A billowy retreat for your backyard

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

First, Stuckey built a small rectangular deck from ipé wood (optional), securing it to a redwood frame. He angled the deck to face the best view out into the garden.

To filter the sunlight that reaches the deck, he built a palapa of bamboo poles and draped the crossbars with mosquito netting.

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.

Between the deck and the planting is a creek bed of black La Paz stone (Stuckey mixed two bags of ½-in. pebbles with one bag of 1 ¼-in. stones). The stones cover a soaker hose that winds through the planting area to water the plants and periodically douse the space with a jungly mist.

Sit on the deck and pull the netting around you, and you'll feel almost like you're floating in a cloud above a jungle of exotic flowers. "Zen meets the tropics," said one visitor who tried out the space.

Next: Get the buliding diagram