Cyprus-Forum.com

[claireizz]

I am buying a holiday home in cyprus that will become my mums permanent home in a few years. Some advice please on plants for a terrace/balcony that will not need a lot of tending as we are back and forward to the UK, or some self feeding/watering options. What do others do who want a little garden but don't live on the Island permanently?

[Sotos]

I am buying a holiday home in cyprus that will become my mums permanent home in a few years. Some advice please on plants for a terrace/balcony that will not need a lot of tending as we are back and forward to the UK, or some self feeding/watering options. What do others do who want a little garden but don't live on the Island permanently?

Cactus? Cyprus can get hot and dry, so I don't think there are many plants that can survive with no water at all for many months... unless they are trees with deep roots. You can hire a company to look after your garden (I thought you were getting a small apartment?) or make a deal with a neighbor. There are automated solutions also but again you will probably need to talk with some pros at a garden center to install one (too little or too much water can ruin the plants and different kinds of plants will need different amounts of water so somebody that installs such a system should know what he is doing)

[claireizz]

The apartment is ground floor and therefore has a terrace area that I would like to cultivate if possible but I have seen so many where the other occupiers of the block utilise them as holiday properties and any plants have long since died, and don't want mine to suffer the same fate!

[Tim Drayton]

I would agree that cacti are probably the only plants that can get by on their own here - that and native wild plants that shrivel up for most of the year and just bloom during the brief rainy season.

[Nikitas]

Stick to native plants and a weekly gardener visit and you will be OK.

The bougainvilleas in Paralimni were amazing this year. Whoever tends to them is worth finding.

[Cap]

Plant a couple of yuccas and they'll be fine. Zero maintenance except for pruning.
They're evergreen and lovely.

And maybe a palm tree.

[Cap]

bougainvilleas are indeed beautiful, also no need to water. but they grow like wildfire!

[GreekIslandGirl]

There are some flowering plants that do well being completely ignored. We have an area that has been untended for some 50 years and the same flowering plants are still there (the vine has died recently, but that was disease not drought). There's a pretty plant (whose name I don't know) which is also fire-resistant - small shrub, red trumpet shaped flowers which open at night and it produces shiny black seeds that self seed. Does anyone know the name, please?

Jasmine does well once established, especially if it's slightly sheltered under a canopy or vine for shade. Also Daphne shrubs and varieties of hawthorn (e.g. μοσφιλο). An olive tree can look very pretty.

[georgios100]

Plant a couple of yuccas and they'll be fine. Zero maintenance except for pruning.
They're evergreen and lovely.

And maybe a palm tree.

In case some of you are unaware, the yucca root is a meal of it's own.
During my visits to various Caribbean islands, I found yucca root on every restaurant menu.
The locals cook it daily... a substitute for French fries.
See http://healthyeating.sfgate.com/cook-se ... -8371.html

[repulsewarrior]

...if it is your home, and you intend to keep it plant a tree, twenty years from now there is nothing better than reaching out your kitchen window for a lemon, so to speak. wild roses grow well in Cyprus, and you will do well to dress up your garden with herbs, fresh basil, chives, dill, mint, oregano...

...if you have a garden, do you have a fourno?