Project 2

(Scroll down for the pictures)

The project was a house in Dherynia. The owners wanted to improve the front area of the house, in a way that would look attractive and would require minimum maintenance, as well as need as little water as possible.

The garden had only a few rose bushes which were removed, following the owners wish. However, it had a serious poblem of a persistent type of weed that grew everywhere.

In order to tackle the weed problem, the garden was sprayed repeatedly with a weed killer for weeks before the actual work begun. Then, the ground was coverd with a nylon film and on top of that we placed the ground cover membrane. This way, additionally to the weed killer action, we would have three protective layers against the weed: nylon, ground cover membrane and of course the gravel.

Regarding the plants, the client wanted plants that need little maintenance and prefered the somewhat tropical look. The plants that we decided to plant were:

Syagrus romanzoffiana (Arecastrum, Queen palm), Phoenix roebellenii (Pygmy date palm). Beaucarnea recurvata (pony tail palm), Zamia furfuracea (cardboard palm), Cycas rumphii, Cycas revoluta, Yucca, Chamaerops humilis, Strelitzia reginae (bird of paradise), Euonymous, Agapanthus, Juniperus chinensis stricta and of course cacti and succulents.

Using large rocks from the area around the house, we created a raised bed with various plants, pebbles and stones, solar lights and other ornamental items. At the base of the rock we put some red bark to create a contrast in color.

The cacti and succulents area is a raised rock garden at the far end with various cacti and succulents planted among the rocks. The plant at the top of the rock garden is a mature Pachypodium lamerei.

A row of Juniperus chinensis stricta was planted along the outer wall. They are classy plants. Their strict upward growth and their foliage color makes them very attractive and, taking into consideration the fact that they need little to no maintenance, they are a great choice for any garden.

A path leading to the rock garden was created by placing paving slabs (connected with a mesh net). On the other side of the garden we added decorative stepping stones, decorated with animal shapes. And, as a final touch, we placed two colorful concrete tortoises in the garden, something that the kids of the family loved.