For Briton Tracy Pawley, having greenery all around her was one of the most important factors when choosing her home. "This was one of the major factors in our selection of the property. Having lived in the Gulf since 1994 we wanted a green oasis to relax in and not a desert or concrete view each day," explains Pawley. "The greenery makes the whole garden cooler and the colours bring it to life." Their garden was created by Al Barari and was included in the price of the property, although the family has been eager to add their own touch to it.
"We have been living in the property since March 2010 and the garden was planted as we were moving in, so you can see how quickly the plants establish themselves," says Pawley. "It will probably never be fully finished as we're planning to add a gazebo for more outside living space and will keep changing plants to see what looks best. A few also need moving for practical reasons (leaves in the pool for example)."
Putting your own touch to any garden is all part of the fun though, and Pawley and her daughter Darrelle, 12, are often found working away in the garden. "Currently, Darrelle and I are planting sunflowers, sweet peas, tulips, Rocky Mountain iris, golden poppy and Saguaro cactus just to see how they grow and look," says Pawley. "She has an interest and we are keen to let her do things, partly for learning but mostly for fun! She also wants to plant vegetables and we're trying to identify the best place for tomato plants."
While tomatoes may be next on the agenda, the garden already has various plants including frangipani, snowdrop jasmine, bougainvillea and pampas grass. "They all came from the nursery just a few hundred metres away," claims Pawley. "Many plants were acclimatised to the region for months in advance so they stood the best chance of surviving through the summer months, which they did very well." The nursery on Al Barari is apparently the largest privately owned nursery in the region with more than a million plants from over 1,800 species. The development will also boast ubiquitous botanical gardens in its bid for green living. Pawley says, "The development will eventually have around six community botanical gardens conveniently placed throughout the development so we can all enjoy them. They have different themes ranging from woodland to Renaissance, Mediterranean, contemporary and Balinese and we have walkways between each so it will be a lot of fun exploring and seeing the various plants. Darrelle likes riding her bike around now so we can imagine what it will be like when it's all finished. The Mediterranean garden has over 10,000 trees, plants and shrubs planted so we are keen to see them all finished."
With the development's eco-friendly theme, and recycling bins dotted throughout, the family is eager to maintain this environmentally friendly principle both indoors and outdoors. While they recycle everything inside the home, touches such as eco-friendly solar heating for the pool is the perfect way of being environmentally friendly in the garden, making this special garden an eco-friendly haven to come home to.
