Preparing your garden or terrace for spring in Marbella

Well, we don’t have to tell you that spring is the time when all things natural come to full floral life. It’s a phase of rejuvenation after a long winter, when temperatures begin to rise and the blend of sunshine with showery spells produces the ultimate conditions for nature to flourish. This is true of the wild, but certainly also our own private oases of greenery.

In other words, make a little effort and your garden or terrace will not only fill your senses with the beauty of colour and fragrance, but it will also become your home’s most wonderful place to be for the next few months – especially in Marbella. And the ideal time to start preparing for it all is at the end of winter.

Marbella has just about the sunniest climate in Europe, and here the end of winter usually comes in March, when temperatures typically rise to around 20 degrees Celsius but evenings are still cool. By April conditions will have gotten warmer and sunnier, so make sure you plan this year’s garden or terrace greenery and give yourself time to buy and plant the seedlings you have in mind.

 

Spring is for flowers and potted plants

This is not the ideal moment to plant trees, shrubs, creepers or other large species that require a longer period of time to grow. When you come out of winter and into spring, you want to enjoy the magnificence of flowers and plants that produce relatively quick results and spectacularly bloom within a few weeks – transforming the immediate exterior of your home into a fairy-tale space.

Use Anemone blanda to create a blue carpet in early spring, or the delicate peach tones of Alstroemeria ligtu to catch the rays of sunlight and turn them into a golden hue. Rock purslane (Calandrinia spectabilis) adds te vivaciousness of lilac, while Chinese dregea (Dregea sinensis) provides a gentle cream/white palette for Cotines coggygria – Smoketree in layman’s terms – to dazzle with brilliant shades of yellow.

For extra texture, add the tubular forms of Canary Island Foxglove (Isoplexis canariensis) to this amazing array of colours and shapes, but make sure they complement one another, be it planted in flowerbeds or pots. Don’t be afraid to experiment a little and even move them around until you find the right mix, and in Mediterranean climates such as this mulch gravel into the soil for good drainage of drought-resistant plants such as the ones mentioned above.

Offset them with stones, lights and that cork oak or orange tree you planted last year, and you will have created a wonderful Mediterranean scene to enjoy for the coming months.