Balinese Gardens

and other resort-style tropical gardens

Gardens inspired by the landscapes of Bali and other tropical resort destinations have become very popular in Australia in recent years. This page will mostly deal with modern interpretations of such landscapes. In particular, how to create them at home, in your own backyard.

Where swimming pools, spas, and entertaining areas are incorporated (see also the Outdoor Living page), they are perhaps better described as "resort style gardens".

International themes (Bali, Thai, Pacific Island, etc) can be developed with the choice of shade structure (e.g. thatched hut or tiled gazebo and associated decoration), sculptures, lighting and other accessories.

News

Balinese garden icon dies

Made Wijaya, the former Australian who essentially created the lush "Balinese" style of modern tropical garden, has passed away due to illness. His many landscape designs implemented around the world included the home of David Bowie. He also wrote extensively on Balinese life and culture and became a prominent figure in his adopted home. (for more, see Fairfax Media news report: Death in Sydney of renowned garden designer keenly felt in his adopted Bali) His company website PT. Wijaya Tribwana International has many illustrations of his projects. Tropical landscape enthusiasts should take the opportunity to have a look while it's still available. (August 2016)

Suppliers of Balinese-style plants, accessories or services to Qld

May include online suppliers. For the most up-to-date information on plants in stock, opening hours, prices etc, be sure to visit the seller's website or contact the business directly.

Note that some products may only be suitable for use under cover, while others may be strictly for outdoor use only. Be sure to check with the supplier regarding the suitability of any item for its intended purpose. For the most up-to-date information on opening hours, items in stock, prices etc, be sure to contact the business directly. The following list may include online retailers and mail order suppliers.

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BALI BY DESIGN Lot 4, Grassdale Street, Buccan, Qld, 4207 (visits by appointment) Ph: (07) 5546 3902 Mob: 0414 329 807 balibydesign.com.au

Bali by Design can help make your tropical garden dreams come true with hand carved statues, pedestals, lanterns, pots and water features such as hand-carved limestone water walls. A range of authentic Balinese gazebos are on display, but special designs can be ordered in styles and sizes customised to your individual needs and taste. Pictures, homewares and jewellery are also available. Many examples of the range can be viewed online at the WEBSITE. Bali By Design are direct importers, so please phone for an appointment, or to simply discuss your requirements.

ISLAND IMPORTS Brisbane Ph: (07) 3219 5454 Mob: 0418 746 180 islandimports.com.au

Bring a touch of Bali to your garden or home with a statue or other accessory from Island Imports. Quality hand-carved artifacts in lava stone, sandstone and paris stone are a speciality. Balinese timber lanterns and other lanterns suitable for garden lighting (12 volt), plus pots in terracotta or stone are also available. Custom-made items or other special orders can be arranged - just contact Rene or Carolyn to discuss your requirements. View examples of the range online at the Island Imports WEBSITE, where you'll also see pictures of "Taman Air", Rene & Carolyns' beautiful tropical garden on Brisbane's southside.

NATIONWIDE THATCH 37 Hardys Rd Mudgeeraba, Qld. 4213 Ph: (07) 555 91905 Mob: 0418 880 181 www.nationwidethatch.com.au

Nationwide Thatch provides a range of shade structures to glamorise your outdoor entertaining areas, including African lapas (African-style round or oval thatched gazebos), Balinese pavilions and thatched umbrellas. We service the entire Gold Coast & Brisbane areas. Do it yourself with a DIY gazebo kit or roofing products. Balinese and African style thatching or wooden shingles are available. Installation can also be arranged for you. Balinese pavilions can be custom-made to any size for domestic or commercial applications. Visit Nationwide Thatch's WEBSITE for ideas and inspiration, plus more information about its range of quality shade structures.

TROPICAL LIVING Mob: 0419 204 154 www.tropicalliving.com.au

Let Tropical Living help you create a tranquil tropical lifestyle at your place with beautiful garden art, decorative pots, water features and more. Value-for-money is a high priority, from the latest hand-carved limestone designs to the budget range of molded pieces. Special requests, wholesale orders and commercial projects also catered for. Based south of Brisbane, goods can be delivered throughout SE Qld. Extend the tropical theme inside your home with Tropical Living's exotic homewares. Shoes, bags and jewellery, too! View the entire range at the WEBSITE

EXOTIC THATCH www.exoticthatch.com.au

Exotic Thatch supplies a variety of quality African Cape Reed thatch products Australia-wide. Thatched umbrellas are an easy way to add tropical flair and provide a much cooler shade than typical canvas umbrellas. Thatched gazebos not only look good but provide shelter for your outdoor entertaining area or spa. Available in DIY kit form. Installation can also be arranged for customers in Brisbane and Sydney metropolitan areas. Thatch tiles can be purchased separately for your own building projects. Visit the Exotic Thatch WEBSITE, for pictures, information, and to locate your nearest sales representative.

