"Blossoms of Andalucía: Your Guide to Flourishing Gardens"
Since buying a home in Spain, I have become an even more avid fan of gardening than previously when I lived up in more northern climes. And you will find the same when you settle into your new home here in Andalucía. Even the most reluctant of cultivators, will be interested when they see how easily and quickly veggies, and wonderful flowers can be grown here in the South of Spain. And the reason is simple, sunshine, warmth, and well…… a perfect climate.
Many of us remember fondly rebelling against Dad, who insisted on dragging them to the allotment or out into the garden, to help with sowing and harvesting. Most of us gardening rebels did not realise at the time, the skills that we were absorbing albeit under protest. These skills have laid dormant most of our adult life, as we are settling into jobs, and concentrated on family and more technical pursuits, however, once you arrive in Spain in your own garden or terrace, there is a fantastic opportunity to put earlier learning to good use. And you do not need a huge garden, a terrace will suffice. In no time at all you will be growing your own tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuces, spring onions, pretty much effortlessly. All you need is a little time and patience and of course water. And let Spain and its abundant sunshine do the rest.
And if you are going to use your new home in Spain Infrequently or rent it out- fear not, you can still take a lot of enjoyment from your properties growing potential and delve into the wonderful world of citrus fruits. Lemon trees and lemon bushes, lime, and orange trees of all sorts, thrive throughout southern Spain and in private gardens- even in pots. They can be set on automatic timers for irrigation, and with the help of a local gardener for a few hours each week (there is a plentiful supply at reasonable hourly rates), your garden and citrus crops can be kept ready and in tip top condition for you return visit.
The town of Limone, on lake Garda in Italy- south of the Italian Apls has the distinction of being the most northerly place where lemons can be grown successfully. So, if you are from the UK or Germany and certainly Scandinavia, it is safe to say you have never seen citrus fruits grow effortlessly in private gardens. Trust me, there is nothing more satisfying (or better to impress your guests)than to offer a G&T, and nip not to the supermarket, but your own garden for the freshest, most fragrant lemon, to add to your summer tipple. And you will find an amazing number of creative ways to use your new, home-grown ingredient, -from cakes to salad dressing to a simple accompaniment to your Dorada or Sea Bream. Just keep plenty of lovely Spanish olive oil to hand and the possibilities are endless.
Grape Vines also thrive here in Andalucía, and the harvest, after a few short years, will not have you exporting on a wholesale bulk basis, but will provide lovely fruit, picked fresh off the vine, for the whole family to enjoy. Figs and all sorts of exotic fruits appear in the most unlikely places. Viewing trips unearth hidden gems of gardens covered in vines and fruit trees, even olive trees, which have stood and produced for generations before. Prunes, plums, strawberries, and all sorts of apples, pears and summer fruit trees are common and plentiful.
And for those house hunters, who are purely into decoration and want to leave the food producing to the many commercial producers here in the South of Spain (Europe’s salad bowl), there is also delightfully easy rose bushes, and all sorts of blooms to cultivate in your garden throughout the year. Colourful flowers are visible here for 10 months of the year. Petunias in November-January, anyone? Not a problem. What we traditionally view as summer bedding in the northern hemisphere, lives and thrives here for 8 months plus, and then sleeps a little only to resurrect magically in March, April, and bloom all into the Autumn-mid winter. Rose varieties flower all summer and come back for an encore depending on the garden orientation in October/November.
Partial to a cacti garden display? no problem. Conditions in Spain let you choose the ornamental flora, and your decision as to how much water you want to invest is entirely up to you. And water is an important topic. Most pretty blooms are quite unforgiving on the issue of water shortages even for the shortest possible time and a forgotten manual watering appointment on a hot July afternoons, can have disastrous consequences for anything in a tub or window box. Best look toward some cheap automatic watering timers who do all the arduous work for you and let you relax without the fear of a missed watering. Hardware stores and garden centres are equipped with all sorts of automatic irrigation ideas to have you cultivating, on a big or small scale like a pro.
If you arrive with green fingers, you are off to a rapid joyous journey in the most wonderful of environments. If you are resurrecting your skills or having a go for the first time, your successes triumphs will have you hooked on a little gardening and cultivation in no time. The possibilities are endless under the Andalusian sun. So, whether your new property comes with a mature garden that you intend to give some tender loving care, or you intend to start fresh on a small scale on a more landscaped newer property, go for it and Happy Gardening.
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