Category: wildlife garden

Growing an Eco-Resilient City

Featured by Healing Present Nature & Wellness Center, posted in Container Garden, Gardening and Landscape Design, Green Roofs, Green Roofs, Raised Beds, Therapeutic Garden, wildlife garden

By Michelle Domocol @inflourish_
Back to Inflourish: Cebu Blog

Worldwide, climate scientists and urban planners know green landscapes make a city ecologically resilient. Urban forest pockets, vegetated parks, and a citywide network of greenspaces protect metropolitan residents, land, soil, air and water. Tropical cities integrated with significant swathes of greenery can:

  • provide residents with recreational and relaxing community spaces
  • cool down and regulate high city temperatures
  • absorb stormwater and mitigate flood damage
  • improving air and soil quality
  • act as a sound buffer against urban noise pollution

Enveloped by Cebu’s urban air and land pollution, inadequate stormwater management, and seasonal flooding, how can individuals receive the life-saving benefits of citywide greenery? How can we expand ecological resilience and protect our fragile island? One method involves building multiple dense residential gardens. Imagine if every apartment complex, gated community, parking garage, and mall in Cebu City grew decorative islands of container gardens at least 4 meters wide. Or imagine if those structures had vertical gardens on at least 2 exterior walls. The collective impact of urban gardens would increase our environmental benefits and eco-resilience.

The photo below may look like a forest of trees and shrubs planted in rural property. But it isn’t. This is a collection of container plants in an urban residential property that grew over 10 years. Never underestimate the power of humble houseplants. This garden no special fertilizer or complicated pruning schedule. The container plants are simply watered 2-3 times a week, grow well in Cebu City’s weather, and withstand the urban air pollution. Below I’ll share how this container garden contribute to the urban network of greenspaces. Hopefully, you, your family, and friends are inspired to build more densely planted urban forest pockets and wildlife gardens.

Whether you’re a homeowner, apartment dweller, or as part of a barangay community project, determine how you can build an eco-resilient urban landscape.

Re-Define your space and Re-Prioritize. The property below used to have a regular in-ground pool. The pool was enclosed by bare cement walls. The homeowners decided to convert the pool and build a garden for a few reasons. Nobody really used the pool. The pool required liters of chemicals and tedious labor to keep it clean and chlorinated. Also, the pool area was hot, lacked shade, and often flooded during the rainy season.

As a solution, I proposed they convert the pool into a sunken garden of container plants. It could be a calming venue rather than a waste of valuable growing space. I designed a series of connected, naturalistic container gardens. We chose fast-growing trees, shrubs, and groundcovers that flourish in containers. The pool was drained of its chlorinated water. Raised beds and container gardens were installed inside the empty pool and along the cement walls. Vines were trellised above the pool and vertical container gardens were attached to poles and tree trunks.

Over ten years later, the plants thrive and perform essential environmental functions. They absorb heavy rains and stormwater. The area never floods. Residents, visitors, and local wildlife frequently rest in the garden’s shade and cooler temperature. Year-round, the air temperature is much lower than roads and houses outside the property’s perimeter.

In your space, assess your site and its capacity to hold container gardens. If possible, explore if any space can be converted to display raised beds or groups of container gardens. Be Open to the eco-resilient benefits you can receive. Cleaner Air, Cooler Temperatures, Relaxation, and Less Stormwater Damage awaits you.

Steps lead to a converted pool full of lush raised beds and groups of containerized ornamental and native plants.
Image gallery image
Coconut Shell Planters
Fishnet Raised Bed
Recycled Bottles

Containers can range from fishnet raised beds, recycled containers, ceramic and plastic pots, hanging coconut shell planters, and other container types available in your area.

Explore vertical spaces in your urban site. Vines and climbing plants are incredibly valuable and prolific growers in our urban tropical climate. As the vines mature, they absorb pollution, increase privacy, and improve air quality.

If you’re interested on more tips for container plant care, check out these articles. Enjoy and I hope you are encouraged to grow your own urban eco-resilient oasis or add to your surrounding network of greenspaces.

