it doesn’t get any damage got you no that’s good to know and it’s sort of ties in uh not that specifically but when I talk about Sheffer it’s not so much about winter

Care over winter anything like that it’s all about sighting them in a sheltered spot in the first place isn’t it it’s about keeping a plant happy it’s like we said earlier improving the soil a lot of moisture nice bit of shelter from the really drying winds if you can keep a

Plant happy and healthy it can take a lot more cold can’t it you might be interested although it’s probably not going to be very easy for the camera I’m amazed at the route on Sheffer roaded endr eolia so these roots these roots it is a challenge for the camera oh there we go

Yes I can see that if you come and if you come here George I can absolutely see that yeah I can zoom you looking into there that really is thick route we’re talking we’re talking big rout here not that is a proper tree route that isn’t it and that’s coming out of relatively

Small plant which is to say about 15t 12 to 15 ft tall um that’s bit an eye open isn’t it yes so I found Roots over right over the other there as well further out so they obviously are are WID spreading large Roots once they’re established I think it makes them quite

Drought tolerance as well definitely now that is a lovely plant so heading through we’re now deep into the jungle and this is one of the plants that it absolutely stands out doesn’t on a dull day like today when it really is dark in here you probably can’t tell looking at

The camera but this plant really shines out it’s beautiful isn’t it yeah it’s a nice it’s a nice uh uh bamboo uh fer stucking viac um orus one I grow as well and I remember seeing this on your Gard as World section all those years ago about how

You Mound everything up under here and it really sort of helps it Thrive I know I know we were discussing before we started filming we’ve typically spent the whole morning walking around talking about you g haven’t we about how this plant is maybe just pushing past its

Best now or needs a little bit of thinning out but some of those new cols I mean for people wanting to grow a bamboo that’s what they grow it for nearly cocan sized it’s just such Mighty impressive plant isn’t it yeah um there’s a whole lot of other things here

There’s a Mia L FIA there um that’s been there long time just sort of poking in amongst other things I use I’ve got quite a lot of Mahonia I think they’re very lovely plants Mahonia is a fantastic yeah I’ve got to say at one point I was less um less inclined to

Like the more wiry sort of gangly spiky ones but they are growing to me and I think when you see them in in an environment like this you know reaching up above your head with TR carpus we’re not used to seeing tropical G where you can look up and everything just wraps

Around you and they absolutely fit in It’s All About That variety of foliage and again they’ve got that shiny beautiful texture to them haven’t they y so I mean this bamboo again this is what we need to talk about is this the same as one this semi orinary fastuosa yes um

A nice plant is not the viid form which is which is as far as I know it’s not um I it’s not I don’t think the difference between the standard and the viid formul is is that Mar no but I think that’s just the basic form it’s been there

Probably a good 15 years um but it’s 20 24 probably 24t tall no probably more than that 25 26t tall I’m got to say if anyone’s watching this thinking why can’t we see the tops of the plant it’s because you can’t yeah unless I had a

Drone which I know you could fly around here anyway you literally won’t see the tops of these they are absolutely just ginormous aren’t they towering over us under very ideal conditions s under will R easy to control definitely unlike yeah some of the chimo bambusa chisoda

Which we’ll see shortly so this is as George says chimona bambooza tooda yeah catch your name or walking stick bamboo to give it easy name lovely bamboo doesn’t reach good proportions here goes to about 18 20 ft in its right environment uh the the hand the Combs

Can be nearly as thick as the broom handle in the right environment yes too dry here most Summers and does not very dry at the moment having had about 5 in about 5 in yesterday yeah yeah but um yeah it’s but it’s a lovely bamboo uh

And it it gives it it enhances or gives compliment to a tropical effect yes so as well as this video in this Garden providing a good bit of escapism I think it’s a great opportunity to show people some of the different bamboos I haven’t talked about on my channel some some of

The bamboo I don’t think I get talked about enough everyone knows the really big Timber bamboo like viac or callus I mean that that’s why you grow this isn’t it just say huge canes but there’s a lot of more interesting Himalayan clumping bamboo some really beautiful forms with

