My Pride of Place: Jewel in Paradise

My garden journey started when I realised I was working too much, feeling burnt out and not spending enough time outdoors. Initially, I just wanted to create a nice space to sit outside and have my lunch, but it quickly evolved into something truly magical. What started with a few pots on the deck of our rental, quickly blossomed when we were able to buy our first home.

Name: Jewel - Artist and paradise designer

Location: Nelson

Garden size: Approx 400m2

Follow me: @jewel_in_paradise

I’m inspired by beautiful, wild places such as Hawaii and Costa Rica. The remote, untamed jungles always seem so peaceful, far from the hustle and bustle of everyday life, where you can slow down and reconnect with nature. One day I had an epiphany - why don’t I try and create that feeling here? So that was my aim, to create a peaceful, tropical sanctuary to enjoy which would give us those ‘holiday’ vibes all year round.

We started by clearing the garden and rehoming all the plants, apart from a few tree ferns, giving us a fabulous blank canvas to work with. Our garden is now comprised of a central lawn that leads down from our deck and is surrounded on three sides with tropical borders. Beyond the lawn, we’ve also created different little areas that are tucked away such as our mini food forest, BBQ area, nursery area and our backyard beach - complete with firepit and soft golden sand. I love having these different walkways and ‘rooms’ to explore as it makes our small section feel much bigger.

Our garden was created on a very tight budget so most of the plants have been grown from cutting or seed, purchased as tiny baby plants, traded or rescued. This has enabled us to acquire an interesting collection but has required a good deal of patience as it takes time for everything to establish. A lot of the materials we used in our design have been repurposed and rescued as well, including a trellis fence that was being demolished and the garden edging that someone was about to throw on their burn pile! Having a smaller budget just means you have to get a bit more creative.

I would describe my garden style as ‘Tropical Jungle’. Although I do usually start with a plan, our garden seems to continually evolve. My passion is to create a delight for the senses so the look is very important - lush green with pops of bright colours, but it’s the smaller details that can really bring the magic. We dug the beach area down deep enough so that you can wriggle your toes in the warm sand, the palm fronds and banana leaves create a soothing symphony in the breeze, and I included a lot of fragrance in the way of brugmansia, gardenia, jasmine, frangipani and daphne, around the areas that we gather in the evening when their perfume is the strongest. Edibles delight the taste buds and I’m always creating something in the kitchen for us to enjoy.

Jewel's top 5 plants to create a lush tropical oasis

1. Palms No tropical oasis is complete without palm trees and there’s a wide variety available to suit all kinds of different climates, positions and size requirements.

2. Hibiscus To me, they are the ultimate flower for radiating bright, flamboyant tropical vibes.

3. Bromeliads We are lucky to have such a huge variety of Bromeliads available here in NZ, they look fantastic all year round and the array of colours to choose from is dazzling.

4. Ligularia Every tropical garden needs something big, green and leafy and ligularia, often called ‘tractor seats’, are a versatile and surprisingly cold-hardy addition to the garden.

5. Bird of Paradise A beautiful, structural plant with unique flowers which always evokes the tropics for me.

Follow our guide to creating your own lush green oasis here >