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Learning from Local & Regional Parks

Featured by Healing Present Nature & Wellness Center, posted in agroforestry, Gardening and Landscape Design, Outdoor Classrooms, Outdoor Classrooms, Therapeutic Garden, wildlife garden

By Michelle Domocol @inflourish_
Back to Inflourish: Cebu Blog

Local parklands in Cebu and Southeast Asia are cradles of botanic inspiration. Often, well-designed parks use regionally native or locally endemic trees and shrubs. Depending on the availability of their seedlings in public nurseries, you could use a few of these same trees or shrubs in your garden. They can be a spectacular eye-catching feature or hedge in your own gardens. Regionally native, indigenous, or locally endemic refers to a plant’s genetic origin and natural geographic distribution. In the scientific community, these terms have slight technical differences. Among some foresters, park managers, and horticulturists, these terms can be interchangeable. Native or Endemic can mean a plant originally grew in the coasts, forests, riverbanks, or other ecological niches in Cebu. Or maybe the plant was originally found throughout the mangroves or rainforests of the Philippines. Local, Native, or Endemic can also mean the plant naturally grows in Maritime Southeast Asian countries like Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia.

REMEMBER: make sure you have the time, water, and soil type to help your native plant thrive. For instance, you can buy the most locally native vine from Cebu’s uplands. But if it’s neglected and left unwatered on your concrete patio, the stressed vine may shrivel and die.

Be curious and inspired. Visit the lush splendor of local parks in Cebu and venture to the rest of Southeast Asia.

In general, choosing locally or regionally native trees and shrubs creates a strong, adaptable landscape. A combination of native plants function well with local climate and rain availability. As a result, they need less growing assistance from additional fertilizers or pesticides. When the trees or shrubs are well-established, local birds, bees, butterflies and beneficial pollinators can use these plants as a source of nectar and shelter. Often, the fallen leaves and roots of regionally endemic plants naturally mulch and enrich the soil’s health. Depending on the particularly adaptive species, they can have additional qualities like drought-resistance and wind-resilience. With a bit of research and a fun search through local parks, you can find extremely gifted trees and shrubs.

The examples below are popular regionally and locally endemic species suited to Cebu’s climate. They are best planted in the rainy season so they start out with a moderate amount of water and sun. Plants in this list also flourish in other islands of the Philippines and Southeast Asian countries.

  • PALMS & RATTAN TREES:
    • A- Arenga pinnata
    • B– Adonidia merrilli
    • C- Calamus erinaceus
    • D- Calamus javaensis
    • E- Caryota mitis
    • F- Oncosperma horridum
  • EVERGREEN & FLORAL TREES:
    • G- Aporosa benthamiana
    • H- Aporosa frutescens
    • I- Commersonia bartramia
    • J- Cratoxylum cochinchinense
    • K- Dillenia excelsa
    • L- Dillenia philippinensis
  • EVERGREEN & FLORAL TREES:
    • M- Diospyros buxifolia
    • N- Diospyros diepenhorstii
    • O- Syzygium zeylanicum
    • P- Syzygium incarnatum
    • Q- Syzygium antisepticum
    • R- Sterculia foetida
  • EVERGREEN & FLORAL TREES:
    • S- Sterculia macrophylla
    • T- Sterculia oblongata
    • U- Elaeocarpus grandiflorus
    • V- Elaeocarpus pedunculatus
    • W- Elaeocarpus petiolatus

Plant Photos: WikiMedia Images, NParks Singapore, Co’s Digital Flora of the Philippines; Design Illustrations: Michelle Domocol

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Tree Leaf Treasures

Featured by Healing Present Nature & Wellness Center, posted in agroforestry, Container Garden, Food Garden, Gardening and Landscape Design, Herbs, wildlife garden

By Michelle Domocol @inflourish_
Back to Inflourish: Cebu Blog

How is the start of 2026 so far? I hope it’s been joyous and full of growth. I’m happy to return after taking a little pause from blogging. The past two months were full of rest, infrastructural rebuilding, and recovery from the 2025 storms and earthquakes.

In this month’s article, let’s take a fun tour of the multi-beneficial and ultra-resilient edible trees in Healing Present. Balimbing, Gumamela, Kamunggay, Mulberry, and Curry Leaf trees and shrubs produce tasty leaves throughout the year. These evergreen trees and shrubs can produce low-growing limbs short enough for me to easily harvest their leaves. Plus, the readily available tree leaves are delicious substitutes when ordinary vegetables are unavailable, too expensive, or low-quality at the local market.