Smaller leaves isn’t there so can you tell me more as we head through about some of the bamboos you grow this classic called Thug Sasa Pala which because the garden’s very dry is actually quite well contained having said that this year nearly all that growth is this year’s growth cuz I cut

It back and we’ve had a wet summer relatively wet summer it actually grows through the middle of the beach hedge of the beach once it’s in that hedge it’s in there isn’t it it’s an incredibly tough bamboo yes tough tough one word for it I mean you are literally playing

With fire growing plants like that aren’t you but it’s a beautiful bamboo in the that it’s very tropical you can look at those leaves I mean that’s fantastic you would think that was that was a tender plant better with that helicopter going overhead we could literally be in some we could be in

South Vietnam certainly could be here I was trying to avoid any War but we could be in some tropical jungle oh no it’s fine I’ll leave it in leave it in talk about Jimmy HRI it really is a beautiful bamboo and a prior take-home lesson is if the bamboo is called sassa

Or sha sassa don’t plant it unless you’re ready for some real Adventures trying to contain it so here in a pot we have another uh another shra macro M which will probably get planted out probably get planted out next summer it’s in quite a small pot it’s a lovely

Plant though isn’t it just look at that crocodile that’s that really is incredible I do like that I’ve got to say I’ve got a couple of metal dinosaurs in my garden and yeah you know everyone has their own version of character but that that really is impressive it’s

Massive yeah it likes it there he comes out he gets covered in the winter um so we’ve got a number of bamboos in here so the the sh sassa Japonica at the back there isn’t there with big leaves there yeah that was cut right down last year

Let some more ligh in it’s just come straight back up again yes um we got chimona bambooza um quad angularis here which is which uh you see at helan in its best it’s all over helan there’s Pathways cut through it goes to about 15 18 ft it’s actually a

Really nice bamboo it’s not very Hardy but it’s been here for probably 15 18 years yeah but hiding most of the time yeah sensibly cited if it can survive here in your Sheffield Garden for that amount of time I would say for most people bar an exceptional winter that’s

Going to be Hardy isn’t it yeah and it suddenly started to to to revive itself or to to come to life the last 2 years so it’s running through here and it’s coming up here so I’m going to let it do it that’s definitely a theme yog yeah I

Have have taken that as a sort of an acent for for most of what I’m planting here um you can see um fulara therea flowering shot ofed yeah that’s been there for about 15 years I mean when people talk about you know a tropical or jungle Garden to me this just view just

Has it all so you’ve got the Towering tracky carpus there I mean those are they’re massive aren’t they yeah yeah 20 20 OD feet of trunk yes I can’t even see the tops of them from here and we’ve got the beautiful yellows of the viax bamboo

We’ve got big leaves of the Sheffer that look otherworldly and then we’ve got the fcica bringing the color in the middle there so a tropical or jungle Garden it’s not just about a summer display is it when you when you have this kind of look and this effect this is something

That really persists through the a doesn’t it yeah I mean on a cold Winter’s day when the the huge oak tree here which Shades the garden for half the day has shed its leaves the winter sun comes actually shines up through the garden you know the at the best time of

The day and and you and catches these bamboos and I often sit in there I got a little seat with a cup of tea amongst amongst the I don’t blame and it’s it’s lovely I’ve got to say I was hard thinking of coming to your garden On a

Winter’s day because everything looks so completely Evergreen exotic even in December but today you know a nice gloomy autumnal day it’s still it really is incredible just to escape into a garden like this big tracking carp is still behind you there much higher up going yeah show

People that one oh there we go yeah look at all that with all the sorry about that judge bit there yes but that’s that’s been there that was planted as a tiny tiny track of carpus 30 years ago that one wow um and just to show people

Quickly you talked about this being a running bamboo and what running bamboo do is here’s one Clum there which appears to be like a clump but then it’s popped up there and then it’s popped up there and it’s probably going to continue this marching Downy Garden isn’t it yeah but you’re not entirely

Worried about that are you no I’m not worried so I I deliberately so in this part of the garden I deliberately picked Runners running bamboo so it’s really dark in here isn’t it this is proper jungle this so it will be lighter when the the oak Tre lost its leaves um and

