\u00a9 Claire Takacs<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div>\n\u201cThe clients asked for something very natural,\u201d says the garden\u2019s designer Fernando Martos. \u201cThey wanted it to look as though it had been here for ever.\u201d To this end Fernando has used the tough, low-growing grass, Sesleria<\/em> \u2018Greenlee\u2019, as a matrix plant. These are plants that are relatively low-profile, and not ecologically or visually assertive, but strong enough to dominate a ground layer. They help reduce the danger of weed infiltration, filling in the gaps between other plants and, very often, helping highlight their special qualities \u2013 of colour or form. In this garden, the Sesleria<\/em> makes up around half of the total planting, and this particular cultivar is relatively drought tolerant<\/a>, has a good colour and according to Fernando grows better than the well-known Sesleria autumnalis<\/em> popularised by the Dutch designer Piet Oudolf.<\/a> Read more about the garden below<\/p>\n
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In brief<\/strong><\/p>\n
What<\/strong> A reduced-irrigation garden using mostly Mediterranean region native species. Where<\/strong> Central Spain. Size<\/strong> 600 square metres. Soil<\/strong> Free-draining, granite-based soil mixed with sand. Climate<\/strong> Mediterranean steppe, with a wide temperature range. Cold winters and hot, dry summers. Hardiness zone<\/strong> USDA 8.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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$\"""\"$ <\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div> \u00a9 Claire Takacs<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div>\nDesigner Fernando Martos used\u00a0the grasses Sesleria<\/em> \u2018Greenlee\u2019 and Stipa gigantea <\/em>to knit together a mix of different shapes and textures\u00a0from mainly evergreen shrubs<\/a>, including Euphorbia seguieriana<\/em> subsp. niciciana<\/em>, Stachys byzantina<\/em> and Phlomoides tuberosa<\/em>.<\/p>\n
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\u00a9 Claire Takacs<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Terracotta pots, filled with neatly clipped wild olive (Olea europaea<\/em> subsp. europaea<\/em> var. sylvestris<\/em>) and Lavandula dentata<\/em>, add a more formal touch to the\ncobbled courtyard. Behind, deep raised beds hold three, multi-stem Amelanchier alnifolia<\/em> underplanted with a loose mix of planting that features the trailing rosemary Salvia rosmarinus<\/em> \u2018Rampant Boule\u2019 spilling over the edge.<\/p>\n
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\u00a9 Claire Takacs<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div>\n
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Mexican fleabane Erigeron karvinskianus<\/em> trails down from upper planters, adding to the feel that this garden has been here for years. Below, the deep-raised beds are filled with an exuberant mix of textures and colours, including Salvia<\/em> \u2018African Sky\u2019 and Salvia rosmarinus<\/em> \u2018Rampant Boule\u2019 \u2013 both of which make effective groundcover plants with aromatic foliage and attractive flowers.<\/p>\n
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$\"""\"$ <\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div> \u00a9 Claire Takacs<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div>\n
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The holm oak-covered hills surrounding the garden are echoed in both the shapes of many of the plant species used and by the shapes of the planting beds \u2013 and indeed by that of the whole walled area. On the other side of the wall in the foreground is Fernando\u2019s wildflower meadow<\/a> \u2013 already showing the impact of the hot, dry summer.<\/p>\n
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\u00a9 Claire Takacs<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div>\n
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In the slightly shaded area close to the dining terrace, Fernando has created a loose natural look with a mix of mainly evergreen shrubs, including Phillyrea angustifolia<\/em> and Cistus salviifolius<\/em>, and the trailing, aromatic rosemary, Salvia rosmarinus<\/em> \u2018Rampant Boule\u2019, against the backdrop of a climbing white rose<\/a>. Among all this dark-green foliage Phlomis italica<\/em> adds a fine silver-grey splash. It\u2019s a genus that includes some of the very bestsilver-leaved plants for dry climates.<\/p>\n
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Find out more about Fernando\u2019s work at fernandomartos.com\/en<\/a><\/p>\n
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By Noel Kingsbury Published: Tuesday, 12 July 2022 at 12:00 am There\u2019s nothing especially unusual about the sight of old stone walls, made of rough granite, in the countryside of central Spain. But hidden behind the stone walls surrounding this private house, near Toledo, south of Madrid, is something that really is unusual in this […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":13004,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"4"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2022\/07\/a-year-round-dry-garden-in-spain-designed-by-fernando-martos-scaled.jpg",2560,1705,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2022\/07\/a-year-round-dry-garden-in-spain-designed-by-fernando-martos-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2022\/07\/a-year-round-dry-garden-in-spain-designed-by-fernando-martos-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2022\/07\/a-year-round-dry-garden-in-spain-designed-by-fernando-martos-768x512.jpg",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2022\/07\/a-year-round-dry-garden-in-spain-designed-by-fernando-martos-1024x682.jpg",800,533,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2022\/07\/a-year-round-dry-garden-in-spain-designed-by-fernando-martos-1536x1023.jpg",1536,1023,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2022\/07\/a-year-round-dry-garden-in-spain-designed-by-fernando-martos-2048x1364.jpg",2048,1364,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/gardensillustrated\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By Noel Kingsbury Published: Tuesday, 12 July 2022 at 12:00 am There\u2019s nothing especially unusual about the sight of old stone walls, made of rough granite, in the countryside of central Spain. But hidden behind the stone walls surrounding this private house, near Toledo, south of Madrid, is something that really is unusual in this…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/gardensillustrated\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/13003"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/gardensillustrated\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/gardensillustrated\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/gardensillustrated\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/gardensillustrated\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13004"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/gardensillustrated\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13003"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/gardensillustrated\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13003"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}