Garden care plans in Mallorca

A garden in Mallorca changes a lot through the year. It grows with the autumn and spring rain and has to survive the summer drought. Our care plans follow that rhythm: regular visits all year, a planting plan for each season and a photo report on WhatsApp every month.

The three plans

Prices include IVA (21 %). Travel is charged per visit and depends on your town (areas we serve).

Seed

For small gardens up to 500 m², with two visits a month of about two hours each. It includes:

• a planting plan for each season,
• a photo report on WhatsApp every month,
• a simple compost set-up, so garden waste goes back into the soil,
• care of the drought-tolerant plants.

Grove

For gardens of 500 to 1,500 m², with four visits a month of two to three hours each. It includes everything in Seed, plus:

• care of the whole planting: trees, shrubs, herbs and ground cover together,
• running and checking the irrigation system,
• feeding the soil with compost and with plants that bring up nutrients from deep down,
• an illustrated report every month,
• priority answers on WhatsApp.

Estate

For large gardens and fincas over 1,500 m², with a visit every week of half a day. It includes everything in Grove, plus:

• a soil health report once a year,
• priority dates for any new planting or installation.

Large gardens differ a lot, so Estate has a starting price. We confirm the monthly price in writing after the first visit.

What happens at a visit

At each visit we first walk round the garden and look. Then we do what the season needs: planting, sowing, feeding the soil, covering it with mulch, checking the water and watching for pests. We work with the garden rather than against it. We build fertility with compost and nitrogen-fixing plants instead of chemical fertiliser, and we encourage the animals that eat pests, such as ladybirds and hoverflies, whose larvae eat aphids, and the hoopoe, which eats processionary caterpillars.

Most pest control starts with the soil: a tree growing in good, covered soil is stronger, and stressed trees are the ones pests attack first. Leaves and spent plants from each visit go into the compost, so they feed the soil again instead of leaving the garden.

The gardening year

The work follows the Mallorcan calendar:

• Autumn (September to November). The rain comes back. We sow winter vegetables, start planting trees and shrubs in October, and feed the trees with compost. Pomegranates, quinces and the first olives are harvested.
• Winter (December to February). The main months for planting trees and shrubs, and for pruning fruit trees. The trees get compost again in February. Citrus fruit and the olives for oil are harvested.
• Spring (March to May). The last trees go in during March. Before the heat arrives comes the most important job of the year: covering the soil with a thick layer of mulch.
• Summer (June to August). Little planting. The work is good watering, checking the irrigation, keeping the soil covered and watching for pests. The first figs come in June and July; almonds, grapes and the second figs from August.

These are general dates. Height above sea level and the shape of each garden move them a little, so we adjust the plan to your garden.

Water in summer

Plants do not all need the same water, and too much water can harm them as much as too little:

• Olive, carob, rosemary, thyme and lavender need no watering at all once they are established. Too much water can rot their roots.
• Fig, pomegranate, almond and myrtle need about one watering a month in summer once they have deep roots.
• Citrus trees need the most water of the Mediterranean fruit trees: about once a week in summer. Their roots should never dry out completely.
• Herbs such as thyme, sage, oregano and rosemary live on rainfall once established. More of them die from too much water than from drought.
• Vegetables such as tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers need water every day in the hottest weeks, with drip irrigation and a thick mulch.

In the first year young plants need regular watering, less in the second year, and from the third year most Mediterranean plants manage with little or no extra water. A care plan follows that step by step, so the garden needs less water every year.

How to start

Enter the size of your garden and your town in the budget calculator to see which plan fits and what it costs with travel. Send the estimate on WhatsApp and we will arrange a first visit. If the garden needs a new layout first, start with garden design.