In the summer The Sun Shines down here in the afternoons and looks really really nice through the bamboo I do love there the someone it just shines through it just picks up the movement doesn’t it it’s beautiful I’ve got a bindo there which isn’t a runner but and a brinda

Here the original KR 3968 again so another blue bamboo here that’s that’s a really more mature specimen and even though it’s a clumper you still get some good C more sze on it don’t you oh yes absolutely yeah yeah yeah it’s a beauty though you can see I the blue of the

Colors from this year are really lovely yes see there I mean yeah you take that away so that lovely that’s the new blue there isn’t it as we zoom in I mean that is just incredible and I’ve got to say I don’t know the technical term off top of

My head but these bandings almost appear gold you know real no do you know I was I was looking for more scientific word than nodes but but yes yeah well well I I think well I mean you know that’s I’ve always known it as nodes in the bamboo

Society we tend you know we are fairly you know simple country folks we’ve always known them as nodes um so I was more meaning the actual the actual band around the node is like a beautiful sort almost like a decorative like a ring round it isn’t it it really is beautiful

But I mean this area here it is completely enveloped by bamboo isn’t it your garden gets a little bit Wilder you to say the least so these so this is Bashan gzi which is which is said to be one of the main food sources of the panda wow

So it grow it’s a it’s a true Montaine bamboo growing between about about 1500 ft to about 7 6,000 ft yes in sou Southern Southeastern China mountainous regions where there is huge mixed forest and this plant grows either amongst the forest or actually has single stands in higher altitude where the plants are

Actually quite more stunted than they are here right that’s interesting yes the interesting thing is because it covers such huge areas and in these these were original areas where pandas were and still are yes very low population density though unfortunately yes the bamboo the pandas tend to overwinter in the valley where it’s

Slightly warmer although they getus 20 they can get minus 20 oh yeah yeah I can believe it and and snow but the snow’s usually quite light is they have relatively dry Winters and relatively warm moist wet Summers so this bamboo starts to shoot further down the mountain earlier the pandas move up the

Mountain with the shooting season of the bamboo so it actually and and the new shoots are relatively nutrient Rich compared with the POR of nutrients that now so they probably get about five months feeding out of out of this B I won’t say it’s a symbiotic relationship because the bamboo doesn’t

Gain much from the the panda but it’s definitely one of those sort of natural evolutions and to me something you identified there is something we haven’t really talked about much which is elevation a lot of the plants in your garden they come from Asia rather than like genuinely tropical areas they come

From places that do see a severe and you know often significant amount of cold snow Frost and ice but the crucial thing is a lot of the plants that we grow in our Gardens a lot of the new collections of bamboo Sheffer and other Exotics they

Come from quite high up don’t they and that really is a way that Providence that’s what you know hopefully gives them a chance of survival here in the UK isn’t it yeah I mean this this bit of the garden is is not only is it shaded for half the day

Yes but it’s also very windy winter so the wind hammers across here yes we have a lot of snow in Sheffield I say it’s it’s not the coldest place but it’s what it’s probably one of the snowiest cities or if not the snow City in the UK an in

12 in of snow is not that unusual we had 12 in 14 in possibly this last March wow you know where leads were going when we had a lot of it was nearly we nearly had 3 Ines well not the case here um so this bamboo runs so it’s it literally from

One single plant it’s gone all the way down there I take it out it’s gone all the way over there as far as we can see it’s gone up into this top garden it really is difficult even with a you know quite a wide angle lens to convey the

Sort of scale and it’s so dark we’re talking we’re talking 25 30 ft tall it’s not a hugely thick comb but it’s a very tough com once it’s once it’s there once it’s once it’s once it’s hard enough yes unlike the vack which is a very thin

Wall isn’t it yeah and that snaps off in the snow I mean people probably won’t be able to appreciate just how dark it is in here as I’m filming but I mean look that is a beautiful bamboo that one there yeah so we have another bamboo

Here which is which is again a KR introduction KR 56o which is a Tibetan bamboo it’s called it’s it’s it’s called the giant bamboo there’s new cols which have come up this year which are probably well they’re good 30 ft I would say they’re way up there it’s huge

