Definitions of style

Shrubs like pittosporum and oleander with their leathery leaves are well equipped to stand up to the salt winds, sheltering a superb range of cacti and succulents that in turn are perfectly suited to the environment, creating a spectacular and award winning desert garden.

In the wild, desert plants tend to be spaced out because the competition for water is so fierce. They develop extraordinary ‘architectural’ qualities that make them less suited to the English style of massed planting.

At El Balcón de Santa Ana, head gardener Fermin uses a volcanic material to mulch between the plants. This reduces evaporation and enhances the atmosphere of the desert landscape.

Lawns are kept to a minimum and – where used – are planted with creeping rhizomatous grasses which require less water.

Behind the apartments, where there is shade and shelter, the planting is more lush and subtropical.

Plants such as Bougainvillea and the glorious Podrania scramble down the banks which in turn are punctuated by palms and shrubs, creating a lush version of our traditional mixed borders.

Lawns

Lawns are always a vexed question with HPB properties. Living in the UK, we are used to the luxury of being able to use grass as ground cover. An expanse of lawn is the sine qua non of the traditional English garden.

At Physkos, in Turkey, we are trying to keep lawns to a minimum. They are extremely difficult to maintain to the standard we in the UK expect unless lavished with that most precious resource, water.

We have a responsibility to look for other solutions and to plan our gardens to suit the available resources. At Physkos, we are using drought tolerant grasses. If these are not successful, lawns will be confined to amenity areas where the extra TLC can be justified.

For the purely decorative areas, we will seek alternative groundcover among creeping plants and hard landscape materials.

The surrounding hills of this beautiful site will no doubt provide some inspiration.

Historical

El Pueblito de Alfaix, the new site in Almeria, nestles in an olive and orange grove. Here, designer Deiv Kilby has integrated this historical use of the site into his concept, including a tree shaded ‘plaza’ planted with Seville oranges that will no doubt become a favourite meeting place for Bondholders.

Deiv recently designed the nearby Desert Springs Golf Course where he has limited turf to essential areas like putting greens. The site is a rather treeless landscape in the foothills of the mountains.

Deiv’s themes of dry riverbeds and rocky outcrops (made, rather curiously, from abandoned cars upended and covered with concrete), interspersed with swathes of tough but colourful ground hugging perennials – like Carpobrotus and Lampranthus – and punctuated with a delicious range of cacti, provide an entertaining yet sympathetic ‘garden’ in this rugged landscape.

At El Pueblito de Alfaix, the mood is gentler and the atmosphere more domesticated, with many of the Moorish influences that are typical of the region reflected in the architecture, in the provision of cool shady sitting areas, and in the use of water.

There will be echoes of the Alhambra in the covered pool area and in the avenues planted with palms and cypress.

Around the edges of the site, the gnarled olives and the clusters of umbrella pines and pepper trees will recall the long history of this lovely place as an oasis where – for centuries – the locals have managed this landscape as a little Eden.

For example, at El Balcón de Santa Ana, on La Gomera, the climate and the landscape are the dominating influences. Here, the problems of wind, sun and soil erosion have been addressed through planting trees which help to stabilize the soil and provide welcome pockets of shade.

When I was first asked to keep a weather eye on HPB’s wonderful portfolio of gardens I realised pretty quickly that I was going to have to expand my plant knowledge to include a whole range of subtropical species. In addition, it was clear that I was going to have to enlarge my vocabulary of ‘garden styles’ if I was to do justice to the genius loci of the properties.

HPB sites range from the baronial splendour of Tigh Mor Trossachs to the more humble delights of an 18th century stable yard, and include a castle, a friary, Victorian farms, a 14th century moated manor house, modern lodge apartments… and that’s just this side of the Channel.

At its simplest, ‘garden style’ refers to the type of garden – modern or traditional, urban or rural, formal or informal, cottage or country house, and so on. The factors that principally influence garden style are the landscape of course, as well as the history of the site, the architecture, the climate, the soil and the human element. (By that, I mean who we are and what we want from our gardens.)

All gardens are manmade and it is largely thinking about what we want them to do – and what they mean to us individually – that influences the style we adopt when all the other considerations have been addressed.

Leisure

HPB gardens are essentially leisure gardens, so as well as providing recreational facilities – like swimming pools, tennis courts and bowling greens – they should be havens of tranquillity offering calm relaxation and appealing to the senses.

There must be public areas and cosy private spaces. They should appeal to gardeners and non-gardeners alike – satisfying a range of tastes without losing their integrity. And they need to do all this in a way that complements an extraordinary range of building styles in a wide variety of climates and landscapes.