Palazzo Cervini comprises of a Renaissance palazzo, hermitage and romanic church, the construction of which was commissioned in 1539 by Pope Marcello II. The direct descendants of Pope Marcello II Count and Countess Cervini comissioned me in 2001 to renovate and re-design various areas areas of the estate which is now used for tourism. The first of these was a charming Renaissance courtyard, tucked away behind the hermitage. The courtyard was once used by the famous Camaldolese order of monks who inhabited the hermitage in the 1500's.
Therefore, I chose to create a chic yet humble Mediterranean gravel garden with a physic garden feel. The garden was designed using the ecologica garden system and requires minimal water and maintenance. Although clearly a Mediterranean style garden, the garden is situated at an altitude of 900m above sea level on a dormant volcano and is subject to cold winter temperatures. Therefore, I chose to incorporate an english country garden feel, using Mediterranean and nordic plants planted using Gertrude Jekyll's planting techniques, hence the English feel.
A garden of this kind, although clearly Italian in its styling, is easily suited to cooler climates and can therefore easily be re-created in the UK, Germany or the US.