Dear Banana tree forum people,
I design gardens and ecological villas for a hotel company and for some time I have been contemplating the idea of using banana palms to make an out door shower in my new eco-suite hotel room- my basic idea was to dig a hole 2m in diameter and 1m deep and place a slightly conclave sheet of PVC at the bottom so the water flows towards the outer edge. Then I want to fill it with a layer of rubble, then a layer of pea gravel and top it off with some white pebbles and some wooden decking or a big flagstone to make a standing area. The shower would be situated directly above the center of this circle. Then I thought I'd dig a trench around the perimeter of the circle about 2m in diameter and 1m deep and fill this outer circle with a thick layer of organic material (coconut leaves, maybe some organic kitchen waste and some leaves) and cover it with a layer of compost mixed with excavated topsoil. I would then plant this trench with staggered banana plants (and maybe some bamboo or papaya) to create a sort of living curtain that would give the shower user some privacy and some bananas. The project is in tropical thailand where it is very hot 25-38° with high rainfall 3000mm + annually. If you think it would work could someone suggest some banana species that would be suitable to provide edible fruit and privacy?
Best regards
Louis

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Louis Thompson
Permaculture consultant
Six Senses

I think you're crazy! ahhaa
Just kidding, very intresting idea though, how do I make reservations :-) ?

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'All men dream: but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dream with open eyes to make it possible.' - - - T. E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia)

I just gave some friend some bamboo for kinda the same purpose around their jacuzzi. I definatly think bananas would be even nicer though. You may want to find a variety that is compact growing so it makes a good screen. Good luck, it sounds like a wonderful place to take a shower!

People sometimes consider bananas noxious weeds because they grow so fast in the tropics, so giving some room around the shower maybe a good idea. As far a type of banana, I'm not sure, but there is probally alot of local varities that would work great.

There are at least four types of bananas that fit your specs. as these plants are from four to six feet in height. These are: Dwarf Cavendish (5 ft.), Dwarf Orinoco (5 – 6 ft.), Mauritius (4 ft.) and a Cavendish type called Mahoi (5 – 6 ft.).
Understand that bananas are not palms. They are on the musasae family from the order of the zingiberales. They are more related to grasses than to palms.
Since your plants roots are going to be confined to a small planting area your best bet is to refrain from using palms together with the bananas as the palms tend to become root bound in a short period of time (in case you choose the obvious areca or other clumping variety of palms) and is very difficult to thin them.
I would use Heliconias as backdrop. They are in the zingiberales order the same as bananas and they will fill the gaps providing you use a short variety. That way you will have fruit and flowers.
Remember that banana plants will bear fruit only once and then it will die (you will cut it close to the ground so it does not look ugly). But do not worry because by then three or four new plants will be growing around the main trunk until the whole thing forms a clump. Heliconias will do the same after they flower. The secret here is lots of fertilizer.

Louie

Dear Zingiberfan,
Thank you very much for your excellent advice. I have just visited the ginger garden at the Singapore botanical gardens and I should have thought of it myself ( I highly recommend visiting if youy are a true zingiberfan).
I'm also working on a bathtub which would channel the grey water into a concentric circular reedbed system (pea gravel topped with mulch). If you have any other godd ideas for a planting scheme for that I'd appreciate it. By the way I know this may be asking a bit much but could you recommend some heliconia species if you canthink of any off the top of your head? Also what kind og natural fertilizer would you suggest?
Best regards and many thanks
Louis

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Louis Thompson
Permaculture consultant
Six Senses

Louis,

The heliconias for your project should no grow higher than 3 to five feet. You can use “Andromeda”, “Lady Di”, “Surinam Sassy” or “Choconiana” . This four are in the Psittacorum family, but be careful because as most Psittacorums are invasive and if you don’t restrict their path, they will go everywhere. In my experience psittacorums take the full sun better.
Other species you can plant are: “Jamaican Dwarf”, ”Bucky” or “Dorado Gold” (these are not Psittacorums).

Remember that all plants (heliconias included) grow more or less according to the amount of light and fertilizer given. Since these are going to be around the bananas, probably are going to catch more fertilizer than they usually get making them taller.

In respect to the fertilizer, I use a commercial grade 6-2-2 with potassium nitrate (bananas are heavy feeders on Potassium and Nitrogen). On occasions (when I feel “organic”) I feed them well cured chicken manure.

Tell me more about your reedbed. Are you going to put plants into the reedbed? Do you have probems with the obstruction of the view by the plants?

Louie

Dear Louie
Unfortunately I can't send the image on this message. If you want I can send you a drawing I made, but I imagine you wouldn't want to put your email on the web , if you'd like to see the idea send an email to me - louis@sonevaresorts.com and I'll send you the image. It's basically 3 concentric gravel filled troughs around the bathtub - I would like to plant this with aromatic or medicinal plants that could be infused in the bath - ie. cut a branch and drop it in the tub.
Best regards
Louis

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Louis Thompson
Permaculture consultant
Six Senses