From the street, it looks like any other terraced house in Alway, Newport. Step into the back garden, though, and you’ll find a tropical jungle of banana trees, ferns, colourful exotic flowers and a few poisonous plants. According to the BBC, it all began when Dave Robinson, 39, and his fiancée Gemma Furby, 37, decided to grow a single banana tree, inspired by their travels. That one plant took on a life of its own, and the couple’s seven-year-old son Arlo is now so familiar with the wilder residents that he has taken a friend on a “danger tour” of the spiky and poisonous ones.
It started with a single banana tree
The couple bought their first home in 2016, and Dave, who had always filled rented flats with houseplants, finally had an empty garden to play with. He grew up around plants, with a grandad who kept allotments and a dad who loved gardening too. Inspired by a trip to Madeira in 2017 and the Eden Project in Cornwall, they planted a banana tree first. Gemma, a nurse, wasn’t a big plant person at the start, but the interest grew for both of them together.
From sun trap to shady jungle
The garden began as a sunny space with decking and a large lawn. Within a few years, trees and ferns had turned the bottom of it into a shady retreat. Dave, who works at a garden centre, says many of the plants wouldn’t have survived British winters a few years ago, but milder winters and hotter summers have changed that. Apart from plenty of watering in the heat, the plants now mostly look after themselves. Their advice is to know your limits and research every plant before it goes into the ground.
Arlo’s “danger tour”
Arlo has grown up in the middle of it all. He helps take cuttings and sow seeds, has his own blueberry bush, and still has room for his paddling pool at the bottom of the garden. He knows many of the plants well, and when a friend came round, he showed them every poisonous or spiky one. It may sound alarming, but poisonous plants are common in ordinary UK gardens, and the Royal Horticultural Society says serious poisoning by plants is very uncommon and the risk is generally low.
Rare plants, swaps and a growing community
The plants come from Africa, Asia and South America, but the couple don’t have to travel far to find them. They shop at rare and niche nurseries and garden centres across South, West and North Wales, and some in England. They also trade cuttings through an online community. In 2020, they started a Welsh tropical gardening group to share tips and tricks, and it has now grown to 700 members. They keep adding to it by meeting people at garden fairs around the UK.
A garden with a purpose
The jungle can’t be seen from the street, but it isn’t closed off from the world. Last year, the couple opened it to the public to raise money for a mental health charity, since being outdoors in it has helped Dave’s own mental health. They had planned to open it again in July, this time to raise money for Tŷ Hafan Children’s Hospice. What started as a hobby has become a way to give something back to the community.
