Gardening in Spain

If there is one thing we miss about UK it’s a garden. Over the years we have created five gardens out of wilderness in UK and a made over a couple in Australia. It is a very satisfactory thing to do. It takes time and effort of course but its well worth it. When we moved into our apartment in Spain we pretty soon realised we would just have to get some plants. Four years on we have had our successes and our failures but we cannot imagine our outdoor space without plants.
One thing we have struggled with is getting climbing plants to cover the wooden frame we put up on the lower solarium. Fingers crossed two climbers have at last reached the top of the structure and hopefully will start to form a roof of leaves and flowers.
Another problem with this type of gardening is keeping pests at bay. We have had several invasions of aphids, both green fly and woolly. You really need to keep a close eye out and remove them as quickly as possible. They can cover your plants almost over night, the geranium moth is another serious problem, In fact many of us in this area no longer bother to try and grow geraniums.
We are very much of the plant it and wish it well gardening brigade. That is we don’t waste time and precious water trying to nurture species that are just not happy with the conditions we can provide. We water, we feed, home made from horse muck soaked in water, we talk to them. Lots grow some do not. Some of our most successful are self seeders or have grown from fruit pips and seed pushed in the soil of a handy pot. One thing we had never grown before was cacti but we now have a really nice collection. These have been either purchased for 60 cents from Domtis or grown from cuttings. They may well be the only ones that survive if we don’t get some rain here soon.