TREES

The landscape of southern Spain is very different from the British landscape when it comes to trees. This is not a country of deciduous forests with dramatic autumn landscapes as the leaves change colour. In fact many of the trees with which you may be familiar will just not grow successfully in the heat of Spain. They need a cold weather period to flourish. Nevertheless there are many beautiful and interesting trees which do grow well in Spain, so if you have a garden there is a wonderful choice. What is wonderful is that many trees are really grown for their flowers as much as for their foliage. If your garden is small you need to choose very carefully from the large number of possibilities and do remember that unless the shade from the tree is important you should not plant too close to the house. Tree roots can cause a huge amount of damage to house foundations and also to swimming pools as they search out water.

Mimosa

Even in the smallest garden you need to find space for one or two mimosa trees. There are varieties which flower in the winter and if one of these is planted alongside the common variety which produces masses of yellow, fluffy, fragrant flowers often several times a year, you will have a regular display of blossom from this beautiful tree.

Conifers

The tree which has developed such a bad reputation in England, the leylandii, grows extremely well here, but it is better grown as a specimen tree rather than as a hedge which will obscure your view totally after a few years. Should you want to plant a tree which will become a landmark in a few years’ time, the Norfolk Island pine with its distinctive upswept branches will fit the bill. Should you have high ground in your garden crowned with a ridge, a line of narrow Italian cypresses can be most effective. They are easy to grow and once established they will last a lifetime.

The rubber tree and the weeping fig (described earlier) will also grow into trees in this climate. Another example of the difference between a house plant in Britain and a tree in Spain.

Flowering trees

One of the most spectacular flowering trees in the south of Spain is the jacaranda. This beautiful tree has wonderful feathery foliage but the main reason for growing it is the display of blue, pea-like flowers in the middle of summer which last for weeks and attract the bees.

One tree which is not grown as widely as it should be on the Costa del Sol is the frangipani or plumeria. The common frangipani, Plumeria rubra, has beautiful rose-pink to deep red or copper clusters of flowers from summer to autumn and really is a most dramatic sight. It is deciduous and is a native of Mexico. It will grow in Spain in a sheltered position since it does not like temperatures to drop much below 50°F. It is worth trying if you can find it in a garden centre locally.

The bottle brush tree, callistemon, is another dramatic flowering tree which should be considered. This tree, a native of Australia, produces masses of brush-like flowers in the summer and the common red variety is a real eye-catcher as a specimen tree.

Magnolia is another very good tree for your Spanish garden but the first thing which strikes the former inhabitant of northern Europe is that magnolias in Spain are a bit different from those in the north. In the UK, magnolias flower on bare wood in the spring before the leaves appear. This is because they originated in the colder climate of China, whereas the magnolias which grow in Spain originated in Florida. The magnolia grandiflora is evergreen and can reach great heights – up to 75 feet in the right position – and it produces the most wonderful large white flowers which can be almost 10 inches across from late summer to autumn. This magnolia can also be trained against a wall and almost treated as a semi-climber. If you have the space, do plant one.

Fruit trees

Fruit trees are wonderful in the Spanish garden since not only do many produce a wonderful display of blossom but the blossom is then followed by wonderful edible fruit which you can use in the house.

The almond tree is wonderful for a small garden. It will provide you with a fantastic display of flowers in late January or early February but if you plant the right variety it will also provide you with a good crop of almonds later in the year. In order to produce almonds it is usually necessary to plant two trees so that they cross-pollinate but if space is at a premium you can plant both trees in the same hole. Almonds have an advantage over many other fruiting trees in that they do not require a huge amount of water.

All the citrus fruit trees grow happily in Spain. They all need very well-drained soil to succeed, but if your garden cannot support this you can grow them in raised beds or even in containers. In fact a very good talking point can be the need to go out to the terrace to pick a lemon to complete your gin and tonic.

All types of citrus fruit trees share the same requirements with respect to soil and also to the fact that they do not need too much water, so do not plant them close to your sprinkler system. They all produce wonderful blossom in the spring which is followed by the fruit. When carrying fruit they are equally showy. The native orange to this part of Spain is the Seville orange, which grows very easily. Unfortunately the fruit is on the bitter side and is really only suitable for making marmalade, but other sweet oranges, mandarins and clementines will also grow very well and if you have enough space it is possible to plant several different varieties which produce fruit at different times so that you prolong the fruiting season.

Alternative fruit trees

In your Spanish garden it should also be possible for you to grow peaches and nectarines, which are members of the cherry family. You can also grow cherries and plums. The real wonder of growing fruit here is that you can leave it on the tree until it is ready to eat. You do not need to cut the fruit before it is ripe and allow it to ripen off the tree.

If they appeal to your taste, figs, pomegranates and pears are also possibilities in your fruit garden.

Olives

The tree of the Mediterranean! Since before Roman times the olive has been native to this region. There is only one species and it grows in sharp, well-drained soil in full sun. The olive is very slow growing but should you be lucky enough to inherit one in your Spanish garden it is a wonderful specimen tree. Should you happen to buy a country property with an established ancient olive grove you are very lucky indeed. For me the olive typifies this part of the Spanish countryside. Flowers are produced in the spring and are followed by the production of the fruit. The olives are green at first but when fully ripened the fruit turns black and can be shaken from the tree and collected. For centuries the olive has played a major part in the economy of this part of Spain, whether for the fruit or for the wonderful oil produced from it. In fact Andalucia is one of the major regions of the world for the production of olive oil.

