Bobby Gopiao?s landscaped space explodes with herbaceous tropical plants and lush bonsais
TO LANDSCAPE ARTIST Roberto Panlilio Gopiao, a garden possesses style if it expresses the personality of the owner, otherwise, it?s just a flourish.

Inheriting his being a plantsman from his mother, Gopiao has done exquisite effects in the many landscapes, both public and private. He has an eye for mixing contrasting textures and proportions, the result of his passion for art collecting and long kinship with plants.

Herbaceous tropical plants explode out of beds around his Quezon City house, as do lush bonsais bursting from their trays. Planting giant bromeliads between golden palms and ferns produce a stylish effect.

A variety of towering palms?10-foot high travelers? palms, 20-foot high Madagascars, Washingtonia and 10-foot high rhapis grow against the perimeter of the lot.

A giant calathea with lush foliate, 10-tree ferns, plumerias with white flowers and imported cycads line up against the back wall to catch the morning sun. These tall trees preserve the ambiance by blocking neighboring eyesores. A variety of ferns and cycads frame a natural waterfall whose sounds produce a calming effect.

The plantings along the garden are arranged according to the various growing conditions they thrive in. For instance, miagos, peacock ferns and slim bamboos are cultivated on the sides since they don?t need as much sunlight. Gopiao explains that aside from the plants? varying needs for sunlight, they are composed in terms of color, shape and texture.

Tall plants provide shade for the shorter plants which serve as shrubs or ground cover.

?These kinds of massing create layers of interest, resulting in a depth of space,? says Gopiao. ?There?s really no particular pattern. I put a dash of color.?

He cites the example of the sculptural bromeliads, juxtaposed with the flowering pink medinilla magnificas, set against background of threading red vines.

Eclectic

Although the garden is tropical, its accent pieces, culled from his collection, suggest eclecticism. Since Asian gardens are mostly green, one is awakened by a red, pagoda-like gazebo.

?The inside is a tropical themed seating area made interesting by the mix of heirloom rice containers, a dapilan (molave sugar grinder), Maranao brass gadurs and a T?boli belt,? he says.

Groupings of plams, bird?s nest ferns, bromeliads and wide-leafed alocasias blend with Gopiao?s collection of stone implements such as sugar grinders, stone mortars, antique piedra china and Chinese martaban jars.

In fact, the roughness and massiveness of the grinding stone from Pampanga, seven feet in diameter, provides a striking contrast against the fine lines of the brightly-painted gazebo. Lusong from Laguna are unique to his place. Water plants and ficuses float on these terra cotta water vessels. Oriental stone sculptures enhance the Asian feel to his place.

True to his fondness for interesting shapes, Gopiao created a corner furnished with vintage Eero Saarinen Tulip chairs which adds a modern but quirky touch to the garden.

A pocket garden in front of the house serves as a living artwork on which one gaze upon. Japanese in feel, it is lined with grey kodo stones and Chinese limestones that lead to a granite Japanese pagoda. Podocarpuses, kamuning, and miagos cover the boundary of the garden.

Gopiao?s cherished collection of tropical bonsai trees are set on massive piedra china blocks atop a carpet of Kyoto grass. In Japan he won awards for his best bonsai, among them the pemphis acidula or bantigue done in a cascading style back in 2006.

?The feeling is more Zen-like because it houses the all-important trees such as an 80-year-old fruiting crab apple, a 40-year-old bignay and a bougainville done in a cascading style, with salmon-colored flowers,? he says.

In keeping his garden lush, Gopiao merely follows the natural discipline of constant pruning, fertilization and watering. Ultimately he says, ?I want things to look very natural, nothing contrived.?