in the (future) garden
Another meeting that happened in these past few weeks was at the vivaio to sit down with the landscape designer to see their initial ideas and then to view the plants and trees in person to make final yay or nays.
A few random notes on a garden:
I grew up calling the general maintained area around ones house a yard. The term garden was usually reserved for the optional patch to grow either vegetables, flowers, or herbs. If you just said the word garden it probably meant the vegetable garden, or you’d specify the other types “flower garden” or “herb garden”. So even if you have a yard, you may not have a garden.
However, now mostly being around Europeans (and mainly my English partner), the word yard always gets misconstrued as an unsightly industrial area filled with machinery and the sorts. “Oh, you mean the garden” is what I’m met with when I say that we need to mow the yard.
So now, the yard is the ‘garden’, and the garden is the ‘vegetable patch’.
I guess garden by nature does have a better ring to it as it feels more intentional, planted and cared for. Well curated species that were specifically chosen to be together.
I knew that this project from the very beginning didn’t have many ‘cons’ in my ongoing lists while trying to choose between a couple options for land, but one of the only ‘cons’ it did have was that it was just a field. There was not even a tree or shrub established. And even though perhaps it’s nice to start from scratch, its also more expensive.
So I’ve always known it was going to be something I had to budget for, but also that I could start smaller and add on through the years. However, although usually the landscaping is one of the last things to do on a house project, I knew that I wanted to do the initial preparation and planting of some of the main trees as soon as possible in order to give them up to a year of extra growth before moving in. It also means I can save a little money by buying smaller plants from the start.
The closest vivaio (about 5 minutes away) is also one of the most famous nurseries, and biggest exporter, in Europe. They specialize, among many things, in full-size potted trees. Ones that can remain potted inside the ground and thus reduce the issues of sprawling roots that can disrupt roads and house foundations. Plus their collection is absolutely massive - it spreads out in various places around this entire area so it usually means driving (or riding in a golf cart) from place to place to see the selection.
They have full size palms from Africa, and flowering trees from Asia (all transported here). But since I’d said from the beginning that I wanted to only use plants that are native to this area (or have been here long enough that they now thrive), it means that it’s quite easy to check out my options, that they tend to be a bit more economical, and hopefully will mean less maintenance moving forward.
When we arrived they showed a large printout of an aerial view with the proposed plan (complete with the future pool) which had most of the ideas I’d expressed. It was a lot more sprawling than I was imagining, but at least it gave me an idea of the potential. They showed us photos of other gardens in the area which they’ve done as well to give a more real sense as to the finished project.
One of the examples nearby was a beautiful example of how to keep a manicured orto (vegetable garden), which usually can be quite unkempt looking. As he scrolled through photos one stood out to me and I said how much I loved it. “Oh yes, this is George Lucas’ house nearby”. Too bad I don’t have George Lucas’ budget! Hah.
Then we loaded up in the golf cart and went riding around the huge property so he could be sure that I liked the varieties they’d chosen. I did. I thought every one was a great choice for the main sections. All are native, none are absurdly expensive, and although he said that the grounds work will be perhaps the largest part of the cost (terracing, putting top soil, and irrigating), I just assured him that I’d take it piece by piece.
Since the meeting, I’ve received the final proposal and am for sure that I’ll have to do this step by step, and some I think I’ll tackle myself to help keep the costs down a bit. It will be fun to get to know the land up close, (and I did say that I’ll mostly just be asking for plants and trees for any upcoming gifts from now into the foreseeable future! haha!)