Blog : DIY Garden

Baan Nai Suan / Tropical Garden in the Coffee Shop
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Baan Nai Suan / Tropical Garden in the Coffee Shop

The sun is scorching hot this afternoon but inside Baan Nai Suan, a cozy tropical garden in the coffee shop. It’s cool and refreshing . Warisa Sinlapakun, the owner who designed and landscaped this garden on her own has a lot to tell us.

/// Thailand /// 

Story: Apasri Mimana /// Photography: Sitthisak Namkham /// Landscape Designer: Warisa Sinlapakun

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“I’ve always liked the shade and growing plants. When this coffee shop project came along, I knew right away it had to have a garden. Before this, I was a yoga teacher in a club, but one day I decided to branch out. Closer to nature it’s more relaxing, and our spiritual health benefits.”

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Garden in the coffee shop: The shop is a step up from the street. In front are planted creeping woodsorrel ground cover among decorative stones bought at Bang Bua Thong. An arboreal wooden door leads inside.

Baan Nai Suan, on Hua Mak Street, has two main sections. The first is the coffee shop, restaurant, a wood structure with food and drink service on the lower floor and a high-ceilinged yoga studio with big picture windows upstairs. The second section is a beautiful tropical-style garden.

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Long shady wooden walkway to the shop inside passes under the arbor eaves.
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Stairway up to the second floor, with the added interest of potted plants here and there.

“The garden started as just dirt, not a single plant. I don’t have a degree in garden design, but do have ideas, and love the tropical style. I used pencil and paper to draw details, spots to put trees, dig a pond, sketched in a waterfall, brook, and places to sit.

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Areca palm and a bamboo wall, plants and materials that fit the tropical style.
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Fragrant pandan is not only a beautiful plant, but it is for its oil or cooked in various treats.

“Then I went looking for ornamental things to buy and found some cute plants at the Decorative Plants Center. Big trees I got from Prajinburi and Nakhon Nayok. I used leftover construction wood to build furniture and a garden path. We needed shade, so I planted some big trees, like this super-shady 10-meter banyan from Nakhon Nayok. I’ve added on little by little over the last 6 years until it’s the Baan Nai Suan you see today.”

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Unusual furniture: wrought-iron table converted from a sewing machine, a set of unmatched lawn chairs, perfect for outdoor use.

Every morning her helpers water plants, rake fallen leaves and add fertilizer, a maintenance system She has down pat. But improvements are ongoing. New plants must be shade-tolerant, since very little light reaches the garden floor here, which is why even in the middle of the day it’s cool and comfortable.

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A misting system adds to the refreshing cool of the garden.

“I spend most of my time in the shop. If our workplace has a good feeling, we ourselves feel good, and the more enjoyable things we do, the happier we feel. I pick plants I like, like Alexandrian laurel and perfume flower tree, that give out a lot of sweet fragrance, or tree jasmine, which I really love: its white flowers hang down in the cutest way! Indian oak is cool in a different way: in full blossom, the garden is full of red flowers, the garden looks fresh, even if there are a lot of petals to rake up.”

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Plaything: an ancient VW van model used as a cute planter box instead of a vase.

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A Little English Garden
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A Little English Garden

Small joys may begin with an infatuation. This Little English garden is composed of many irresistible figurines, urn planters, and colorful plants selected by the homeowner.

/// Thailand /// 

Story: Aphasri Mimana /// Photography: Sitthisak Namkham /// Landscape Designer: Yasamanot Sriyuyong

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Flagstone path with river stone filler crosses the garden to a bench, framed by bushes and different ground cover plants. Tiny figurines and a sculpture of a woman, an urn planter: all from the owner’s beloved collection.

“I’ve lived here about six years. Before, it was full of large trees. I gradually added tropical plants until it seemed too much. We only have about 220 square meters, and the trees limited us to plants needing shade or indirect sun, so loving colorful flowers that need direct sunlight, I decided to reinvent the garden with my favorite plants and décor.

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The owner takes such good care of her plants that they produce a profusion of flowers brightening the garden everywhere.
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“I group plants that grow well together and give them as much sun and regular watering as each variety needs.”

“I took a time to think about the design, a little worried that when we took out shade trees in front of the house we’d get too much heat inside. But the house faces south, only gets full sun 4 months out of the year, and there’s usually a cool wind blowing.”

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A tall wall English banyan gives privacy, concealing the fence behind the bench.

Yasamanot designed the garden with an open look, black plum and freshwater mangrove planted about with shrubs and ground cover. Taking out the grass lawn, she paved the walkway with slate and light-colored river stones, with tall English banyans along the fence for privacy. To the right are medium-sized and beautifully flowering plants such as arrow-leaf plumeria, hibiscus, blue crossandra, white mussaenda and so on. A concrete walkway leads to a decorative fountain that brings refreshing moisture to the garden. Behind the house, She has given great attention to the placement of her most beloved plants and décor to produce the distinct feeling of an English garden.

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Before paving the path, the owner suggests first packing a layer of sand tight to make it even, then laying down a plastic mesh with gravel on top. A decorative fountain adds to the refreshing mood.

For hardscape elements like sculptures and urn planters, I bought it from Art Garden& Décor at the Saeng Ari Garden plant flea market, Nakhon Phan in the Bang Yai neighborhood, and much more. For plants, I go to Kanchanapisek Road, Bang Yai, Sanaam Luang 2, and the Baanlaesuan fair.

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Changing the garden from a play of colorful flowers to a peaceful mood, we enter a quiet spot through a green wrought iron arbor.

“I group plants that grow well together and give them as much sun and regular watering as each variety needs, paying attention to problems and changing conditions. Sometimes we have snails and leaf-eating aphids; we cut aphid-infested leaves away so the insects don’t easily spread. The garden’s in good shape now. The flowers are in dazzling full bloom, and that makes me feel happy and refreshed.

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For a good, safe fit, plant Norfolk pine by the house: it grows up, not outwards, so won’t cause problems. Roses climb the walls by cement figurines, in the English style. Verdolaga and Cape plumbago fluff out and spill over onto the path.
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Plant group of blue rock bindweed, oleander, and dwarf eucalyptus, bright green subtly dotted with color.

“In the morning you can see lots of butterflies and small birds, and smell the fragrant flowers. In the evening I come straight home and spend so much time enjoying the garden I often forget what time it is.”

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In front of the door is Cape plumbago, with bright indigo flowers, mixed with a sweet pink of water primrose, with a small cement urn planter.

 

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Red ivy extends out, climbing onto the slate flagstones. /// A cute duck sculpture hidden in among wild petunias.

 

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