Betterliving March/April 2020

ALMA ADDED ELEVATED
PLANTER BOXES WITH FICUS
TREES AROUND THE BOUNDARY
WALLS FOR EXTRA HEIGHT
A
sense of calm washes over you as soon as you set foot
in Alma’s garden. Perhaps it has something to do with
the amount of oxygen generated by the many trees
dotted around the plot, or the fact the secluded area
exudes a near silence – bar the birds tweeting overhead –
but it practically compels you to breathe a sigh of relief.
“We wanted to create a green oasis with lots of trees – one
that would remind us of our homeland, Germany,” explains
Alma, an interior designer at Habitation Design
(@habitation.design). Being surrounded by nature was a
priority for Alma, her husband Ibrahim and their three
children when they moved into their four-bedroom Mudon
property in 2017, which they bought off-plan. “We started
landscaping the garden immediately, drawing up ideas and
calling upon our regular gardener to execute them,” she
explains. “As it’s our first property, we were very excited
and wanted to incorporate all the ideas we’ve seen and loved
over the years, including a barbecue kitchen, swimming pool
and outdoor shower.
“Creating privacy was also really important to us,” she
continues. “The community wouldn’t allow us to increase
the height of the boundary walls, but they didn’t have any
restrictions on trees, so we came up with the idea to have an
elevated planter box with ficus trees all the way around.”
Alma, who is a regular at the plant nursery in Al Warsan,
selected a host of other green plants to join the line-up. “I’ve
learned a lot about plants – I know which ones thrive in the
shade and which don’t mind the sun. The children and I also
enjoy growing our own herbs, vegetables and fruits.” As a
family of nature lovers, it’s only right that Alma’s garden is
the greenest of them all.
48 | bhomes.com