During the earthquakes, landslides, and typhoon, we temporarily lost road access to markets. Luckily, we could turn to our hardy, nutritious edible trees for an emergency food supply. Yes, we had emergency packaged snacks. Unfortunately, they are vitamin-deficient. They’re also consumed quickly when people are stressed, waiting for electricity, emergency services, or road access.

All of these tree leafy treasures are somewhat mild in flavor and easily absorb a recipe’s sauces and spices. I usually steam, airfry, or boil them. Around the world, they are featured in stews, soups, seafood, roasted meat dishes, and even desserts. With or without a disaster, I love adding the yummy foliage to my meals. They are essential for flavor, fiber, and for my meal sequencing practice.

Everyday, I practice meal sequencing to stop any blood sugar spikes. Tree leaves and vegetables are my daily appetizer. Meal sequencing just means eating an all-vegetable appetizer, then munching on proteins and fats second, and then completing the meal with starchy foods, carbs, or desserts. So basically I’ve stopped eating starches like bread and rice at the beginning of my meals. If you’re interested in learning about meal sequencing, here are a few recent articles on how it regulates blood sugar and natural hunger hormones: 1, 2, 3.

Conceptual layout of a seated area with potted shrubs and a lush garden border of edible trees and wild groundcovers.

Here I’ll focus on the delicious trees and shrubs at Healing Present that

  • produce fast-growing leaves,
  • form tall trees or low-growing shrubs for an easy harvest,
  • adapt to most soils
  • enhance wildlife and bird habitat, and
  • can resist floods and storm winds when planted properly.

Apart from the obvious nutrition and ecological functions, all the trees below are integral to ancient traditional medicine and present-day pharmaceutical research. They are truly beneficial for our health and environment.

Kamunggay (Moringa olifera)

Kamunggay is a versatile vegetable in soups like Utan Bisaya and other Filipino stews. The feathery leaves and flowers flavor my soups, juices, steamed dishes, sauces, and pestos. When I drank my first kamunggay smoothie, I learned the raw leaves become sweeter when blended. What a delight! Without blending, the taste remains mild or peppery.

Kamunggay leaves are widely used for water purification, beverages, savory meals, desserts, and packaged health snacks. If you’re unfamiliar with Kamunggay, use it like spinach. Outside of my kitchen, people in Latin America and other parts of Asia eat it raw or powdered. Different countries prefer to consume the leaf, flower, root, bark or the seed depending on the desired flavor and recipes.

Balimbing (Averrhoa carambola)

Balimbing leaves tend to live in the shadow of their popular golden yellow star-shaped fruit. I never underestimate the bright-green leaflets. They are thick, crisp leaves that flourish throughout the year at Healing Present. I also like to stir-fry them with garlic, ginger, spring onions and pepper. The leaflets can season steamed fish and roasted chicken dishes. And, of course, the fruit is enjoyed in desserts and drinks. Beyond my dinner plate, the leaves are commonly used in traditional medicine in Brazil, Malaysia and China.

Gumamela (Hibiscus rosa-sinensis)

Gumamela leaves are one of my favorite leafy greens. In Healing Present, the tooth-edged, glossy leaves regularly grow to 10-inches in width. I prefer to chop them before adding them to a bit of boiling water. As you stir the leaves, a natural thickening gel appears. The gel is a natural version of adding corn starch to thicken soup or chop suey. I also consume the flowers for added color and texture. Marveled for their beauty and medicinal properties, Gumamela was also consumed in ancient African herbal treatments, Ayurvedic teas, and traditional Chinese medicine.

Curry leaf (Murraya koenigii)

In Healing Present, curry shrubs grow around the greenhouse, on our terraced gardens, and in our raised beds. Many of them multiply and grow without our initiative. Curry leaves make delicious air fried vegetable chips. Add a spice mix, sauce, or oil when frying or roasting the curry leaf chips. I also add them to vegetable stews, lentil dishes, rice, and fish. Around South and Southeast Asia, curry leaves are featured in raw or cooked recipes. Apart from their culinary roles, they are integrated in chronic illness treatments, religious ceremonies, and cultural traditions.

Mulberry (Morus spp.)