It needs it needs more space I probably will get some clear some space around it um the Combs will grow bigger than this um not hugely amount thicker but they this sort of probs a bit a bit you can get Combs up to probably an inch and a

Half bits perhaps not two in still a Big Bamboo for anyone who hasn’t seen these plants before but it’s a very tall bamboo and it has a lovely deep green large leaf actually as well I do like the variety of the large leaves against some of the smaller on and looking up

The camera’s probably brighten it quite a bit more than actually is but I just love the view it’s just so peaceful tranquil on today anyway when the wind’s above 10 m hour where I am imagine it’s a hurricane here isn’t it yeah it can be

We’re on the edge of the pen and we get this phone effect and we get this this Edie as you come across the penines even in summer more so in summer very often yes um so yes so this run through and there’s a brinder here which is very

Vigorous um and there’s a couple of more smaller track is I put in here which uh which I try and get a certain let let have a certain amount of sun to keep them growing well so something I’d like to touch on this area I mean firstly you

Get on well with your neighbors and uh as we’ve we’ve probably sort of glossed over there’s a couple of occasions where you’ve had to remove certain plants and control others but do you use any bamboo root barrier no no so I so I don’t but I

Mean I I’m I’m a bit of a cowboy but having said that it is important to go on with your neighbors and I am very fortunate that I have very good neighbors who appreciate and enjoy well and and they’re very I appreciate how tolerant they are seriously um and I let

Them know I mean I tell them thank you very much for being tolerant because in clearly it can be very difficult and it is a difficult you it can be a difficult situation you know cuz not everybody wants a jungle gr next to them no no no

I understand that some people don’t mind a j going next to them what I would say is these Gardens have always been sort of Woodland Gardens they were once Woodlands yes they’re long Gardens there’s a lot of big trees around so my garden although it’s it it does stand

Out a bit as been quite from from Google Earth probably yes yeah but there are other big trees all around so so you know it’s not it’s not you know totally discordant with everything else and this is something that I’ve sort of subconsciously or maybe consciously

Tried to incorporate in my garden so I can see your big oak tree across over top of this that creates a lot of shade my G although iow a lot of overly tropical plants the whole is pretty much Shady apart from the far end so I’ve got

A big cherry tree there was a big pop Lean Over the Garden and if you have that kind of shade you almost want to lean to this kind of jungle aesthetic don’t you these plants are naturally thriving a more sheltered Shady spot and although you know shade really is you

Know pushing things at this end of garden I think I think like you say you have to lean into it don’t you and really go for these PL this is a lovely plant this is strok AR aloides again but it’s a lovely form it’s a very dark

Green form you get a lot of you don’t often get it quite as dark green as this and it’s not just CU it’s in shade it’s and it’s up in the sun there at the top right at the top there and and yeah and it do and it’s say it’s the same color

Um and it’s been here since 1991 I I it so 30 years in the ground yeah yeah um and all these conifers which I probably shouldn’t have planted uh I put into to make wind breaks so we’ve got we’ve got this color this cover around us yes um

Two very large tree ferns which you might you’ve probably taken pictures of um these have been here 20 odd years so to me I I’ll be honest with you that it’s grown from there went in this one here after 20 years in the ground in this Lush damp Garden I don’t think I’ve

Seen longer FRS in this outside of cornall it absolutely looks at home doesn’t it it really is a beauty and in fact we’ll head around here show people going through there you can see you’ve got Mahonia there we’ve got uh all kinds of different F japonicas got calapan ax

Here it really is just a a proper exotic you’ve got the the the the standard uh FY poly Carper with a green green I think it’s called Green fingers or uh where and this is the original Edward Nom form here which is a much finer much final Leaf yeah more divided yes yeah

Both it’s nice see them together actually just to compare difference I mean this I mean they’re both they’re both nice this one’s got more sort of rounded look to it hasn’t it whereas the need Farm is definitely a lot more sort of well in fact it looks more like

Fingers to me but anyway that’s and there’s even a different one over there I actually got a large another another large form here with a big leaf which I just planted out which I actually got from the the nursery at Tran this summer which is a fantastic Woodland exotic

