If you're new to gardening it is important that you choose the right plants. You need to take into account what kind of garden you have. If you are an experienced gardener, you probably already know this.

So before you design your garden factor in:
- Layout of your garden
- Sun exposure
- Soil
- Climate
- Pleasing to the senses
- Amount of time you want to work in it

In our case, our garden faces the southwest and is fully exposed to the sun most of the day. We tend to get less and less rain every year.

We are lucky with the soil as our garden has a lovely, rich soil with a high clay content. This is the densest soil type, meaning that it retains moisture and cold for longer than other types. It also heavy to work with. The good thing about clay is that is captures moisture really well which makes it an excellent choice for a full sun garden. During dry periods, the top centimer dries up and creates a hardened layer, which prevents water from evaporating.

When we designed our garden, we wanted it to become a place of leisure and relaxation, and stimulating to all our senses. Thus we chose plants that are fragrant, colourful, and have nice textures. Some of them are large, and you can hear them in the breeze. Many are edible and we use them to jazz up our favorite dishes.

Since we all hold full time jobs, we needed our plants to be self sufficient (not a lot of pruning required) and resistant to all kinds of illnesses. We picked strong, hardy, healthy plants that can withstand the environment. In addition to choosing a number of mediterranean plants, we also used indigenous plants. The advantage is that they have been grown in our local surroundings for many years and are not prone to all kinds of plant diseases.

We have faced ups and downs in using plants and had our fair share of failures. This site documents some of those, but mostly shows what worked well for us. We have listed the plants in alphabetical order, using their Latin names. If you use this name when ordering plants, you can be sure that you will buy the correct species. All plants have been tested and grown in our own garden, so we are absolutely sure that they can withstand the daily sun and high temperatures.

Our view point on watering is that plants should fend for themselves, so we accept the occasional dry leave. It will all be solved after the next rain. If you use our advice, your plants will not only survive but even thrive in their sunny spots.