Portugal is one of the best countries where you can enjoy so many outdoor activities. One of the major reasons why people move permanently to Portugal is to enjoy the long warm summer. Due to the hot climate, you will spend most of your time outside your house. As a result, you will find that most homes and apartments usually have a balcony where you can enjoy the outdoor life. However, if you love gardening, it might be a bit challenging due to the hot climate. In this article, we shall share some gardening tips that will give you the best results in Portugal.
1. Succulent plants – Aloe and cacti are very popular in Portugal. The good thing about these plants is that high temperatures or lack of water does not affect them during summer. They are referred to as succulent because they are able to retain water in hot climates. Succulent is a Latin word where “Sucus” means juice. These types of plants are great because they are easy to maintain.
2. Edible garden – Portugal is a great place you can settle permanently if you love planting, pruning and digging. Unlike other places like UK or other places in North Europe, in Portugal you will have a good chance to try growing some vegetables and fruits you may have never grown before. For example, melons, figs and olives are among the best fruits that do well in Portugal. You can trim live shrubs and tree with pruning saw. They have same sharp teeth as saws used for cutting lumber. You can get more info regarding pruning saws at https://sawadvisor.com/.
3. Be aware of pests – You need to use special type of nets that will keep wild animals and birds away from your garden. Nets don’t have a great appearance on your garden but they are very effective in keeping your vegetables and fruits safe.
4. Irrigation – Even if you have a small garden or terrace where you are planning to grow some plants, you need to think about how you will be doing irrigation during summer. South Lisbon is one of the areas where it rarely rains. However, there are many electronic irrigation systems you should use but if you are on a tight budget, manual pipes will also be great. Whichever method you use, you must ensure that it is effective and reliable. You also need to use a method that is water efficient or a method that will not have any effect on your water bills.
5. Grass – Verdant landscapes are so many in the northern part of Portugal because there is enough amount of rainfall. As a result, it is easier to maintain a lawn than it is in the southern part of Portugal where maintaining a green lawn throughout the year is not easy. Likewise, many gardens and patios in the Algarve contain paving or shingle. You can consider planting leafy and colourful plants to make your garden more attractive. Trying to maintain your grass in the southern part will not be possible unless you are planting on a communal land which will be a bit expensive to maintain.
Conclusion
If you love gardening and you have been planning to relocate to Portugal, those are among the things you should try if you love gardening. Despite the fact that the place is a bit hot especially during summer, you can still enjoy growing some plants.
I have a house in Portugal, and have a shady area around by the pool, and nothing will grow. Have you any ideas please?
Hello the best way to get information for this is on our facebook group called – Pure Portugal Living The Good Life – I attach a link to it here – Join Here
First ensure that your soil is good. If not add plenty of organic material. It depends what you want to grow. I quite like exotic plants round a pool and canna lilies are prolific and do quite well in shade. Especially the varieties with the fantastic leaf colour, they prefer shade to sunshine to keep their colour. Varities to look out for are Stuttgart, Pretoria and Durban. You can buy them on line from Farmer Gracy in The Netherlands. Hostas also do well in shade but are susceptible to slug and snail damage.
Dahlias actually tolerate more shade than people think. Good luck with your garden.
Thanks Jayne, yes great advice here, building soil is always a key thing, whatever the desire with a garden – always so important after the levels of soil erosion yearly! Thanks for your comment! 🙂 – PP Team x
Have you tried Aspidistra? it loves shade
Barbara Park
Thanks so much for this! will add this to the list for sure! 🙂
We need a privacy climber that blooms. Any ideas? In central Portugal.
Thanks for your question!! You could try asking on our Facebook group here – https://www.facebook.com/groups/1673222242889613
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