Should you be fortunate enough to buy an olive grove along with your country property you can invite the locals who collect olives to come to your property and collect yours. These will then be taken to the local press and you will receive in return one third of the oil produced from them, while the other two thirds will be sold by the locals who collected the fruit. An old tradition which continues in the way it has done for centuries.

Palm trees

No Mediterranean garden (or even terrace) should be without a few palm trees. There is not the space here to describe the various palms which could be grown in your own sub tropical paradise – that is better left to the specialist gardening books – but a visit to your local garden centre will demonstrate just how many different species are available. I should point out that established large palms can cost quite a lot of money but the effects can be worth it. Alternatively you can start out with younger versions of the same plant and wait for them to grow. Some species do grow quite quickly and after a few years you will have the palms you want but your initial investment will have been much lower.

It should be pointed out that once a palm has become fully established and has grown to a respectable height it is not a low maintenance plant. In order to keep them looking their best they need to have the old dead growth cut off and this is a job for a specialist. He will come along and cut off the dead fronds leaving a well sculptured, pineapple-shaped base to the green fronds above. In order to do this he needs to shin up the long trunk armed with a suitable cutting tool. This is definitely not a job for the amateur and palms will cost you money in the future. Not only do the dead fronds need to be cut off but sometimes it is necessary to trim off the fruit as well. This applies particularly to the date palm which can be seen everywhere on the Costa del Sol. If your date palms are close to a swimming pool the fruit definitely needs to be removed otherwise you can cause real damage to the pool filters.

Another plant which, although it is not a palm, is often associated with palms and is also very strongly linked with the Mediterranean region is the yucca. As a pot plant in the UK, yuccas rarely reach large proportions. In the south of England they will grow in the garden but if they reach more than 10 feet in height this is unusual. In Andalucia they grow quite easily and quickly to 20 to 30 feet in height and they branch much more often. They throw up their spectacular spikes of white flowers on a regular annual basis and do look wonderful. One word of warning, however: the yucca has a very invasive root system and the roots can damage neighbouring property so great care is needed in choosing a suitable site. In our urbanisation we had to cut down a yucca because its roots were threatening to destroy the retaining wall of a raised bed and another had to be removed and the roots destroyed as it was threatening to break through the concrete wall of the swimming pool.

Yuccas and aloes are often planted together in a typical Andalucian rock garden.

Cacti and other succulents

The hot sun of Andalucia provides an ideal environment to grow cacti and many other succulents which you could not even have considered growing outside in northern Europe. If you have a dry arid part of your garden you can turn it into a desert garden with cacti large and small. Some will grow almost as big as trees and the really wonderful thing about cacti here is that grown outside in natural surroundings they flower and produce seed. Some of the tree-like cacti in our communal gardens have just appeared from seed produced by some of the original plants which were planted. The other benefit of growing cacti is that they need little maintenance and very little watering so a cactus garden is ideal for the gardener who is absent for part of the year.

The absentee gardener can also choose from a great number of succulent plants, all of which thrive even without regular watering.

THE SPANISH PATIO

A patio or a terrace is an ideal way in which to indulge your interest in gardening while at the same time creating a pleasant and relaxing environment for outdoor living.

The true patio is a legacy of the Roman occupation of Spain which was subsequently developed during the Moorish occupation. Traditional houses were built around a central patio or courtyard – in fact they are often referred to as patio houses – and this courtyard was open to the sky. Many old village houses still enjoy this feature. It provides an open air but cool environment in the height of the summer and ideal conditions to grow many plants.

A similar effect can be created even in a modern apartment in Spain, where the terrace will often be open to the world on one or two sides with a roof to protect it from the elements. This is very different from apartment construction in many other countries where apartments have balconies rather than terraces.

Patios or terraces give a wonderful feeling of being both indoors and outdoors at the same time and with careful planning you can create something magical. The choice of containers in which to grow your plants is limitless and a visit to the garden centre or the local ceramica will provide you with a bewildering choice at prices which will surprise you. You can choose anything from plain terracotta, carved terracotta, glazed pots either in a single colour or painted, cast iron containers and many others. The price range can be anything from the surprisingly inexpensive to the ridiculously expensive. You will find statuary which you can mix in with your pots and cast iron stands to lift them off the ground or iron wall brackets to enable you to create your own hanging gardens.

There are many benefits to be obtained from container gardening. Plants which might not otherwise grow in your garden because the soil is wrong can be grown in pots since you can give them the right conditions. As plants pass their best period in terms of interest they can be moved to the back of the group of containers and those coming into their interesting period can be moved forward. Plants which might not survive the mild Andalucian winter can be taken inside for a couple of months when the temperatures, particularly overnight, are at their lowest. The walls of the terrace can be trellised to allow you to grow climbing plants which will provide colour and interest without necessarily taking up too much of the valuable living space.

On a really small terrace you can still use the walls for plants and add special brackets to the edge of the terrace to hold window boxes. Even window boxes planted with geraniums create a more pleasant environment and you will also be doing something very Spanish.

One feature you really should try to include in the planning of your outdoor room is running water. If you look around there is a good choice of water features ranging from tiled, Moroccan wall fountains right through to large free standing fountains which could be incorporated into a larger patio or terrace scheme. Since you are creating an outdoor room even the smallest space can include a table-top fountain which is often designed for use in a conservatory. In the heat of the summer the sound of running water is very soothing.

FINALLY...

In this chapter I have only touched on some of the basics of a Spanish garden, patio or terrace. There is almost no limit to what can be achieved in the wonderful Andalucian climate, whether you have a small terrace or acres of land. All it needs is imagination, the right plants and the climate of Andalucia.