OFFERINGS ONLINE P O Box 3383, Robina Town Centre Qld 4230 ph: (07) 5572 7710 www.offeringsonline.com.au

Offerings Online offer you beautiful Balinese products with all the convenience of online ordering. Bali Flags, or Umbul Umbuls, are a speciality. New shipments are arriving constantly. A variety of colours is available including white wedding flags. Visit the Offerings Online WEBSITE to find out more, and explore the range of imported Balinese homewares, clothing, jewellery and gifts.

SUNSHINE COAST GARDENER'S PARADISE Incorporating Eumundi Palms 1073 Browns Creek Road, Eerwah Vale via Eumundi Qld 4562 Ph: (07) 5442 8492 www.gardenersparadise.com.au

Sunshine Coast Gardener's Paradise lives up to its name with over 200,000 plants from "tubes" to "super advanced" in stock. Select from indoor and outdoor plants including ferns, rainforest plants, cycads and sun-hardened palms. Be sure to visit the Botanical Palm Garden featuring some eighty different species of palms, including rare varieties. For a Balinese-style garden, the centre can supply thatched huts, decorative figures, pots and water features. For more information, visit the Sunshine Coast Gardener's Paradise WEBSITE

H..ART OF BALI www.hartofbali.com

Use Balinese celebration flags (umbal umbals) from h..Art of Bali to add a touch of Bali to your landscape... Or, create a spectacular backdrop to your garden or beach ceremony and capture the spirituality of a Traditional Balinese wedding. We are the beach wedding specialists with our hire range now including HUGE bamboo pergola, bamboo tee pees and more.....many options available to create a truly unique day. Have your wedding or party guests sign your celebration flag for an extra special keepsake... Flags for sale in a range of sizes and gorgeous colours...Easily posted Australia-wide. Clothing, shoes, art, jewellery and home wares also available. Visit the h..Art of Bali WEBSITE for more information.

CALYX HORTICULTURAL SERVICES Garden Ideas Service

A personalised information service for Australians (particularly Queensland residents) who need a little extra help planning their own Balinese-inspired garden or other garden themes. Emphasis on plants and low-cost ideas. Find out more here: Garden Ideas Service

For the most up-to-date information on opening hours, items in stock, prices etc, be sure to contact the business directly. The above list may include online retailers and mail order suppliers.

More Ideas

Balinese garden design - overview

Lanterns

(Looking for places to buy garden lanterns? Check the suppliers section)

A popular way to add a Balinese touch to a garden is with a traditional thatched wooden lantern. The black fibre thatching looks like hair drawn up into a ponytail. These may be sold as "hairy lanterns".

Alternatively, some lanterns may have a shingle "roof". Decorative lamps carved from stone or cast in stone-effect materials in a variety of designs can also suit a resort-style garden and may be more durable than timber.

If you're intending to have lights installed in your lanterns, be sure that they are actually suitable for that purpose and, of course, observe all the usual precautions with respect to electricity.

Flags and Umbrellas

(Looking for places to buy Balinese flags or umbrellas? Check the suppliers section)

Long tapering pennants, called umbul umbuls, are held upright on tall poles. You may have seen them decorating homes and businesses. They're another way of adding a Balinese touch to a tropical garden without making major changes.

They're also becoming popular for adding a splash of colour to any outdoor scene (with or without a corporate logo). In white, they can also be used to decorate the scene of an outdoor wedding

More information about umbul umbuls here: Balinese flags

Fabric covered temple umbrellas (tedung) like those used for ceremonial purposes in Bali can also be used to decorate outdoor areas including Balinese-style wedding ceremonies.

Statues, Carvings, Decorative Pots

Water features

Water adds an extra dimension to any garden, and the Balinese-style garden is no exception.

Even small bowls can become evocative symbols of the East with a frangipani or two floated on the surface. Larger containers can be planted up as miniature water gardens. Compliment big ponds or pools with a water spout in the form of a fish, frog or deity.

To take your garden to the next level, create a piece of mountain rainforest with naturalistic streams, pools and waterfalls with real or artificial rocks. For some, the ultimate water feature is a swimming pool with landscaped surrounds. (Large or small, ensure water features don't become hazards for children, or breeding spots for mosquitoes!)

