The gardens at Sunset Villa were hewn out of a near barren hillside in 2021. Set on the side of The Montgo mountains the original gardens were only thinly covering the rocky granite surface of the mountain below.

With the aid of a local designer and garden company we have changed the outlook from a tired abandoned landscape to one of beauty, with plants and colours abundant in all their glory.

The original garden had been left to seed and so the reformation required months of digging to remove the hard baked soil and random piles of rocks. We used mechanical diggers to strip the landscape of tired shrubs, numerous weeds, and dead trees. The process took 6 months and we disposed of no less than 12 industrial skip loads of debris.

Despite heavy rain changing the landscape into an almost impossible mass of mud we cleared the site and set about cutting steps into the hillside. To improve the drainage, we built small walls. 14 trucks brought new soft soil to spread over the garden and a watering system was installed to deal with the hot, dry summers.

Pergolas were erected, artificial lawns of varying quality were laid for both pleasure and sport and an artificial grass tennis court was installed over the original broken concrete base.

The planting of over 12 full size trees craned into the garden along with 16 very large and heavy Mediterranean shrubs and fruit trees were the basis of our design. Finally, 1,400 smaller plants were put into the flowerbeds to complete the overall look.

Now, month by month we are witnessing the garden's ability to adapt to its new inhabitants. Some plants have settled in well, but regretfully as expected, a few have suffered and some have even died, but the vast majority are thriving very well.

We hope you enjoy walking amongst the flora and fauna of our garden and will find time to linger and appreciate the diversity of the plants and the insects that are now returning to inhabit it. The gardens are lit up at night and are a unique attraction for all those that love gardening.