Landscape Gardening

One of the things you notice in Spain is the care and pride people take in their gardens. And nothing shows off a beautiful villa or patio area better than a professionally designed garden.
When deciding on the design of your garden, there are many things to consider. Its style and size need to reflect the proportions of your house and style of your house. Restrictions such as the lie of the land or the characteristics of the plot also need careful consideration. The goal is to create balance and harmony of the arrangement of your plants. Choose plants with contrasting leaf colors and textures, so that they will look good even when not in bloom. A garden needs to change with the seasons and show variety in order to be interesting but make sure you have a basic structure that is pleasing to the eye. Sometimes nothing more than a small sculpture or a beautiful pot or even a piece of driftwood nestled amongst the plants can add character and give your garden a mixture of nature and culture.
Clipped plants look good contrasted with more free flowing natural shapes. To line the edges you can use hedges of cypress, euonymus, lavender or kitchen. Myrtle, pomegranate, teucrium and durantia can be clipped into different and eye-catching shapes.
The bright light of southern Spain means that it is possible to use powerful contrasting colors like pink and orange, red and purple or quieter combinations like blue and white. In smaller spaces deep pink looks better than red. Rich yellows reflect the sun and are warm and vibrant, whilst citrus yellows are sharper and more refreshing. Blues reflect the sky and there are some stunning echiums, agapanthus and salvias available. A wonderful element of gardening in southern Spain is being able to grow your own fruit, not only apples and pears, but oranges, lemons, apricots, mangoes, bananas, dates, figs and many others. Walnuts, pecans, almonds and hazelnuts also grow well.
Unusual varieties of tomatoes, melons and squashes are well suited for summer. Mange tout and sugar snap peas grow also in winter and asparagus, broad beans and broccoli in the spring. Lettuce, rocket, endive and spinach can grow all year round. All the usual herbs for kitchen use grow well, including lemon grass.

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