Morocco
A slight interlude from my regular subjects... I have been in Morocco visiting gardens and I need to talk about them! They are so far from the type of garden I typically 'love'* but they were amazing and felt so restful and welcoming.
Cyber Parc Arsat Moulay Abdeslam - a city park to provide a cool retreat and free wifi
Marrakech has a semi-arid climate: hot dry summers and mild, damp (though not exactly 'wet') winters. Very different to my subtropical Brisbane climate. The rainfall there is low, but they irrigate their gardens from reservoirs that hold surface run off and, more increasingly, recycled water. Public spaces have grasses, ficus, oleanders, date palms, fan palms, olives and the occasional rose beds. There are also plenty of pomegranates and citrus. The one thing that really stuck out was that they love to hedge. Everything is clipped - even the stree trees are shaped into submission. The soil is clay like, which I guess helps with water and nutrient retention but they even use this soil in pots. When it's dry its like a rock, and when it does get water, it’s a silty sludge!
Cyber Parc Arsat Moulay Abdeslam
Jardin Marjorelle is a very well known garden in Marrakech. Filled with spikey plants and intensely blue pots and architecture I'll admit I wasn't expecting to love it as much as I did. Despite the 'agressive' plants - cacti, date palms, agave, chamerops (the worst of the evil spikey palms) and aloes, the garden felt like a lush and peaceful oasis. Of course, the bamboo groves providing shade around the edge and the many water features (huge ponds!) helped. But still. I didn't not expect to feel a sense of tranquility staring into a garden of giant agave with rock gravel. Yet I did. I'm still not convinced about the cobalt blue and clashing yellow accents, but it wouldn't be the same garden without them. I did, however, love the softer blue that was also included. It perfectly matched the blue plumbago flowers, and contrasted calmly with the terracotta colour of the paths.
The second garden we visited is hidden away in the middle of Marrakech Medina (old town). Just like the opulent riads that are hidden behind bland brick walls, Le Jardin Secret is equally hidden. Enter through an unassuming door and there are two joined gardens, built on the site of an older property. The property was once distinguished enough to have its own water supply via the Khettaras - an ancient pipework system that fed water to the town from the Atlas Mountains. Water still runs around the property, with several fountains and even a pond with turtles. Channels of water surround each of the garden and the water that slowly seeps out keeps the gardens irrigated. The two garden sections are divided into an exotic one, filled with plants (mostly drought tolerant) from around the world (inlcuding a Queensland bottle tree!) and a second more traditional Islamic garden, bordered with myrtle and filled with society garlic, rosemary, lavender and citrus trees. I thought it was interesting how the hedges around the edge mimic the box hedges around gardens in England. I'm not sure who influenced who?
*I love all gardens but I’ll admit flowers are my fav!