Define 'Exotic' Gardening

DEFINE ‘EXOTIC’ GARDENING

My work has often been tagged as exotic gardening. Sometimes I loathe being pigeon holed in that category but when I try to think of another description for my designs I struggle to find a one word tag that can them sum up as well as ‘exotic’. Part of the problem is that most people immediately think of big leafy bananas and palms, tender plants and jungle settings as soon as the dreaded ‘e’ word is mentioned, but there is so much more to this style of designing and gardening than that. I’ve tried to sum up what I believe ‘exotic’ gardening to be and I’d be interested to see if you can think of  one word, or succinct phrase that would sum it up.  

I try to design gardens that look different to our daily environments whether that is city streets or suburban sprawl, countryside or coast. What we see around us in terms of shapes, textures, smells and sounds becomes a kind comfort zone, or maybe ‘discomfort’ if you are not happy there. I like to try and make my designs as much of a departure from these familiar daily experiences as possible, to give the garden a strong identity and make it as powerful as possible an experience for its owner – whether it be relaxing, invigorating, interesting or just sheer comfort and leisure (or of course all of them). Part of the key to achieving this is trying to build uniqueness into every detail and the overall plan or underlying structure to the garden. So it’s all aspects of the garden from the ground up that get the ‘exotic’ treatment – not just the plants which most people think of as defining the exotic style.     

The plants I use to try and create powerful and original looking gardens are not only jungly looking ones and the majority of them are perfectly hardy. A big part of my exotic definition is originality and that means using plants that are not commonly seen, and then of course using them in compositions in unusual ways. Seeking out species that are not commonly commercially available – and hence not seen as street planting or in people’s front gardens, for their ‘uniqueness’ rather than their tenderness, jungly character, or for the sake of their rarity is key to making distinctive looking gardens. Trends and the practicalities of mass production have decided what species are easily available for gardeners to choose from when planting  their gardens – NOT what it is truly possible to grow from a climactic point of view. An industry based around cost effective production is not likely to give us the broadest and most interesting range of plants to choose from.

The first stage in my approach to garden design is to find a structure for the garden – it’s skeleton, which relates to the house or the plot in style and proportion, it’s owner and any requirements in the brief. There are many different ways to find this ‘backbone’; intuitive freehand, pure geometry or stylised geometry from a range of ethnic traditions such as Islamic, classical European/Renaissance, Japanese, then endless architectural and design schools like arts and crafts, Bauhaus etc. Each have their own approach to spacial and structural design and opening your mind to the various influences at this fundamental stage in the design process could be considered ‘exotic’ if using influences from a non indigenous culture, or even one that is not usually considered in the context of garden design. You may have noticed a recurring theme in my approach towards planting design and the structural ‘hard landscaping’ side of gardens. This involves looking beyond the obvious, the norm, the current trend, pop culture, media invented, commercially driven ‘style’, and opening up to the rich history and global range of materials (including plants) that is really available to you.

That’s my definition of exotic gardening. It starts with the drive to create something that is ‘a bit different’ that can then lead to the desire to create something that is downright outrageous, original and unique – or it may not.... even a bit different is good because by definition it doesn’t happen very often. If you have this drive for ‘differentness’ and you can open yourself to the vast array of cultural influences historical and current, then you will create something that is exotic – no matter what style you choose.