Mulberry leaves are appetizing greens for my daily soups and sauté vegetables. I also like to grill chicken or beef cuts wrapped in glossy mulberry leaves. You can add the young leaves to vegetable platters, sandwiches, stir fries, meat stews, and seafood dishes. While, older leaves can be air fried for chips and dried for teas. At the farm we enjoy a mix of red and black mulberry varieties.

In traditional Chinese medicine, the mulberry root, leaf, seed, and leaf are used to treat conditions.

So if you’re looking for multi-beneficial trees that are easily adaptable and serve an emergency or year-round food reserve, consider growing these 5 tree/shrub species. Find nurseries that sell them as mature saplings so you don’t have to wait too long for your regular supply of life-giving leafy greens.

Photos of Leaves from Wikimedia Commons.

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Genuinely Ginger Gardens

Featured by Healing Present Nature & Wellness Center, posted in Color Combo & Design, Container Garden, Food Garden, Gardening and Landscape Design, Raised Beds, School Gardens, Therapeutic Garden, wildlife garden

By Michelle Domocol @inflourish_
Back to Inflourish: Cebu Blog

Ginger is commonly known as a popular spice in delicious dishes like Kinilaw and drinks like Salabat. But for gardeners, landscape designers, and tropical plant enthusiasts, gingers encompass diverse plants from botanical families like Zingiberaceae and Costaceae. Gingers and their relatives can be striking features in Cebu’s potted gardens and footpath borders. You can grow gingers in lush, dense groups along a path. Gingers can grow from 3 to 6 feet. Depending on how you prune them, the swaying stems and plump green leaves can shade walkways and soften garden edges.

Gingers’ foliage are bejeweled with stunning floral displays. Their multi-colored blossoms resemble painted pine cones, graceful orchids, butterfly wings, bromeliad spikes, and many more marvelous configurations. In the image below, you’ll see a gorgeous sample of native and naturalized ginger flowers found in Philippine’s forests and gardens.

The flowers above belong to: A) a spiral ginger called Insulin plant (Helliana speciosa); B) Adelmeria alpina; C) Vanoverberghia rubrobracteata; D) Etlingera fimbriobractea ; E) Alpinia haenkei ; F) Zingiber zerumbet; G) Adelmeria gigantifolia; and H) Turmeric (Curcuma longa).

Growing Gingers. Gingers can be planted from small pieces of their roots. These pieces or rhizome segments must have buds to successfully grow. In Healing Present, we usually plant them during the rainy season. You can start them in individual pots or raised beds. Once the seedlings have strong stems, you can transfer them to different parts of your garden. Some gardeners, without many pests, press the ginger pieces directly into the soil. The pieces are planted about 3 inches deep and at least 7 inches apart. I like to grow them in dense clumps so they make a bold visual impact when they grow taller. In general, gingers prefer Cebu’s humidity, partial shade and indirect light. For the best results, grow them in soil that drains well.

Below are different locations where we planted ginger. Some gingers are in a shaded balcony or thriving under the canopy of a native cinnamon tree. Others are next to a garden wall that blocks direct sunlight. Other ginger relatives are in pots next to ponds. All these locations receive frequent rain or irrigation. They also block constant heat and direct sun exposure.

With pruning, gingers are pretty low-maintenance. Just remove any dead or damaged stems during the year. Those dead brown canes or stems make great additions to your compost.

Here are a few more design tips to help you integrate an abundance of gingers in your garden:

>> A stairway in Healing Present’s farm lined with a variety of ginger relatives like insulin plants, turmeric, and ginger lilies. The parallel islands of ginger are complemented with ferns and Saging-saging (canna lilies). Complement your ginger islands with moisture-loving accents like ferns, lilies, and ornamental bananas.
>>Don’t add a thin line or skinny row of plants along your walkway. Add wide bands or clusters of gingers. With regular, moist conditions gingers can grow to 4 feet or more in width. So it won’t take long to grow a wealth of ginger. Wider groups of gingers add verdant impact and visual harmony.
>>Since gingers love partial shade, consider adding them to a shaded path. In Healing Present’s farm, we frequently decorate a path with a passionfruit pergola overhead. Then, we plant gingers on both sides of the stepping stones.

Hope this inspires you to beautify your garden paths with some gorgeous ginger additions!

First image of ginger flowers courtesy of Wikimedia Commons and Co’s Digital Flora of the Philippines.