Garden isn’t it the reason I yeah brought people around here is to show them this I mean these are last year’s from here um not exaggerating we’re probably talking over 2 m in length these are probably 2 and2 M plus some probably 3 m it it really is just such a

Beautiful plant and you’ve given it plenty of room here to really show off unlike some of mine I really do think it looks impressive another large one here which you can see you know wow yeah I mean the FRS are just so long and so healthy compared to other garders I’ve

Seen but I guess that’s partly down to the time and partly down to the conditions you’ve created here isn’t it I mean it’s a it’s a it’s probably the sort of conditions you get in high mountains reason reasons in New South Wales where there although it’s colder

Here in the winter but potentially on the edge of their climate but but they will be in quite relatively cool uh areas with high humidity particular yes and this summer high humidity rainfall has definitely been a theme and I mean looking at the ground here I know you

Said you’re going to tidy up some of this eucalyptus so I’m not focusing just on that but this when I talk about mulching I generally put a lot of the soft Garden matter down at the end of summer the cannas the banana leaves that kind of thing but here you’ve actually

You’ve put everything down haven’t you we got UK CPUs strips of back there tracky carpus leaves it really is a proper jungle floor and this is all about the the soil yeah the microbiology it really is amazing to see it actually thriving yeah the black birds have a

Field day they’re all the time Badgers come in here at night so they are a bit of a nuisance some of the me some of the sort of disruption here is is badges I’ve tried to sort of Tidy it up a little bit just stumping it in where the badges have been digging

Um but but the soil is is good even though we’re under a massive eucalyp now this is one of the trees that I remember seeing on the’s world section and to be honest from this angle here I can hardly show the size of this I am a big fan of

Eucalyptus but I will preface any advice I can walk in here Geor so we’re talking we’re talking this sort of size you know this is so this was started from seed in about n in about uh 19 8 uh 89 88 I think wow so this tree is

Literally the same age as me it’s 34 years old potentially 35 but this eucalyptus they’re not known for hanging around this one is it’s huge isn’t it it really is such classical snow gum but it but I had a friend from Australia visit and she said well we we have these

Obviously all over and we got huge numbers of species but the standard snow gum she says you rarely see she said haven’t seen them as big as this probably because the saws are much D and from the relatively dry part of Australia obviously the Montaine species will be bigger but then of course

They’re stt they’re often stunted a little bit because they’re very they growing in very exposed poor soils on high mountains yes and I think that’s probably another thing with a lot of these plants it’s it’s all right to say UK clipt just come from Australia where there’s no water you know yuckers grow

In Mexico but we you know have the ability here in the UK to actually get some of them to actually grow better don’t we with extra moisture um also it doesn’t mean you can just leave them in the ground and not water them you have to give plant a bit of care while

They’re small but the reality is that some of them can actually grow just as well as in the habitats like these tree Ferns and in some cases like the eucalyptus and certain yuckers potentially even better with the extra moisture you won’t be able to see this

With the camera but this is this is all new all new Roots here you can you can definitely um see now it’s going to focus you can see there a definitely uh the new sort of like brown sort of yeah light brown tips it’s all over it’s all

Through here around the side this because it’s been moist for so long that they then start to thicken out and of course in classical in in places like Coral near streams where you’ve got high humidity for long parts of the year the trunks get thicker and thicker and

Thicker you end up with a really huge trunk I went to carore for my 30th um just going around helan treea seeing just the size of some of the tree F they’re literally like we said the buttress is on the bottom of the trunks they are the size of actual trees aren’t

They it’s really is impressive and I haven’t seen them really you know thicken up to the extent that yours have really outside of caral so again Testament to your conditions the time is spent in the ground and probably really a lot of your attention on the soil

Isn’t it yeah yeah yeah I mean you can see this so this is a bit of yes uh f f stack is dolis which is that’s is a cane which popped up this year uh it’s up in about 30 ft isn’t it yes and the main

Clump is there of course um which has been there quite a long time this gets fed a lot cuz it’s quite a bit of extra water cuz it’s quite dry up here R very dry in Su in many Summers underneath these eucalyp the soft uh Garden matter

