If you have just moved in to your new home in Jakarta you may enjoy creating a beautiful tropical garden as plants can be found at very reasonable prices in many roadside stalls. The climate is conducive to rapid growth of plants, so you will soon create a lush green environment. Below are a few hints on plants and gardens.
Two varieties of lawn can be found in Jakarta. The soft, fine green lawns are imported fine leaf compact grasses, which must be kept closely and regularly mown at carpet pile height. High humidity and water logged surfaces encourages algae in such a lawn. High maintenance is needed and care is more difficult. Local carpet grass, which has a rather course texture, is hard wearing and usually thrives in moist soils. Regular mowing keeps the grass dense and keeps out other grasses. Keeping the ground moist will prevent pathways occurring in the high traffic areas. It requires low maintenance if kept in good condition with three monthly doses of NPK.
If your house and garden are brand new and there are no big trees, large trees are available here to transplant to a new garden so within a year you can create a shady area. Plumeria, Delonix regia, Erythrina indica are just a few.
If you have a shady tree in your garden under which the grass doesn’t grow you can either trim the tree back by 30% to allow increased sunshine, or dig over and plant a small garden or create a paved area under the tree.
Rainforest groupings, Calathea, Maranta, Nephrolepis, Philodendrons, Asplenium are the most suitable plants for a small garden that does not get much sunlight
In order to create some color in a garden of leafy green plants you should choose local plant family groups, which provide the best chance of flowering in Jakarta. Harsh environmental conditions limit the plants’ ability to thrive and produce blooms. A well-planned garden with a variety of flowers can increase native bird and butterfly populationsβ even in Jakarta.
As most plants drop leaves, palm species are the most suitable variety for planting around a swimming pool to provide greenery but not drop leaves into the water.
Some unscrupulous plant vendors sell plants in pots that actually have no roots. Establish a good relationship with one or two suppliers in order to avoid this problem.
If you have a young child who likes to put everything in his mouth you need to be wary of plants that have poisonous leaves. Keep toddlers away from plants unknown to you. Some poisonous plants commonly found in Jakarta gardens include Plumeria or Frangipani (Kamboja), O l e a n d e r ( K e mb a n gΓ M e n t e g a ) , Dieffenbachia or dumb cane (Pohon Bahagia), Caladium (Keladi) and many other less common varieties.
If you are living in an apartment you may like to have some pot plants inside or on your balcony. Plants that are suitable to grow in pots include small palms, ferns, philodendrons, codaieum, dieffenbachia, orchids.
The orchids that you can buy in Jakarta are beautiful. You can I get them to keep on flowering by give them plant food regularly, keeping them in a good airy spot with top ups of local coal.
Provided by: Colliers International
