Life & Style | Home & Interiors
Arabian Ranches garden's winning formula
Stunning water features and an array of Mediterranean plant choices combine to make an award-scooping garden in Arabian Ranches
- By Helga Jensen-Forde for InsideOut magazine
- Published: 00:00 October 15, 2011
- Image Credit: Christopher List/ANM
- Inspiration came from gardens the owners of the property had seen in Al Hamra, Spain.
Each year the Emaar Garden Competition is a time of excitement for many of the horticulturalist homeowners who live in Emaar communities and take pride in their gardens. As part of the competition, which is now in its sixth cycle and is aimed at encouraging residents to enhance the community through their landscaping, expert judges peruse a barrage of gardens, evaluating them on their creativity and attention to detail.
One of the gardens that emerged as a winner of this year's competition belongs to Jackie Daair and her husband, Talal, who have lived in their home at the Arabian Ranches for almost two years. Their 15,000-square-foot garden, originally designed by Hennessey Pools and Landscaping, achieved joint first place in the category for best large garden. InsideOut took a tour of this victorious garden, keen to discover what it takes to create a winning al fresco space.
"We tried to make the garden a bit different from most of the gardens we have seen," says Jackie. "Its theme matches the Spanish architectural style of the house, which may have given it a bit of an edge." The garden's Mediterranean feel was strongly influenced by the family's European travels, Jackie explains: "We wanted the garden to reflect the style of the villa and we got a lot of inspiration from gardens we had seen in Al Hamra in Granada, Spain."
The garden might be an award-winner at this beautiful La Avenida Hacienda on the Ranches today, but rewind a few years and, like most gardens in the Gulf, it started out as a large patch of sand. "We completely started from scratch with a bare, sandy area," admits Jackie. "We had our own ideas about what we wanted in the garden and Hennessey's designer helped us to develop them and come up with a final design. Hennessey did all of the hard work - laying paving stones and constructing the fountains, jacuzzi and gazebo."
The garden is now divided into three parts: the first part is an arid cactus area at the side of the property's garage, and Jackie takes us through the other two sections of the garden, pointing out the intricate detailing at the front of the villa. "The main front garden is based on an Islamic geometric concept with a fountain in the centre of four pathways. This creates four sections, bordered by low hedges; in the middle of each one is a silver conocarpus tree surrounded by pink bougainvillea. The back garden has a citrus grove with eight trees, a water feature lined with olive trees, a lawn, and a barbecue area with gazebo and jacuzzi."
Flora that can be found in this spectacular garden include a bottle brush tree, jasmine, pongamia, frangipani and a jacaranda. Vibrant splashes of colour emanate from shrubs that include desert rose, bougainvillea, wild jasmine, coral plant, ixora and Texas sage. "In winter we also have annuals such as petunias, nasturtium, lobelia and geranium," adds Jackie.
With the garden looking its best, Jackie and Talal entered the Emaar competition after seeing it advertised within the Ranches community. After a visit from the judges, Jackie received the phonecall announcing the win. She says, "I was delighted, and I would urge other keen gardeners to have a go. Even if you don't win, you'll get satisfaction from tending the garden."
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