You can put it at the base of your bamboo particularly the timber bamboo and it really helps to a shield the roots and Rise Zone from any severe cold but more importantly I think in our UK climate it traps in the moisture it improves the structure of the soil and

It really gives that bamboo the best soil environment to really grow and reach to the sky doesn’t it abs um but one crucial thing I will say is f stakis are Runners F stakis you know it has the potential to run if you grew this plant

For maybe 10 years it might form a clump and you might think that’s a clump in bamboo but then one summer or one year it can suddenly throw up something like this a non a not insignificant col there was several others came up as well but I

Out yes so it’s something to be aware of like we said in the video sassa sudo sassa and F stack kiss to chose some of the main ones running bamboos you know really contain them if you got a smaller Garden or if you got the space to let

Them go for it then expect some adventures and then the faras and bindas are the kumpers aren’t they there’s all the others probably the biggest Runner and the most aggressive that’s Hardy of all is bashia f gzi right yes that really does run and it’s a but it’s a

Lovely bamboo but I would not recommend it for for a normal Garden no so with your garden you’ve not used any rise and barri it around I mean looking back through there you’ve got a clear area of your garden which you know you have given over to the bamboo haven’t you and

Everything sort of you know runs into each other’s clumps it’s just popping up everywhere that’s the look that you wanted and that’s the area for them but if you didn’t want that kind of really you know sprawling jungle effect you can use rise and barrier it’s well worth

Putting the effort in to actually digging it into the ground it’s expensive costs more than the actual plants but if you don’t put it in you’ll regret it won’t you yeah yeah absolutely no so here we’ve got a this isn’t alocasia this one y I think this is

Something again we were speaking about earlier about how we’re both not moving away from a tropical garden but you appreciate the work involved in overwintering huge plants at this don’t you it’s definitely a lot more labor intensive than the the sort of more exotic Evergreen jungle Garden isn’t it

Yeah I mean it’s in a relatively small pot they’re very tough but obviously they’re not Frost hey at all no so it I’m need probably even in the next week to put it up and drag it down back down the garden and put it in my Conservatory for the wi

Yeah um so yes it’s a nice plant um sort of tarot isn’t it um elant and it looks good in this sort of amongst bamboo next to a a Tropical Hut it’s the right of setting currently sort of closed off there’s another poly Carper there with a much thicker that’s

Interesting yes so that’s the full contrast really so this is something I’ve talked about in my videos before with the allocation in particular having just one really sort of lush tropical or exotic plant it just completes the image doesn’t it so people are used to seeing

Trees I mean I that eclipse is certainly a statement piece but people are used to seeing evergreen shrubs with glossy leaves but suddenly you put one alocasia in or have a big touch panx or something that you don’t see every day and it feels like a tropical jungle doesn’t it

And here you could literally be anywhere in the world looking up yeah it really is an incredible environment I’ve got to say though that eucalyptus I don’t think I’ll be able to see it really on the camera but it is a is one you can see of

Course the one at the back there which on minut let’s head to the back then if you want so we pass although actually let’s just have a quick look at this so you can look at these coms here yes um I say this is uh dolis the only thing I

Would say about this is there is some intermittent flowering going on here right okay on gregarious flowering but it’s been flowering off a little bit um on the odd cane for The Last 5 Years just hoping we don’t go into a gregarious flowering mode and it then

Curls up it and you’ve lost the plant garden I’m hoping it just eventually is a passing phase for people wanting a Big Bamboo you know admittedly it’s taken a lot of time hasn’t it to get here but that really impress it’s it’s not quite

Coke can size but not far off is it no I think I think in in the right place with more heat as long as it had good amount of water you could get some you can get some really big canes on it I know someone in in Oxford who has who has

This plant uh F stuck is doulis with uh canes which are the same as thickness as of as a sup can he’s put them next to one another for comparison and they compare very very well um awesome yeah so George right at the end of the garden

Here we’ve got eucalypt as glor cassin which is planted as a very small uh eucalypt I would actually you know encourage people to plant eucalyp as small as possible almost which is crucial 12 12 in 10 in 18 in because the the problem is is that in our Rich wet

