Quinta de Benatrite - About the garden from Janet and Edward
Some of you will know this garden from last year. They mow the green areas from November to about May. It will be green now but all dies back in the summer. There is minimal fertility, which is good for wildflowers, and it gets better each year as the seed is returned. They are hoping the wildflowers including orchids will be out when we go, but like everywhere, they really need rain.
“The garden is a combination of a cultivated area near the house and wilder, less cultivated or uncultivated land further away with wild flowers. The basic idea is our bore hole is not very productive, so we have a tank full for the pots etc. round the house to last us until November (in a good year – last year it lasted until July). Otherwise no watering.
We mow the green areas from November to about May. It is left as it is and the ground is unprepared, so it will all die back in the summer. The rough bank along the drive we strim once a year and the top meadow above the pool is mown once in late May. There is minimal fertility, which is good for wildflowers etc., and it gets better each year as the seed is returned. We are in the REN ecological zone where there are particular requirements in terms of soil erosion, run off causing flash flooding etc. so we just top off the vegetation with the mower rather than rotovate.”
Casa Palmeira - A bit of background from Chris and Clive
This garden consists of all drought resistant Mediterranean plants and lots of gravel. It has been organised so that it can be left for long periods and gives an idea of what can be achieved in a limited time. Many of the plants were bought at MGAP garden fairs. Clive and Chris, the owners, created the garden from a small, overgrown garden, and will show us before and after photos.
“We bought Casa Palmeira eleven years ago. The house needed total renovation and there was really no garden, apart from a few small beds close to the house. The land was so overgrown that we didn't even know how much we had. It turned out that we have approximately 1.5 acres / .6 hectares. If we were to see the house today, in that original state, we would probably say "Definitely not for us!" but we were ten years younger, very enthusiastic and blissfully unaware of the work involved. We have left half an acre untouched - but we could see the rest of the land from the house and so we started ... slowly ... to create beds, pathways and a garden.
We made hundreds of mistakes along the way, firstly by planting things which needed a lot of care and water - and of course we are rarely there to care and water - and so there were many casualties. We were also constrained - and indeed still are - by the sorts of plants we could buy at local garden centres. We have only been able to attend a couple of Mediterranean Garden plant sales unfortunately and so our choices in between have been severely limited. We were, however, lucky enough to meet Rosie Peddle and Marilyn Ribeiro through the Mediterranean Garden Association who has given us a lot of advice over the years. (She also cut down a young acacia tree which we had been nurturing … quite rightly, although we were a bit taken aback at the time!)
For family reasons, at the moment we can only visit infrequently for 10 days at a time. We spent nine weeks there in 2019. We installed an irrigation system to water a few of the beds closest to the house but everywhere else has had to fend for itself. The irrigation system is fed from water we gather throughout the year via guttering which we installed ourselves and store in a large cisterna under our terrace. In a good year (i.e. one with lots of winter rain) that water can last us all summer. In dry years we have to top up with Council irrigation water.”
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