Bali in your backyard: create a tropical paradise to bring vacations home

Sunset, June, 2004 by Sharon Cohoon

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* Add statuary. Place a statue of a god or goddess within a plant grouping. "Anything carved is especially good," Overbach says. For a mysterious jungle feel, partially conceal the statue so that coming across it is a surprise.

* Get creative with cachepots. Use carved or painted wood boxes from China or India. "Orchids and bromeliads look especially good in them," Overbach says. (Protect the boxes with a plastic lining.)

* Use exotic woods and fabrics. Select furniture made of bamboo, rattan, teak, and other tropical woods. Underfoot, use sisal or woven-grass rugs. Beaded cloth from India, Indonesian batiks, and Hawaiian tapa are perfect for pillows or throws.

INFO: Island View Nursery, Carpinteria, CA (www.islandviewnursery.com or 805/684-0324)

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On a tiki beach in Carlsbad

Robb Green's passion for the tropics started young. He fell in love with the landscape and culture of Hawaii when he visited the islands as a child with his parents. Now, with the help of landscape designer Greg Vasilieff, he has recreated that atmosphere in his Carlsbad, California, backyard to share with wife Barbara Tuppa and daughter Laura.

Instead of creating a canopy over the entire backyard, as Greg Asbagh did, Green confined his tropical plants to the edges of his property and an island bed near the patio, leaving a section of lawn in the center as a play space for Laura and the family's two dogs.

The perimeter planting of palms and timber bamboo provides a windscreen that keeps temperatures mild at his inland property. "Since these plants grew and filled in, we've never had frost," he says. But the openness of his yard allows for plenty of sun, enabling Green to put more emphasis on flowers. Ginger lily (Hedychium), shell ginger (Alpinia), and spiral ginger (Costus) thrive, as do plumerias and passion vines.

Tikis, hidden among the foliage and presiding over the yard's own sandy beach, are the finishing touch. Green carved them himself. "With them here, now I can pretend I'm at Pu'uhonua o Honaunau [a national historic park on the Big Island], one of my favorite spots in the world," he says.

DESIGN: Greg Vasilieff, Western Gardens Landscaping, Carlsbad, CA (www.westerngardens.net or 760/720-1459)

Build a billowy retreat

You don't need a large space to create a convincing tropical retreat, as Bud Stuckey, our test garden coordinator, demonstrates. He brought to life this Balinese fantasy in a 10- by 10-foot corner of Sunset's test garden.

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First, Stuckey built a small rectangular deck from ipe wood, securing it to a redwood frame. He angled the deck to face the best view out into the garden. Then, to filter the sunlight that reaches the deck, he built a palapa of bamboo poles and draped the crossbars with mosquito netting (available at REI and sporting-goods stores).

In a crescent of fertile soil adjacent to the deck, Stuckey planted a tree fern and summer bulbs with vibrant, tropical-looking blooms, such as cannas, dahlias, and Oriental lilies. He edged the bed with a ruff of lime green 'Angelina' sedum.