Your garden deserves spectacular landscaping to please your eyes and boost your mood. Therefore, you better read on to find 22 tropical backyard ideas that can bring in good vibes to your home.
1. Colorful and Dense Tropical Backyard Idea
Tropical plants are renowned for their exotic flowers with unusual shapes, and large foliage. In their natural habitat, they tend to grow densely, which becomes a hallmark of this type of garden.
You can create a spectacular tropical garden even if you are short on space. Just use your imagination and grow various kinds of plants that feature large foliage and colorful flowers close together.
This tropical backyard shows you that small space cannot hinder you from carving out spectacular landscaping. The key is you have to pay careful attention to the height and color.
In this picture, the red banana becomes the center of the arrangement because it is rather tall and has large green-red leaves.
Add some exotic touch with heliconias since they have unique yellow-orange flowers. For the base, you can find coleus plants, agave attenuate, and dracaena.
2. Accentuate the Focal Point
Every garden requires an epic focal point, such as a water feature, a statue, or a tree.
Just like a focal point in a bedroom or living room, it has to be able to draw the eyes instantly. Therefore, it deserves accentuation.
This garden can be a brilliant tropical backyard idea, especially if you are a busy person who does not have much time to do the maintenance.
Instead of a lawn that requires you to mow it regularly, you can use fine gravel to cover the ground.
Right in the middle is a raised bed that holds a banana tree that looks significantly higher than the succulents and salvia bumbleblues surrounding it.
As the focal point, you can accentuate it with a bamboo trellis to carve out a little bit of Japanese style. Try flanking the banana tree with two built-in containers that host staghorn fern.
3. Epic Composition
Improving your backyard landscaping is not just about tossing any plant as you please without arranging them properly. With a nice composition, you can create a breathtaking view.
You can arrange your tropical plants according to their height, which is typically found in any garden. Place the tallest one in the middle, and surround it with other varieties that are relatively shorter.
This tropical garden features banana trees in the middle of the bed. The reddish color of To plants adds a nuance to the arrangement. To round out the look, ferns and succulents are added.
4. Intriguing Border
If you want to get the ultimate comfort and privacy in your backyard, you can install afence around it. It is an effective way to drive away a peeping Tom or nosey neighbors.
However, looking at the fence when relaxing on a Patio is not a good idea. Therefore, you need something that can spruce up your fence.
Some tropical plants, such as bamboos, palms, and banana trees, can make a great privacy screen while offering spectacular landscaping. Besides, they can be an excellent match for any type of fence.
In this backyard, you can find a raised bed that goes along the fence. Some tropical plants, like palms and elephant ears, grow in it and jazz up the wooden planks immensely.
5. Soothing Pathway
This tropical backyard idea will awe everybody who sees it. The dense plants emulate rain forest nicely, creating a soothing ambiance. To make the landscaping more epic, consider installing a pathway.
You can use pavers, wood planks, or concrete to make the pathway. But if you have a limited budget and time, you can always use fine gravel.
This tropical garden looks wonderful with a pathway that escorts you to the door. Purple hearts flank it nicely on both sides, which improves the landscaping immensely.
6. Tropical Backyard Ideas for a Large Garden
This spacious backyard offers you a fun trip because you can see many things here. It has several flowerbeds. Each of them has a tall palm tree as the focal point with some ferns and caladium that cover the base.
Concrete makes a great pathway that guides your step when you are wandering around this garden.
To perfect this tropical backyard idea, try adding one or two LED garden torches or spotlights in each bed to highlight the palm tree.
7. Warm and Intimate Conversation
Making a patio in the backyard has always been a great idea to enjoy leisure time.
It is like a multipurpose outdoor living area in which you can do various kinds of things from catching up with your family or throwing a barbeque party.
This garden shows you that a patio is a perfect addition to a tropical backyard. It has a built-in fireplace in the middle with four rattan chairs sitting around it. Palm trees surround this hardscape, anchoring it in place.
You can try incorporating this kind of patio into your tropical backyard ideas because it can help you stay warm when you feel like to enjoying a beautiful night.
8. Semi-Outdoor Tropical Garden
This semi-outdoor garden will definitely steal anyone’s focus. Instead of growing the plants in the backyard, you bring them in your pool cabana.
As you can see, this pool cabana features a garden bed to grow plants. The palms look outstanding among the furniture and interior design.
Instead of mulch, you can use ferns and moneywort to cover the ground while adding a lively lift to
space.
To make the palms and ferns thrive well, install a polycarbonate or fiberglass roof to allow your plants to get sufficient light.
9. Minimalist Tropical Backyard Ideas
Combining tropical and modern flair is not a bad idea. It is worth a try because the combination may turn out well.
This tropical backyard idea is an epic amalgamation of those two styles. The use of a concrete container that features clean-lined edges embodies modern flair immensely.
Since modern style lies on minimalism and simplicity, you need to opt for green tropical plants with large foliage, such as monster, philodendron, alocasia, or Schefflera.
They feature oversized leaves that have simple shapes.
