Courtyard Gardens

We promised that we would go into detail about choosing a style of your garden and elaborate on the gardens we mentioned in our previous post.

Today we are going to discuss courtyard gardens :)

Separate courtyards and hedge-enclosed divisions that often bear little relationship to one another or to any obvious ground plan are typical of the Moorish gardens in southern Spain. They reflect the influence of a desert people for whom small enclosures - if only a tent - provided welcome refuge from the heat and perils of a vast uninviting desert.

Similarly, in the Mediterranean regions of Europe, the Middle East and western United States, courtyards provide privacy and shade, respite from the relentless heat of the midday sun. The contrast between this haven and the heat and dust of the surrounding countryside is made all the more delightful by the introduction of water. Bubbling up in a bowl, cascading from a small fountain, lying deep, dark and still in a central well or simply reflecting the surrounding court, its very presence refreshes the spirit.

When designing your garden, then, do bear in mind the advantages of creating an enclosed, shady oasis. You are sure to yearn for it in the scorching heat of high summer. Such an area is quite inexpensive to establish and very easy to maintain. Nor does it demand a lot of space. You can, for example, pave an area as small as 5 metre sq/30 sq yard, and surround it with a hedge of Italian Cypress (Cupressus sempervirens). Pierce the hedge with arched entrances and place a couple of comfortable benches within.

Add, if you wish, a container-grown flowering shrub and a small raised pond (we will talk about ponds also - Gina has one - well it is more like a bloody lake!) ;)

You can work endless variations on this theme, enclosing the courtyard with a wall rather than a hedge, and using the wall to support a colourful climber. Create an interesting pattern of tiles or bricks for the floor area and choose from the vast range of garden furniture the style best suited to your setting - whether in wrought iron, wood or one of the excellent modern plastics.

If the overall effect is harmonious, you will find yourself retreating to sit in this tranquil spot far more frequently than you may ever have imagined.

if your garden is large enough, you could consider dividing it into a number of different, highly individual areas, each one separately enclosed within walls or hedges. Depending on whether you use sombre evergreens such as the Italian cypress or flowering species such as Viburnum tinus, and whether you make your enclosures rigidly geometric or flowingly curvaceous, you can achieve a range of effects from the impressively formal to enchantingly casual.

Try to make each individual area distinct, so that you experience a sense of novelty and surprise as you move from one to the other. You could give each of these 'garden rooms' a separate theme. One, for example, might be devoted entirely to plants of a single colour - white petunias and pelargoniums look wonderful set against a cypress hedge - or to plants from a single family, such as rose.

Choosing the style of your garden

Well, we have been going a few days now, documenting what we can - it takes a long time this writing malarkay!

Anyway, we realised that we ought to talk about choosing your style of garden, is it a courtyard garden, patio garden, terraced hillside, a large plot of land (like we both have) paving, do you want a water garden or perhaps a dry, low maintenance garden. All these topics will be covered in greater detail later but I didn't want you thinking "OK, OK, this is great and all that, talking about the flowers and all, but where do I plant them, where do I start???!!!".

So, let's get to the matter in hand - Choosing your style of garden.

Each individual will clearly have a different approach to creating a garden. But when planning one remember that it should NOT be a chore, but a joy to sustain! Be clear before you start about the use it will be put to and how much time you will devote both to enjoying it and to maintaining your precious outdoor space. (Unless you can afford a gardener and then, well, bugger it, just go for it ;)

Cool courtyards built round gently cascading fountains, tiled patios with dappled shade from overhead vines, terraced slopes left wild with sweet smelling cistus and rosemary or planted with drought-resistant cacti or succulents - these are solutions that please the eye, engage the intellect and refresh the spirit. Lets explore a variety of styles and approaches.

The impact on design of the two great garden styles of the Western Mediterranean region has been immense. The first, the Moorish, seen at its most sublime in the gardens of the Alhambra in Granada and the Alcazar in Seville, is based on the traditional Islamic garden. In this the garden was divided by waterways - representing the four Rivers of Life - into four, the quadripartite design which has been echoed in many gardens throughout the Western World. The style came to Spain with the Moors from North Africa.

The second style, vastly different in concept, is that of the Italian Renaissance where the emphasis is on balance and proportion. Full of sanctuary, impressive balustrades, terraces, flights of steps, fountains and basins, these gardens are dramatic and formal.

While the Moorish style is intimate, designed for people to use and devoid of statuary or ornament, the Italian Renaissance garden is to amaze, to be wondered at and admired. Both styles have been adopted and adapted in countries way beyond the Mediterranean region.

The Islamic influence, for example, is evident not only in the gardens of the Taj Mahal but, through the conquistadors, in gardens of South America. The influence of the great Italian gardens spread first to France, where it is much in evidence at Versailles, and then to Britain where it can be seen, for example, in the gardens of Powis Castle in Wales,. Italian influences are also apparent in the relatively recent gardens at Blake House California.

Present day gardeners can rarely afford to emulate the flamboyance of the Italian High Renaissance, though elements of it are evident in details - fountains, statuary, ornament - of gardens throughout the World.

The Moorish style is far more accessible and practical. To create calming and earthly manifestations of the Paradise Garden, flat ground is advised with a small pond set into the lush grass, perhaps some gravel, a few trees planted symmetrically along the pond and pots in bloom - maybe some fountains of running water or cool pavilions to offer delight and refreshment.