Outdoor structures

Tropical-look outdoor structures fit for a resort are commercially available in Australia in a wide variety of styles, materials and sizes. Simple square or rectangular thatched pavillions modelled after the bale benongs or bales of Bali are very popular and enhance the garden both aesthetically and practically. Open on all sides or semi enclosed, they offer shelter from sunshine or rain while allowing air circulation and views of the garden.

Bali grass (alang alang) is a traditional straw, but brushwood or reed materials are also commercially available for a thatch roof. Besides the tropical look, one of the advantages of a thick thatching material is insulation against heat from the sun.

The shaggy style of thatching is generally the most suitable for a Balinese or Pacific theme, while the neatly trimmed tiered thatching sometimes seen on the market is more appropriate for an African style gazebo (which is usually round or oval as well). Either would add pizzazz and utility to a tropical garden, however.

A thatched umbrella is another way to add that "grass hut" look, especially if you have limited space or perhaps can't afford the price of a more substantial structure. Or, how about a garden seat or hammock with its own thatched roof?

While less tropical-looking than thatch, wooden shingles (sirap) or terracotta tiles are alternatives which are also used in Bali and Indonesia. Decorative teracotta roof ornamaments at the apex (crown motif) and corners will truly add and exotic Asian look to such a roofline.

Bales may also be found listed commercially as bali huts, gazebos or pavillions. Similar structures may be sold under a variety of other names, depending on the cultural influence. More about such structures (bures, fales, nipa huts, tiki huts, palapas, cabanas, salas) from Asia, Pacific Islands and other tropical cultures here: More on tropical structures.

Some companies offer thatch treated with fire retardants. If you want your own grass hut, ask your supplier about this and other issues such as insect and rot resistance, wind resistance and UV stability. This applies to synthetic substitutes as well as natural materials.

Many such materials are now on the market in Qld, even entire structures in DIY kit form. Or consider a custom-made structure. (check the suppliers section.) Before construction, be sure to check with local authorities to find out what permits or licences may be necessary.

Plants are one way to hide unattractive views or utilities that distract from the secluded resort-style ambience you may be trying to create. However, you may have to wait for them to grow, the coverage may not be adequate, or the spot may simply be unsuitable for planting. On the other hand, a fence constructed with bamboo, reed or similar material provides instant screening while adding to to the tropical theme, although it is likely to be more expensive. To makeover existing fences, walls or even the undersides of patio roofs with tropical flair, there are a range of screening products in panels or rolls. If you need to have a new fence constructed, take a look at options based on reed, bamboo or brushwood to compliment a tropical-look garden. (see discussion on thatching above for more about materials).

More about plants and planting here: Plants for Balinese style Gardens

Quick Tricks Add a Balinese statue. Big enough to make a statement = instant effect. Decorate stone figures with tropical flowers like hibiscus, frangipani or allamanda for special occasions. Place blossoms behind the ears or in their hands, as if they were alive. You can also "dress" them with cloth. Pop a spiky accent plant into a large terracotta container or stone planter. Again, needs to be large and bold enough impact.

Quick Tricks Create a small temporary water feature by filling a stone-effect or terracotta bowl or urn with water and floating a few frangipani on the top.

Mini Glossary Here's a very brief (non-expert) guide to some unfamiliar words you may encounter when shopping for Balinese accessories : air - water alang alang - thatching grass andong - cordyline Bagong - a comical character of folklore Barong - a lion-like character (fights the evil Rangda) bale - a building cempaka - Michelia champaca cempaka putih - Michelia alba Dewi Sri - goddess of rice (prosperity) Ganesha - Hindu god with the head of an elephant Hanuman - Hindu god with the form of a monkey jepun - frangipani (Plumeria) kepuh - Sterculia foetida mimpi - dream Rangda - evil witch or female demon character rimba - forest sari - essence taman - garden or park

Create a sense of enclosure and entice the visitor to discover what lies deyond with an arch or decorative gates. Split temple gates are represented at above. An arch modelled after bale architecture below.

Quick Trick Use bamboo, brush or reed screening to cover unattractive fences or walls, or to screen the compost bin, sheds, or utility areas.

Quick Trick Advanced trees and shrubs in large containers are an easy and non-permanent way to add more palms or frangipani to the scene, even where planting in the ground would not be possible. Disguise pots with groundcovers and other plants. Plain black plastic blends into the shadows as well as anything. Depending on how you look after these plants, you might get several years in a pot. Unless you isolate them from the ground, however, they could take root through drainage holes, or roots of nearby trees could invade from the ground up.

More Online Information