“Giardino di Hera”: An Irrigation-free Gardening Adventure in Southern Italy
Mediteranean Garden Society talk by Peter Anman. Working as tour guide and travel journalist, Peter divides his time between Munich, Southern Italy and Sicily. In 2004, on a research trip with his partner Gundula they fell in love with the small town of Giungano and the surrounding landscape encapsulated by the magnificent Cilento National Park. The town is located near the ancient sites of Paestum and Pompei and overlooks the Amalfi Coast and island of Capri. Two years later they were able to buy three hectares of abandoned olive grove with its own ruin. Even before starting renovation works on the house, they immersed themselves in the garden. With the help of professional stonemasons, they rebuilt some of the dry-stone walls and got help from local farmers with pruning the old olive trees. In antiquity, Paestum was famous for its perfumed roses, so their next step was to plant antique roses - not an overall success as they had opted for an irrigation-free garden. A more successful strategy has been to expand on plant species strictly from mediterranean climates (mainly Europe) and use a landscape-wise approach to gardening incorporating the natural macchia, woodland and meadows.
