Spring is the start of the gardening season and all (amateur) gardeners are drawn outdoors again. If you are wondering about how to start gardening, we have the right recommendations for you today. The head gardener of Maslina Resort shares his gardening tips with you.
Expert tips from Maslina Resort
Mario Gracin is the master of the 8,000-square-meter garden at Maslina Resort on the island of Hvar in Croatia. The head gardener experiments, sows and harvests the plants and herbs that are going to be used later in the resort’s kitchen. The Organic Beach Garden provides fruits and vegetables for breakfast, lunch and dinner, herbs and flowers to garnish cocktails, and healing herbs and essential oils from homegrown plants for the Pharomatiq Spa. You can experience the hotel’s Mindful Luxury philosophy with all your senses and even learn from Mario Gracin at workshops.
Garden planning with challenges
Mario Gracin has created the beautiful garden just last year with the opening of the hotel and has invested a lot of time and planning. In the process, he has already experienced quite a bit.
“From interrupted water supplies in midsummer to dried seedlings due to lack of shade from olive trees that are still far too small, to nighttime visits from wild pigs, we saw it all last summer.” Gracin reports.
In preparation for the coming spring, he has some expert tips for you:
- Keep the soil continuously covered with organic materials such as leaves, straw, bark mulch or cut grass. This keeps the soil protected while providing nutrients.
- If you like to do crafts in addition to gardening, you can create a protected raised bed to extend the planting season beyond the first frost and help harden off seedlings in the spring.
- Prepare your garden for animal inhabitants: a protected feeding place for birds is easy to build by yourself out of wood or recycled plastic, and a homemade insect hotel helps beneficial insects survive a harsh winter.
- To help preserve biodiversity when it comes to plants, get together with other gardeners and exchange plant bulbs, seedlings, and seeds.
We’ll give you even more inspiration for your garden in our next blog post.
Read more: THE MASLINA RESORT ON THE ISLAND OF HVAR
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