Have you always wanted to create a lush, tropical jungle in your backyard garden? With the right plants and design ideas, you can turn any outdoor space into a mini rainforest—all without leaving your own home! Landscape designers use the principles of interaction, physical space and interaction to design garden spaces that are not only beautiful, but also function well and make the most of the available space. In this guide, we’ll show you how to use these principles to plan and execute a stunning jungle landscaping project. Plus we have some amazing ideas to fully embrace the backyard jungle from ziplines and treehouses to jungle-style swimming pools and outdoor bathrooms.
Is a jungle garden style right for you?
Jungle gardens are ideal for backyards that have a lot of a shade or large trees. Because they are a more informal style of garden, they are also great for those who are looking for a low maintenance garden. If you want to provide an active outdoor play space for kids (or big kids!) a jungle-themed backyard is perfect. On the other end of the scale are jungle-inspired spaces designed for relaxation as you immerse yourself in nature. You can also design a jungle garden to attract wildlife, by incorporating a permanent water source and different habitats into your plan.
Assess your space and plan your design
Successful landscaping design is all about being able to create experiences and feelings for the people who use the space. Think about and write down what it is that you want for your backyard jungle. Is it an urban jungle to create a green oasis in the middle of a city or do you have the room for some serious wild jungle landscaping that will transport you to a tropical rainforest?
Before you dive into your jungle landscaping project, it’s equally important to take a step back and assess the space. Consider not just the size of the area, but also factors like light availability and temperature. Doing this will help you decide which plants and design ideas are most suitable for your outdoor area.
Now that you have written your list and have assessed your space, create a rough sketch of the space. The next step is to note areas of full sun and full shade. After that, mark in permanent features within and outside your garden, such as large trees and buildings, and the location of utilities such as power and water.
Apply the landscaping design principles of interaction, physical space and integration
Landscape designers use the principles of interaction, physical space and interaction to design spaces that are not only beautiful, but also function well and make the most of the available space. Interaction is about how people (and animals) will move through and interact with the space. Think about where you want them to spend the most time, where you want to restrict access, and how they will move through and around the space. Plan how you can provide a full sensory experience for your garden users that incorporates sight, sound, smell, touch and taste.
The physical space principle takes the garden environment into consideration. What is the typical weather pattern and what are the extreme weather risks that need to be planned for? What structures are on the site, and what neighboring structures are visible from the site? Lastly, but certainly not least, is locating the utilities such as power, gas and water. You don’t want to be damaging important infrastructure or preventing access to it in the future.
Integration is the third principle, and it is all about balance. The balance in scale, textures and materials. Balancing transitions between indoor and outdoor environments, including views from windows. This is where it all comes together and you can start to really get creative with your design.
Jungle garden design ideas for your backyard
A jungle garden theme gives you the perfect opportunity to embrace outdoor living and to add some fun features to your backyard. Have you thought about adding an outdoor bathroom, treehouse, zip-line or jungle gym? These are highly desirable features in premium garden designs and can add some serious value to your home.
Outdoor bathrooms
Outdoor bathrooms can be as simple as a shower head or an immersive jungle luxury experience. If privacy is a concern then bamboo or timber screens lend themselves perfectly to jungle themed landscapes.
Treehouses and play equipment
If you want to spend more time outdoors and less time on screens then make your backyard the ultimate playground. Jungle gardens lend themselves to activities for kids and adults. Some of our favorites are zip-lines, forts and treehouses, pools and yoga decks.
For more jungle garden feature ideas and inspiration, check out our video below:
Distinctive features of jungle garden design
Jungles are all about foliage, and have three zones for you to consider. The first is the canopy. These are the tallest trees that provide shade and protection for all the plants underneath. Tall buildings can help to provide this effect if you are in the city, and you can grow climbers over a pergola or similar structure if you are short on space. In outdoor rooms, hanging plants are ideal to create a canopy illusion.
The second zone is the mid-height plants. These form a dense wall or screen and are usually a mix of different leaf shapes and sizes. Palms, Bird of Paradise, banana, hibiscus, Elephant Ear and philodendrons are great plants to use in this zone. If you are restricted for space a climbing plant on a wall, fence or frame will work here. Modern garden designs might only have 2-3 different plants in this zone, and occasionally only one. If you are going for the full jungle experience you can use as many as will fit in your garden!
The third zone is the low growing border plants and ground covers. In residential and commercial landscaping projects this is often a mass planting of a single variety. Plants with thin strappy leaves such as lily turf (Liriope) are popular, mostly because these plants don’t grow high enough to be included in the mid-height zone. If you have a favorite plant with a different leaf shape you can use it instead. In this garden they have used ferns as a border along the timber board path.
Plant selection for jungle landscaping
Don’t let yourself get distracted by all the gorgeous tropical flowering plants when you are choosing the tropical foliage plants for your jungle garden. It’s important to stick to your theme because flowers will distract from your jungle look if you have too many. We suggest consider the following plants when you are designing your jungle landscape.
Canopy plants
In addition to Bamboo, Canary Island Date Palm and Giant Bird of Paradise, consider bananas, fig and any other large evergreen trees that grow well in your climate.
Screening plants
There’s lots to choose from for fillers. For large leaves consider alocasia and colocasia, philodendron, palms, Bird of Paradise, tree ferns and calathea. Other foliage interest can come from ginger, heliconia, fatsia japonica, canna, brugmansia, and szygium. For climbers try jasmine, clematis, and bougainvillea.
Border and ground cover plants
Ferns, hostas, liriope, phormium, and cordyline make ideal borders and ground covers. See our article on cascading plants for a sprawling ground cover plants that will look right at home in a jungle-style landscape.
Materials to use in jungle landscaping design
Rocks, timber, bamboo and water all feature prominently in jungle-style landscapes. Hard surfaces (paths and living spaces) are usually a very fine compacted gravel, large smooth stones or timber decking. Natural-style rock, such as crazy paving and stepping stones will work too. Concrete, bricks and pavers are man-made and can look out of place in a jungle garden. However, if you are going for an urban jungle design then these more modern materials are fine. Natural rocks half-buried in the soil and old dead logs help to create an authentic look.
Mapping out a jungle landscape design plan
You’ve done all the planning and research, so now it’s time to bring it all together in your landscaping plan.
There are lots of great software options for mapping out your landscape design. If you are old-school, pull out the graph paper and start sketching. If you want an easy way to experiment and brainstorm Canva is a really simple and easy to use free graphic design app. Google Sketch Up is another free option that works well.
We love Realtime Landscaping Pro for our final designs because it generates a list of supplies and materials for you and makes budgeting your project a breeze. It takes a little time to learn how to use the software, but they have great demo videos to walk you through it and it’s well worth the investment.
Executing the project
Generally your options are to engage a local landscaping business to complete the works for you or do it yourself. When it comes to tasks that need a high degree of skill, such as earthmoving, construction and paving you should seriously consider getting help from a local small business. Talk to them about your plan and ask them about similar work that they have done. If they’ve done a great job with somebody else’s project they should have photos or testimonials to support the quality of their work. Try to choose somebody with at least 5 years of experience under their belt.
Your next step is to speak to your local garden center as they can help to make sure you make the right plant selections for your space and climate. They may even offer a design service and if they charge a fee it is often possible to credit it against plant purchases. Alternatively, you can source plants at good prices from online nurseries, just be mindful of trying to source from a location with a similar climate so that your new plants will settle in nicely.
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