Soils they tend to grow top very quickly and are more prone to to to outgrow their root systems and then topple over so stick them in small so they get a good root system defin and this is actually I’ve planted a couple of glus myself the Gaga farm and I know they’re

Not a plan that everyone loves and to a certain extent they’re going to steal a lot the moisture from the soil but to me you can’t have a jungle garden with without a jungle you need to have some trees and as long as you’ve got the

Space UK clip are phenomenal I mean I love the the different sort of variations of color on the back I love the the form of them the way they’re actually quite dappled shade you know they’re very sparse aren’t they um but this is an example of how big they get

And going back to what you’re saying about starting small I think you can start them a little bit larger if they come from an airpot um it’s worth checking out hard the eucalyptus but the reason why you don’t grow plants like this from large sizes at gar centers if

They’re in conventional pots you know without any holes in them is because the roots in a part literally wrap around and they’re sort of locked in place you plant that in the ground The Roots aren’t going to spread out as they should do the tree won’t be anchored and

It’s just going to rock it away in our Rich wet soils like you say and create a problem very quickly absolutely yes that really is a beauty and there’s a couple of nice Chamas under his chamus Adolf Alderson uh deep red covered in Bud here even despite the fact that it’s in quite

A bit of dled shade or even quite deep shade at certain times of def head toward deep shade and it’s a dry place as well um although I do put the can of water on it in the summer yes to keep bit Lush and healthy it looks perfectly

At home here doesn’t it yeah and I it mixes nicely it’s nice to see bright red in amongst the green IM in the spring when everything else is still you know still just getting going in lots of other Gardens You’ got color and You’ still got Greenery here because it’s

Basically which I think is definitely something that needs to come into more tropical gardens it’s that seal interest isn’t it it’s I mean in Autumn you got your Virginia creeper really given that sort of Splash of color and then in Spring like you say the chamele is and

That’s probably one thing I’ve taken from your garden is I’ve been to a few different Gardens recently I filmed different videos and I’ve seen a variety of different tropical Styles exotic Styles but to me your garden really is a garden for all the seasons isn’t it an actual jungle environment that’s the

Sort of thing I’ve tried to create George I mean I I I I want I I want somewhere to go and sit and look around in the middle of winter I want something that’s green even in what is quite relatively uh can be quite a severe environment sometimes in Winter

Lot as in Sheffield in general yes I understand I mean firstly I mean if you did it again would you do anything differently in terms of your garden the design of it and the plants I think possibly I think I’d use more I think I’d use more large Lea roed dendrons yes

Um par Al some of the some of the things like um uh sin Grande which I say I’ve got now but I they’re obviously coming quite late into into my life and into the garden um and there’s quite a lot of other large leaf roaded dendrons and

Also some beautiful uh ro road gend with fantastic indumentum so the leaf The Leaf color yeah there’s a lot more plant are just the top of the leaves um I I probably I might do slightly less bamboos I don’t know the problem is is space if I had

More space you got you got a the Perpetual Garden of battle that isn’t it really it’s always the way are there any plants other than the road end that you wish you’d got in the ground earlier so I mean I guess the thing with a lot these sheers is they’ve only

Really relatively recently become available you but I think yes I think I think there’s probably quite a few more uh shefflers coming online now I do think they mix very well with this sort of planting but of course they would be found in the natural habitat most bamboo

And Palms are all they’re all sort of chi China Himalayan uh plants uh Vietnam uh obviously shra uh macril comes from Vietnam well it’s not just Vietnam but that’s the main place I’m don’t regret planting lots of trucky carpus that’s no I’m very pleased to have those they I

Just happen to be a fan of trucky carpus but I think they create a scene of atmosphere a structure which is difficult to get with many other plants um no I I agree that they’re definitely I think atmosphere really is the word I mean when you look up people used to

Seen one trucky carus you know by itself out and there in the middle of a lawn or you know as part of a you know tropical bed but when you see them group together in varying different sizes the overall effect it I keep using what genuine and naturalistic and jungle but it really

