Every year it gets warmer and by corona we are home more. This affects our lifestyle: we spend more and more time in our garden. Why not upgrade from flower bed to lounge paradise? We do bring Ibiza to our own garden! MASTERS spoke with some leading outdoor experts.
Online Editor: Natasha Hendriks | Text: Bart-Jan Brouwer
Image: Peter Baas
The temperature is rising rapidly, heat waves are no longer an exception in the Netherlands. How long will it be before palm trees grow along the boulevard in Scheveningen? Many households are getting a head start on the tropical climate that awaits us and are decorating their gardens accordingly. Also prompted, of course, by the corona virus, which turns favorite destinations such as Spain and Croatia red and does not exactly encourage people to get on the plane in polonaise. Even Ibiza and Mallorca received a negative "orange" travel advisory last summer. But if we don't go to Ibiza, we'll bring Ibiza here, right?
The Green Contractors, independent experts in exclusive garden projects, recently built a large Ibiza-style garden for a festival organizer. "He lives by the water, jumping straight into the plump from his terrace," co-owner Duuk Muilwijk outlines the picture. "That was really the assignment: create a garden in which we imagine ourselves in Ibiza. The client helped us in the design phase by using a mood board to give us direction. This gave us a bit of the atmosphere he was looking for. We always take on the complete garden management, find the right parties - garden architect, contractor, landscaper - and make a suitable plan in consultation. In this case we looked for typically Spanish materials, such as agstones: natural stone slab with an irregular shape." His partner Wim Takkebos adds: "Winter hardiness is also important. You don't want a garden that is three-quarters dead at ten degrees of frost. You can't just plant anything; expertise is indispensable for that."
Garden designer Erik van Gelder has noticed in recent years anyway that people want to create much more of a vacation feeling in their own gardens. "They get inspired when they are on vacation. If they have stayed in a beautiful hotel in Bali or the Maldives, they want to experience the same atmosphere they tasted there at home. So here they go looking for a garden architect or designer who could come up with and design something in that trend for them."
Like The Green Contractors, Erik van Gelder was recently commissioned to create a garden with an Ibiza feel, in Halsteren. "We did everything we could to create that ultimate vacation feeling. Because we had to deal with quite high walls, it has become a kind of patio. The lee there allowed us to use different plants. We put in an infinity pool that is not super large, but has a very luxurious look - with mosaic on the floor and a twenty-centimeter high glass edge that is highlighted. The accompanying outhouse is lockable with a glass wall, so you can sit there just fine even during periods of less-than-perfect weather and maintain the view of the pool."
Erik van Gelder confirms that people are spending more money on their gardens. "They understand that outside is also worth an investment, because the time they can enjoy it becomes longer. Before I started for myself in 2004, I got the necessary inspiration - I worked in Australia, did an internship in America. There the outdoors played a much bigger role at the time than here. I wondered what I could do to extend the time you can enjoy your garden in the Netherlands. By applying elements such as canopies, heaters and fire elements in my designs, it is possible to sit outside for two months a year longer. Thus, the garden becomes more of an extension of the house, something that was in play anyway. It's worth something to people to be able to sit outside 30 or 40 percent of the year. So yes, the amount they are willing to spend on their garden is higher than it was five, 10 years ago. But you see the same thing in interior design; that's even a bit ahead of outdoors. I see it as my job to get the field to a higher level by showing people what is possible. Because many people have absolutely no idea, they still think that the garden is limited to a piece of grass, some plants and a nice lounge set. Nowadays we really are quite a lot further along."
According to Duuk Muilwijk, many high-end clients don't have a number in their heads before taking on a project. "They often have no idea what a garden costs. They do have some thought about what it may cost approximately. Gradually they find out that there are choices to be made. Thick or thin trees? A swimming pool or not? Such choices finally determine the budget. If we manage to convince them sufficiently that certain elements add value, a budget goes up further quite easily." "People value that budget being monitored subsequently, especially in times of crisis," experiences Wim Takkebos. "If someone says a ton, it shouldn't become a ton and a half. That's what you hire us for: we're not just project managers, we also take care of things."
Visit Erik van Gelder and The Green Contractors at MASTERS EXPO. From November 18 to 22 in RAI Amsterdam: MASTERS EXPO - The Forward Edition. Ticket sales start this month.
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