The garden

The Garden

I am hugely inspired by Nancy Lancaster's belief that a good house needs to be supported by a great garden - and this was a guiding principle when creating the gardens here at Gazebo.

• I think that a house needs to feel part of and anchored within nature to be complete.
• The climate is very hospitable in Tangier, and we are able to grow almost anything. The garden is 2.5 acres.
• When I first arrived here, everything was situated on a steeply sloped cliff, and it took a vast amount of terracing and landscaping to make the gardens accessible and usable.
• Structure is provided by a series of stucco and stone walls, and a straight path that leads from the main house right the way down to the gazebo at the bottom of the garden. At the centre, there is also a crossroad with paths cutting across to the east and west.
• I love the mix of formal clipped planting with wilder sections. A series of olive trees and Cyprus trees helps to anchor the garden and give a sense of scale.
• The pond in the centre of the garden is filled with frogs, and I love the chatter of them with the orchestra of cicadas behind them.
• The garden is a beautiful mix of serenity, profusion and lushness. Amongst the more formal elements, I have planted huge banks of the same plant. Below is a list of plants in my garden.

Plant Directory

• Estonia
• Cosmos
• Plumbago
• Giant artichoke
• Sunflower
• Hollyhock
• Salvia
• Canna Lily
• Agapantha
• Pittosporum Nanum
• Teucrium
• Rose
• Clivia
• Hibiscus
• Poinsettia

Further Reading

• The relationship between house and garden