The best plants for a Mediterranean garden

The Mediterranean scrubland is part of the imagination of anyone who has spent long periods in the coastal areas of our country. Its welcoming atmosphere, rich in life and energy, has provided the backdrop for the summers of many of us and evokes precious memories.

Despite this, not everyone knows that the wild plants of the Mediterranean scrubland form the basis of an eco-sustainable choice that is right before our eyes: instead of opting for landscaping solutions unnatural to our climate, choosing native species is a forward-thinking and highly effective choice. This is the Mediterranean garden, a solution that can be adapted in different ways depending on your taste and needs. Let's discover together the different possible types and the best plants to incorporate!

What is the Mediterranean scrubland

The Mediterranean scrubland is an ecosystem typical of the coastal areas of the Mediterranean basin. It is an area with a hot-arid climate, characterized by long periods during which precipitation is extremely scarce. This type of environment has favored the proliferation of plants equipped with extraordinary evolutionary mechanisms that enable them to minimize water loss, resist strong salt winds, and develop allelopathic properties that inhibit the growth of competing species in the immediate vicinity, thus ensuring greater access to resources.

These extraordinary species are often evergreen and highly ornamental even in the depths of winter. Some species tend to enter a state of vegetative dormancy, but this happens during the driest periods of the year. This phenomenon is known as estivation, and it allows the plant to stop growing to minimize its water requirements and safely overcome periods of water shortage.

What type of Mediterranean garden should you create?

The characteristics we have just listed clearly show the undeniable advantages of a Mediterranean garden: choosing plants capable of self-regulating to withstand periods of drought, strong winds, and competition from weeds is the ideal choice for anyone dreaming of a low-maintenance garden.

Recreating the atmosphere of the Mediterranean scrubland means, first and foremost, creating a space rich in fragrances and authentic, unadorned energy. In a Mediterranean garden, the millennia-old wisdom of nature blends with great ornamental and landscaping value, adapting into a harmonious environment that finds its finishing touch in the personality of the person who will live in it.

You could focus on a coastal garden, choosing plants with a high resistance to salt air and strong winds. Rock gardens are also highly prized, where mineral elements and Mediterranean shrubs find a balance capable of enhancing even very poor soil to the fullest. Let's not forget the possibility of instead focusing on the wide variety of Mediterranean aromatic plants available: you could create an area reserved for them and make an aromatic garden full of fragrances that, in addition to embellishing your green corner, will also be very useful in the kitchen.

Whether it is one of these types or a personalized mix of all three, choosing Mediterranean plants means ensuring yourself a low-water-use garden. Think about it: no one constantly irrigates the wild scrubland that grows in coastal areas, right?

Shrubs typical of the Mediterranean scrubland

Among the many species of Mediterranean shrubs at your disposal, there are some of particular ornamental value that we feel we should recommend. Here are some that will add value to your garden:

• Plants belonging to the Cistus genus, with their very abundant blooms, are among the most commonly used species. For example, you could opt for Cistus salviifolius (or female cistus), which will delight your spring with a cascade of pure white flowers with bright yellow centers. In addition to being evergreen, its resistance to salt spray makes it ideal for a coastal garden.
• Another perfect choice for a Mediterranean garden by the sea is Rhamnus alaternus (or alaternus). This extremely robust plant develops a deep root system that ensures excellent drought resistance. It has an inconspicuous bloom but is capable of releasing a delightful fragrance. It grows very tall, which also makes it perfect for creating hedges.
• Speaking of hedges for a Mediterranean garden, why not opt for Viburnum tinus? This beautiful plant, also known as lentaggine, grows into a beautiful, dense, compact evergreen. Its very early bloom will fill your winters with enchanting white-pink umbels.
• Another plant with an early and very graceful bloom is Teucrium fruticans, also known as female camedrio. Sun-loving and salt-resistant, Teucrium will win you over with its beautiful blue-violet flowers and pleasant fragrance.
• When talking about Mediterranean plants with explosive blooms, it is impossible not to mention Nerium oleander, the famous oleander. There are many varieties, with different characteristics and an almost endless palette of colors for their inflorescences.
• Graceful and discreet, on the other hand, is Dorycnium hirsutum, a small evergreen shrub with a distinctive white-pink bloom. Sun-loving and capable of thriving even in very poor soils, it will be perfect in your rock garden.
• Speaking of rock gardens, the star in this regard can only be broom. Spartium junceum (this is its scientific name) is indeed one of the most tenacious and robust plants of the Mediterranean flora. Capable of taking root even in the most inhospitable and steep soils, broom requires very little care and gives in return a spectacular bright yellow bloom.

Mediterranean plants ideal for an aromatic garden

The Mediterranean vegetation, as we know, offers many options in terms of aromatic plants. In fact, their presence is one of the main characteristics of this ecosystem: what would the coastal scrubland be without their extraordinary fragrances?

You could create a space dedicated to an aromatic garden, or scatter these species throughout the space you have available to recreate that wild splendor that the nature of our coastlines has sculpted over thousands of years.

Some species are absolutely essential: Rosmarinus officinalis is first among them all, with many varieties to choose from. Then we have Salvia officinalis with its beautiful grey-green foliage and unmistakable fragrance, and let's not forget the versatile thyme (Thymus vulgaris) with its beautiful pale pink flowers. The intense aroma of myrtle (Myrtus communis) and the sophisticated fragrance of lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) certainly need no introduction.

Among the gifts of the Mediterranean scrubland are also lesser-known aromatics that will add an unusual touch to your garden:

• Crithmum maritimum (better known as sea fennel or sea samphire) is intensely and pleasantly aromatic. As its scientific name easily suggests, it is very fond of gardens by the sea.
• Calamintha nepeta, known as mint-nettle or nepetella, is very popular in Tuscany and Lazio. Its delicious flavor, which is reminiscent of mint, can be used to enrich many recipes.
• Helichrysum italicum stands out for its truly unusual and refined color palette: its grey foliage is embellished with a beautiful golden yellow bloom that begins at the end of spring and lasts for many months. Its fragrance is equally unusual and precious: this plant releases an intense aroma reminiscent of licorice.