How To Underplant Palms, Bananas, And Tree Ferns For A Lush Tropical Look

In a tropical-style garden, the real magic happens when plants aren't just standing alone and are instead layered. Big architectural plants like palms, bananas, and tree ferns create height and drama, but it's the underplanting beneath them that fills the garden with life, colour, and texture.

Done well, underplanting transforms a few feature plants into a complete landscape that feels immersive and natural - like stepping into a slice of the tropics. Here's how to choose the best plants to underplant your palms, bananas, and tree ferns, and bring your tropical garden to life.

Why Underplanting Matters

Palms, bananas, and tree ferns all have strong vertical structure. But without a rich layer of plants at their feet, they can look exposed, sparse, or out of place - especially in smaller gardens where every bit of space matters.

Underplanting softens the ground layer, hides bare soil, and helps create the dense, multi-layered effect typical of tropical forests and jungles. It also helps with practical benefits like conserving soil moisture, shading roots, and even suppressing weeds.

The goal is to choose plants that thrive in the dappled shade and sheltered conditions created by your bigger specimens, while complementing their scale and exotic look. Here are some excellent choices to consider, all capable of thriving under palms, bananas, and tree ferns in the UK climate.

Hardy Ferns

Ferns are the natural partners for tree ferns and look equally beautiful under palms and bananas. Varieties like Dryopteris erythrosora (autumn fern) and Polystichum setiferum (soft shield fern) offer lush green textures that soften the ground layer and bring movement and depth.

Many hardy ferns are evergreen, giving the garden structure even in winter, and they thrive in the shady, sheltered microclimate created by architectural plants.

Fatsia japonica

With its glossy, deeply lobed leaves, Fatsia japonica brings bold, tropical-looking foliage that thrives in shade and tolerates cooler conditions. Plant it slightly away from the trunks of your larger plants to allow space for both to flourish. Its chunky leaves contrast beautifully with finer underplanting like ferns and hostas.

Persicaria

Persicarias like 'Purple Fantasy' and 'Red Dragon' are fantastic underplanting choices for tropical gardens.
Their rich, coloured foliage - a mix of deep maroons, greens, and silvers - brings boldness and movement to the lower layers of the garden.

They form dense, low-growing mats that naturally fill space under palms, bananas, and tree ferns, helping to create the lush, full understorey that gives tropical planting its distinctive look.

Persicarias are tough, easy to grow, and happy in partial shade. They're hardy enough to survive UK winters, and many varieties even provide a second flush of fresh foliage after a summer trim, keeping the planting looking vibrant right into autumn.

Hostas

Hostas bring lushness, colour, and pattern to the base of larger plants. Their broad, architectural leaves echo the boldness of tropical planting, and they work especially well under tree ferns and bananas. Choose varieties with thick, slug-resistant leaves, and place them where their colour variegation - greens, blues, yellows, and creams - can catch filtered light through the canopy above.

Colocasia (Elephant Ears)

For pure exotic drama, Colocasia are hard to beat. Their giant, heart-shaped leaves look like something straight out of the rainforest. In sheltered spots with moisture-retentive soil, they thrive under the broken shade of bananas and palms. In cooler areas, they may need lifting and storing over winter, but their impact through the summer months is unforgettable.

Ginger Lilies (Hedychium)

Ginger lilies offer both lush, strappy foliage and late-season flowers in tropical shades of orange, yellow, or white.
They're ideal for underplanting in spots that catch some afternoon sun but are still sheltered by larger plants. Hedychium densiflorum is particularly reliable for UK gardens.

Canna Lilies

Cannas aren't just for open borders - they make brilliant underplanting companions, especially under taller bananas and palms. Their vivid flowers and lush, sometimes bronze-tinted leaves create a layered, saturated look that screams tropical abundance. Cannas love rich soil and regular watering, and they blend beautifully with other bold-textured plants.

Ornamental Grasses

For movement and fine texture, consider adding some shade-tolerant ornamental grasses like Hakonechloa macra (Japanese forest grass). The gentle swaying of grasses can lighten the effect of heavy foliage, adding a feeling of natural flow to your planting scheme. Golden-leaved varieties are particularly striking under larger plants where dappled light can catch them.

Tips For Successful Tropical Underplanting

• Layer in height: Start with your architectural plants, then add medium-sized plants like fatsias and cannas, then low groundcover like ferns and hostas.

• Think texture: Mix broad leaves with finer textures to create a jungle-like richness.

• Use repetition: Repeating the same few underplanting plants throughout your garden helps knit the whole scene together.

• Water well: Tropical-style gardens often feature moisture-loving plants. Newly planted areas, in particular, benefit from consistent watering through the growing season.

• Mulch generously: Mulching helps lock in moisture, suppress weeds, and maintain the lush look of a tropical understorey.