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Treetop Adventures

Featured by Healing Present Nature & Wellness Center, posted in Color Combo & Design, Food Garden, Gardening and Landscape Design, Raised Beds, School Gardens, Therapeutic Garden, wildlife garden

By Michelle Domocol @inflourish_
Back to Inflourish: Cebu Blog

As a child, it felt magical to play in a treehouse, feel closer to the sky, and capture a bird’s eye view. I was overjoyed and curious. Treehouses and tree decks are some of the best settings for imaginative play, relaxation, and daily connection with nature. Today, I’ll share some fun ideas for gardens that enhance treehouses and tree decks. The inspiration can enrich a treehouse or deck in a backyard, community garden, or a local school. Feel free to incorporate these planting combinations into personal projects or share them with community members looking to improve a treetop design.

A treehouse adorned with a succulent greenroof above borders of floral shrubs, colorful foliage, and aromatic groundcovers.

Vibrant Foliage & Flowers. Planting floral and foliar color are beautiful ways to attract interest and highlight your treetop structure. You can concentrate on a particular color combination, motif, floral scent, or educational theme to help determine your plant palette. Or you can select plants based on particular height and space requirements. With this criteria, floral groundcovers, shrubs, and a few trees may suit your site. With cozier spaces, potted plants, epiphytes, and vines are preferable.

Or get creative! Add a shallow raised bed of flowering succulents on the rooftop of your treehouse. Or add a succulent border or raised boxes on the perimeter of your tree deck. If your site is larger it space, add additional flowering fruit trees. And don’t forget colorful shrubs as an option. San franciscos (Codiaeum spp.), Mais-mais (Dracaena spp.), cordyline lilies (Cordyline spp.), and Mayana (Coleus spp.) pop with deep maroons, golds, hot pinks, and other rich hues. Remember to observe your site’s soil conditions and sun exposure to further refine your plant selection. Here are some vibrant floral exemplars that grow well in my area:

  • Waling Waling orchid (Vanda sanderiana)
  • Philippine ground orchid (Spathoglottis plicata)
  • Rose Mallow shrub (Hibiscus moscheutos)
  • Sampaguita shrub (Jasminum sambac)
  • Bird of Paradise (Strelitzia spp.)
  • Heliconia spp.
  • Torch ginger (Etlingera elatior)
  • Ylang Ylang tree (Cananga odorata)
  • Siar tree (Peltophorum pterocarpum)
  • Narra tree (Pterocarpus indicus)
  • Malapapaya tree (Polyscias nodosa)
  • Bani tree (Milletia pinnata)
  • Binunga tree (Macaranga tanarius)
A tree deck supported by an old Acacia surrounded by big-leafed, shade-loving plants and ferns. The Acacia is also adorned with vines and fern epiphytes.

Trees with Shade-loving accents. Adding trees with shade accents can also enrich your tree house or tree deck. In time, this combination will turn into a shady, cool respite from the heat. Your shade-loving accent can be big-leaved gabi, palmettos, Colocosia spp., monsteras, and ferns while the native trees can have sprawling crowns, graceful palm leaves, compact treetops, and/or seasonally produce fruit. Other tree species could be Alibangbang (Bauhinia malabarica), native bamboos, Panalipan (Diospyros tenuipes), and Maritima (Vatica maritima). Alternatively, you can focus on adding compact fruit trees or larger fruit trees like native figs like Dakit, Lagnob, and other Ficus spp. Other suitable fruit-bearing choices could be Banana varieties, Avocado, Nangka, and Balimbing.

A field of heliconias and birds of paradise with a background of fruit tree accents leading to a treehouse.

Trees that can support Houses or Decks. Most of this article focusses on enhancing an existing treehouse or deck with a surrounding garden. If you need advice for the right tree to support a new treehouse or tree deck, ask an engineer, experienced builder, or treehouse designer.

There are many ways to build a treehouse. Sometimes the entire structure is attached to the tree. Others build structures with no weight on the tree. Additionally, builders incorporate gaps in the platform and roof so the tree can grow through the house and deck. In my experience, treehouses are made with healthy, mature, multi-trunked hardwood trees. In Cebu, old Fig trees, old Mango trees, mature Yakal, Ipil, Lawaan, Narra, and Acacia are used in tree decks or treehouse projects.

Have fun creating and enjoy your future treetop adventures!

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