10. Add Some Boulders
Apparently, plants are not the only thing that can improve your backyard landscaping. Adding some boulders can emulate the natural habitat of the rain forest.
This backyard has a lawn that is surrounded by flowerbeds. Some boulders anchor each of them, accentuating the exotic landscaping created by the palms and alocasias.
11. Stay Organized
Although the main concept of a tropical garden is lush and dense vegetation, it does not mean you can toss everything in your backyard.
Well, you might grow a lot of plants, but it will end up creating a haphazard look, which soon becomes an eyesore.
The key to improving your garden landscaping with tropical backyard ideas is by keeping things organized.
Green, manicured lawn covers the ground nicely. Ferns grown around it make a good transitional border that connects the turf and raised bed.
Palms grow along the fence. They not only offer exquisite landscaping but also privacy screens for peace of mind.
12. Go Vertical
Some tropical gardens require a spacious backyard to grow several large plants, like banana trees, palms, or bamboos. It will be a bit challenging for the people who dwell in urban areas, which usually have limited space.
Do not let limited space hinder you from carving out a beautiful garden. This tropical backyard idea is worth a try.
If your backyard is full of hardscape, you can try growing a banana tree, fiddle-leaf fig, or mass cane in a container. Take this idea to the next level by hanging wire mesh on a board to hold some staghound ferns or orchids.
13. Mini Rain Forest
This backyard emulates a rain forest immensely. The wooden pathway will be your tour guide to the wonderful scenery of lush and green plants.
When you have a trip in this backyard, you will only see green plants with large foliage, such as alocasia, bird of paradise, elephant ear, heliconias.
14. Incorporate a Splash of Red
The typical characteristic of tropical landscaping is the dense vegetation with oversized, green foliage. But it does not mean you cannot add some splash of colors. In fact, several varieties bear unique and vibrant flowers.
This backyard features heliconias that grow along the pathway. They look great with large green leaves that can block the view. Therefore, they can be a great choice for a privacy screen.
The most wonderful and conspicuous thing in heliconias is the unique flowers that resemble a lobster claw. They also come in vivid red and yellow tones that add pops of colors among the greenery.
15. Highlight with Lighting
To be frank, your backyard will stay the same through the days and nights. So, how do you enjoy the exquisite view when it is getting dark. Therefore, you need to install some lighting.
Lighting not only sheds some light on the space but also improves the landscaping throughout the night.
Tossing some LED lights in your backyard might be a good idea. But arranging the meticulously can help you create a stunning view.
Look around your garden and think about what areas you want to highlight. Place a spotlight under a banana tree, a palm, or a bamboo tree to accentuate it.
With the appropriate lighting, you can create a more dramatic look in your backyard.
16. Large Foliage along the Pathway
The pathway usually escorts you to the back door. Therefore, it deserves accentuation. Flanking it with large-foliage plants, like agave, can be your safe bet. You can also try ferns or succulents to highlight it.
17. Low-Maintenance Tropical Backyard Idea
Looking at the backyard landscaping while adoring it is a nice thing to do. However, the pain occurs when comes to do the regular maintenance, such as water the plants, get rid of the weed and mow the lawn.
If you love the spectacular scenery but loathe the complicated maintenance, try opting for this tropical backyard idea.
Make sure that your backyard consists of more hardscape so that you have sufficient space to grow plants. Cover the ground with mulch because it not only helps you retain moisture but also keep the weed at bay.
Grow a palm, a dragon tree, or a banana tree as the centerpiece, and place some canna lilies around it. You can also add coleus to cover some parts of the ground.
18. Invest in a Patio
To round out your tropical backyard idea, try making a patio. It does not have to be a spacious one. A small patio that accommodates two or three people will be enough.
Consider installing recessed LED light around the patio, and invest in a shade that will protect you from the glaring sun.
19. Lost in Love
This tropical backyard idea will make you feel like you are walking in a jungle. It emulates the natural rain forest nicely.
To get this look, try laying stepping stones in an unorganized arrangement to imitate the natural look. Let the grass grow around them.
Grow some tropical plants along the pathway, the more the merrier. Consider planting anthurium or bird of paradise for a more exotic look.
20. Everything is Green
This backyard looks rustic with ferns and elephant ears that grow along a brick wall.
The pathway is made of some pieces of bricks arranged in a mosaic style, which pays tribute to the past.
21. Classic Container in Tropical Backyard Ideas
Apparently, a container is not only beneficial for those who live in a home with limited space. It can also embellish your garden nicely, just like what you can see in this tropical backyard idea.
This tropical backyard looks stunning with a sleek container. The design adds an ancient look to the garden.
To make it become an antique centerpiece, grow a relatively tall plant in it. A banana tree or a palm would be your top-notch choice.
22. Add More Shades
A spacious backyard is an excellent place to blow off steam. You can arrange it meticulously to form a private mini-park. Do not forget to grow more palms to provide shade during the day.
Tropical backyard ideas will improve the landscaping of your garden. Although it is not the first thing that passersby come across, you still deserve a pleasing view to release stress.