Does feel like somewhere you like a proper environment doesn’t it I think I think we probably got um 30 odd 35 or so pretty mature tracky carpet in this Garden yeah uh countless small track all over the place yes countless is the wor I certainly don’t regret that no

Having know all those I probably in other in terms of other Palms um I would probably I’ve got in the front garden cir opsum this CIFA yes I think cifer the blue form from North Africa yes is uh a really nice plant and the one and

The two things in its favor not only is its form it’s got very nice sharp spines on it which are even sharper and more vicious but look nice actually cuz they’re quite dark colored um than the standard chamir Ops humulus but it has obviously blue leaves bluish leaves yes

I think it’s slightly hardier and it certainly seems to be hardier here in the worst winter yeah by that 2011 or 2012 winter um and uh and also it’s obviously very drought tolerant but it also makes a a really nice a really nice PL and the main thing I think is

That it doesn’t seem to get the rust that many of the and I’ve been to q and I can see the plants where there’s lots of of chiro humus planted amongst uh ciferal forms and you can see that the standard form is often covered in Rust whereas the cifas are occasionally they’re touched

With some Rust but gener speaking they’re pretty free of it I’ve got to say I do agree there I’ve planted a couple in my garden this spring they got them from big plant nursery I think they’re 20% off and they weren’t expensive though were 10 or 15 ler pots

Around3 so these days you know a good price to start with and I think really to summarize this video If there’s probably a few tips of people wanting to create a jungle Garden or in indeed any kind of exotic tropical garden in a colder part of the UK I think firstly

Like we said the tracky carpus they’re they’re a staple plant don’t just stop at one or two and don’t assume you have to plant big I think really with a bit of patience and in the scheme of things they get big in just 10 or 15 years

Don’t not even 10 years they size up really quickly they’re beautiful plants even when they’re small like this here and they’re really a great investment you know however your garden chooses to evolve whether you go full jungle like this or lean into a more open tropical theme

Getting a Treck caps in the ground is never a bad idea and when you see them growing up like this I mean 50750 whatever the price you pay for yours yeah it really is such an amazing plan that absolutely delivers on that so those going in the ground first off get

Some structuring you won’t regret it I think the second tip is don’t be afraid to you know diversify your plant choices if you like roaded endons Chamas if you really want this kind of lush evergreen look through the year I think there’s so different varieties here and there’s

Even more that you know you wish you planted isn’t there yes oh absolutely yeah I I what I one of the things I do like and I’ve got one by the side of the house is Magnolia Dei now that is supposedly quite tender but it I think

It’s Hardy to minus 12 uh it won’t like it won’t like cold drying winds but if it’s in a shelter position I think it would probably take minus 12 with very little damage it’s never been damaged really by weather here but it’s against the side of the house and it grows at a

Phenomenal rate um and in fact I need to I probably need to almost take it out cu it’s grow it’s got that point tree it’s got point a big tree but um I think I would plant de in the open it would probably get damaged by the heavy snow

We get here but it be worth it to because it’s just such a lovely Magnolia yes the beautiful big leaves on it definitely and that probably neatly ties in with my third and probably final tip for you know people creating this look it’s really you don’t have to research

Every plant you buy yeah I think we’re all open to a good impulse buy aren’t we um but it’s all about having a rough idea of what plants will grow into and I know we’ve both talked about plants that we’ve had to move and take out over the

Years you know due to them getting too big for the space But ultimately you need to know when you planting a Sheffer it’s not going to stay although you might buy it the same size as that Fern it’s not going to stay that size and that Sheffer naturally wants to grow up

Through the canopy and create almost a small tree like this so it’s important to not only choose the right spot for to look after the plant but the right spot where it can grow into its adult form you know and you appreciate it as party Garden not have to battle with it so

Really I think Simon this has been an eye opener not just for people watching but also for myself so thank you very much for showing me around the garden really appreciated it thank you very much for your time and I’d love to come back some point maybe and look into your

Conservatory maybe the front garden as well because there even more exotic Ms in there isn’t there George thank you it’s been a pleasure thanks very much great pleasure learn a lot from you too mate no I appreciate it thank you very much likewise thanks for your time Simon we’ll see you soon cheers