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Gardening in majocar Valencia areas?

Posted: Wed Mar 10, 2021 1:54pm
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Hi I'm always interested to know what it's really like gardening in arid areas and if it's possible to get that bountiful planting effect in areas with llay ,stones little water. Whenever i see those property programmes the only places that look lush are those apartment complexes that have sprinklers systems on all night. Most places look very barren and dessert like. I wonder if it's better to try gardening in the wintertime instead.

Posted: Wed Mar 10, 2021 3:21pm

Alicia 11

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Posted: Wed Mar 10, 2021 3:21pm

depends what you want to grow  we had a glorious cactus garden and it didn't need watering.  

Posted: Wed Mar 10, 2021 3:45pm

Alistair young

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Posted: Wed Mar 10, 2021 3:45pm

Alicia 11 wrote on Wed Mar 10, 2021 3:21pm:

depends what you want to grow  we had a glorious cactus garden and it didn't need watering.  

Yes i don't like catus i guess if you can't have everything you can't live in the desert and expect a English style garden i suppose lots of trees to create shade helps a lot and lots of pots.

Posted: Fri Mar 12, 2021 8:17am

Matthew

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Posted: Fri Mar 12, 2021 8:17am

For an easy life consider growing herbs most of which only require arid soil.

You can grow flowers very successfully in garden boxes on your terrace along with most other shrubs. 

You will have many birds feeding on your flowers though but their singing makes up for it. You may have problems with cats too who's two legged owners believe your flower beds are their cat's toilet.

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Posted: Tue Nov 23, 2021 8:06am

Juliet Diaz

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Posted: Tue Nov 23, 2021 8:06am

Alistair young wrote on Wed Mar 10, 2021 1:54pm:

Hi I'm always interested to know what it's really like gardening in arid areas and if it's possible to get that bountiful planting effect in areas with llay ,stones little water. Whenever i see those property programmes the only places that look lush are those apartment complexes that have sprink...

 

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...lers systems on all night. Most places look very barren and dessert like. I wonder if it's better to try gardening in the wintertime instead.

Hi. I was an avid gardener and had a beautiful garden in Kent before moving here. I totally misjudged how difficult it would be to create and maintain a garden in this part of Spain. Just digging a hole requires a pick axe and even daily watering does not necessarily yield the results you would want! After 3 years of trying to beat the desert conditions I've now given up and planted yuccas and cacti! It's been fun trying though!

Posted: Tue Nov 23, 2021 12:25pm

Alistair young

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Joined: 23 Jan 2020

Posted: Tue Nov 23, 2021 12:25pm

Juliet Diaz wrote on Tue Nov 23, 2021 8:06am:

Hi. I was an avid gardener and had a beautiful garden in Kent before moving here. I totally misjudged how difficult it would be to create and maintain a garden in this part of Spain. Just digging a hole requires a pick axe and even daily watering does not necessarily yield the results you would w...

 

Read more...

...ant! After 3 years of trying to beat the desert conditions I've now given up and planted yuccas and cacti! It's been fun trying though!

Thanks for your reply that helps me a lot I think that to get the hotel gardens look would be very expensive and high maintenance and take years for instance to get palms ect to provide you with the shade you require.

Posted: Tue Nov 23, 2021 12:31pm

Alistair young

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Posted: Tue Nov 23, 2021 12:31pm

This post that was quoted has been deleted.

Yes it would be impossible to grow a normal garden in these areas I guess hotels do a lot of earth moving with machines ect to get the look. I found out that Spain is virtually all clay so that doesn't help as it needs constant maintenance as it always returns.

Posted: Wed Nov 24, 2021 3:54pm

juanida

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Posted: Wed Nov 24, 2021 3:54pm

Alistair young wrote on Tue Nov 23, 2021 12:25pm:

Thanks for your reply that helps me a lot I think that to get the hotel gardens look would be very expensive and high maintenance and take years for instance to get palms ect to provide you with the shade you require.

If you move to Almería and buy a house in a coastal area, the sort of lush exotic plants you are imagining, are viable. There you'll have humidity which many plants don't get inland where it's very dry and the soul tends to be heavy or stoney.  People usually only opt for cactus and gravel in inland areas.

I live 20 minutes drive from the coast and at 340 metres I can't grow certain exotic plants and always have to opt for plants which can survive at  -4 C in the winter but which also can also survive sweltering, dry summers with no cooling sea breeze.  Rainfall (although by no means copious) is higher in coastal areas too, and almost non existent in some inland areas !

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