There is little point in paying exorbitant amounts for exotic holidays very year, when they offer just a few days of entertainment. Instead try something ingenious that won’t come to an end after a week or so. Try your hands at tropical landscaping and fulfill your dream of a Hawaiian vacation…for free!

Getting started

It doesn’t matter if you could never make it to any of the tropical paradises such as Hawaii or Phuket. To create a tropical landscape just out of your backdoor, you need two things: imagination and right kind of visualization.

What conjures up the image of a tropical garden as you close your eyes? Well, it is a riot of color on the backdrop of lush greenery and gushing water bodies that immediately cross our mind as we dream about a tropical holiday.

So this leads us to three major points:

• Lavish sprinkling of vibrant hues

• Plants and shrubs with rich foliage

• Water body

While designing your tropical landscape, don’t forget these three primary elements; these will do the job of creating a tropical illusion. Weave your dream landscape around these three major elements.

Tips on using tropical plants

• The major part of your landscaping effort will involve the right selection of plants.

• Cover the floor area in the thick carpet of grasses and border it with the plants that bear colorful flowers.

• Choose the plant varieties that come with deep green hues to emulate the effects of dense tropical rain forest.

• To add to the ambience, grow creepers along the light poles that give an illusion of tropical vines.

• Even if you are not confident enough to grow such distinctively exotic plants such as Plumeria or Bougainvillea, there are hundreds to choose from tropical shrub varieties. Visit the botanical garden in your area or do a little bit of researches in the Internet for the information on tropical plant varieties and their maintenance. This site can provide you useful resources: www.desert-tropicals.com.

Adding a water body is a must

Just recall the scenes from any movie depicting tropical rain forests! One unforgettable element is the inclusion of water-sounds in the background…. It may be the tickling of a narrow waterfall, the gushing sound of a rocky river or just the faint humming of stream finding its course through the dense rain forests.

• Thus to complete the tropical ambience to perfection, you should include some water body in your landscape designing.

• If it is a pool, border it with rocks and stones in different sizes and shapes. The best option is to add an artificial waterfall featuring large rocks.

• To get the maximum feel, add to it some colorful fishes and water plants.

Points of caution

• Plenty of sunlight goes to create those splendid hues in tropical plants and flowers. Naturally, you must make sure, that your plot gets enough sunlight to let these tropical plants live and thrive.

• Also make sure of the other requirements of the plants.

• You can apply one trick---instead of planting them directly on the ground, first let them grow in the containers and then transfer them to the actual spot. Use decorative planters to contain the plants.

Bring the final touch with proper accessories

It may not be possible for most of us to soak the sun in the Waikiki beach while a Plumeria scented sea breeze calms our senses; but you can get the same experience right at your home by sparing little imagination.

• Simple accessories such as rope hammocks can create magic. To add to the comfort factor, visit the furniture stores for tropical themed furniture in cane or bamboo.

• Scented candles add to the ambience by filling up the air with fruity scents.

• If you want to absorb the ambience long after dusk, make imaginative use of landscape lights that will bring alive a beautiful moonlit garden of some faraway exotic land.