Conca dei Marini
This Garden on the Amalfi Coast has nine levels from the house to the sea. The challenge here has been to blur the boundaries between the newly planted garden and the existing vegetation. It used to be a terraced lemon orchard, but the citrus trees had long disappeared. A part from a monumental umbrella pine tree, there were mostly Euphorbia dendroides, Rhamnus alaternus, Pistacia lentiscus and Centranthus ruber.
The level closest to the sea of this terraced garden on the Amalfi coast had a little ruin, which we rebuilt to the exact size and shape it used to be. It became the most remote and romantic room ever, looking out towards the sea with " I Galli" islands and Capri beyond. In the foreground the leaves of the Carob (Ceratonia siliqua) we planted, whereas on the walls the spontaneous vegetation: Artemisia arborescens and Rhamnus alaternus
Russel Page writes in "The Education of a Gardener": If I were to choose a site for a garden for myself I would prefer a hollow to a hill-top. A panorama and a garden seen together distract from each other. One’s interest is torn between the garden pattern with its shapes and colours in the foreground and the excitement of the distant view. Everything is there at once and one has no desire to wander – to make discoveries. A view, too, usually means wind, and a windy garden is unrewarding.
This could have not been any truer for this garden on the Amalfi Coast.