How does your garden grow?

Perhaps you have purchased your new holiday home in Greece – or maybe you are still dreaming of doing so. Either way, one of the things you will need to think about is the garden. A visit to a holiday home, for either yourself or your tenants, should be a pleasure - relaxing and restful. The last thing you want to be doing are all those garden chores that you have left behind at home. Let’s face it, a property with a garden needs a bit of forward planning as to how you will care for it.

There are a number of options. You can either do it all yourself, get a local management company to take care of it or employ a local gardener on a part time basis - or indeed on a full time basis, depending on the size of the garden! What ever option you chose, you do not want a garden that requires hours of work on your part. If you decide to employ someone, you need to factor this cost into your budget incidentally.

Best case scenario would be a low maintenance garden that requires a minimum of attention, one that requires not too much upkeep generally and that will be fine with only a once or twice a year pruning or clipping and after that very little work for the rest of the year. The main thing really is to plant indigenous trees and local plants that are suited to the climate and that are not going to require constant care and watering. Plants that can withstand a drought are the best bet - things like perhaps Rosemary, Sage, Lavender and Agapanthus - perhaps even succulents?

There are bound to be many lovely gardens around you and gardeners like nothing better than comparing notes – lean over that garden fence and ask some advice: you may just make a new best friend into the bargain! Also perhaps you can pop into local plant nurseries nearby - they would be able to give good advice.

Try typing in 'Greece Gardens' on the Internet for a bit of input. I found a website that had a month by month analysis of what's going on in the Greek garden...I also found the following sage advice: “Gardening in Greece has many advantages: mild winters, lots of sunshine and an active garden all year round. But along with the plusses there are some minuses, such as: no rain for at least five months during the hottest part of the year, incessant weeds, and the need to have a continuous floral display somewhere in the garden throughout the year. In order to accomplish this, the garden has to be heavily planted up with:

• Drought resistant plants
• Bulbs to extend the flowering season before and after the summer
• Vines, shrubs and trees to offer shade to plants less able to cope with the strong sun
• Ground covers to reduce the temperature of the soil, maintain moisture in the soil, and to control the spread of weeds”

Just remember however that there may be a rainy winter around the corner...so make sure they can cope with that too...no one said it was going to be easy, did they?!! But I bet there are a few gardening clubs there too...and what a good way to make friends!

Bye for now, and warm New Year wishes!


Carol

The Overseas Guides Company
http://www.greecebuyingguide.com