Blurring Boundaries: When Garden Meets the Wild

Set in a hidden valley of the Serra de Tramuntana, this garden was conceived to be a natural extension of its surroundings. The client’s only request to keep it simple and romantic ensured Mallorca’s beauty remained centre stage and gave Mashamba’s Alexander Warren-Gash the freedom to create a landscape that never imposes, but rather blurs the line between the cultivated and the wild.

A casually elegant welcome

The east-facing cloud garden at the home’s entrance sets the tone — elegant yet casual, with a softness that hints at romance.

Alexander replaced the formality of traditional topiary with a more relaxed design that uses native and drought-tolerant evergreens such as Pistacia lentiscus (mastic), Rosmarinus officinalis 'Prostratus' (rosemary) and a feature Olea Europea (olive).

This modern Mediterranean take creates organic groupings that feel less manicured and more like a natural extension of the surrounding valley.

Its soft shapes, varied textures and muted colours foster a sense of tranquillity, offering both a warm welcome home and a quiet space for the morning ritual of tea.

Embracing the natural flow

The home’s sloping plot posed a classic design challenge, but Alexander chose to honour the character of the site, weaving a network of pathways into the natural contours of the land.

Alexander tells us, “The flow of a garden is as important as its planting. Pathways do more than connect spaces, they create a sense of journey. A Mashamba garden isn’t just a static view, it’s a lived experience.”

In this hidden valley, the garden unfolds as a journey of discovery. Moving from one area to the next is as enjoyable as arriving, reinforcing the idea that a garden isn’t merely a backdrop, but the setting for a more enjoyable life lived outdoors.

“A Mashamba garden isn’t just a static view, it’s a lived experience.”

— Alexander Warren-Gash

The illusion of lushness

The pool area, designed as a retreat for languid days by the water, follows the same philosophy of harmony with the land.

Its lush, tropical look is only an illusion. Plants such as Cycas revoluta (sago palm), Agapanthus africanus (agapanthus) and Tulbaghia violacea (society garlic), were chosen for their resilience to the hot, dry climate.

Layered with care, these hardy species create the impression of abundance, delivering a luxuriant and exotic aesthetic that still belongs to its arid setting.

Wild edges

“I like the planting near the house to feel more formal and refined, then to gradually relax as it moves outwards,” Alexander says. “By the time you reach the boundaries, the garden has softened into the countryside. It feels like a natural extension of the landscape rather than something imposed on it.”

Nowhere is this more apparent than in the planted meadow, where waves of Stipa tenuissima (Mexican feather grass) and Pennisetum alopecuroides (Chinese fountain grass) are threaded with fragrant, blue-flowering Salvia yangii (perovskia). Here, the edge of the property dissolves and the view opens to Mallorca’s wild meadows and mountains.

For the client, the effect is both expansive and immersive. The meadow draws the countryside into the garden, making the property feel larger and more connected to its setting.

It is also an experience for the senses. Bees hum through the perovskia, birds flit across the grasses, the air carries the herbal clarity of sage and every breeze sets the grasses in motion.

Bees hum through the perovskia, birds flit across the grasses, the air carries the herbal clarity of sage and every breeze sets the grasses in motion.

Rooted in Mallorca’s heritage

Across Mallorca, ancient dry-stone walls stitch the island together, winding through olive groves, tracing steep hillsides and marking the passage of centuries. Here, sandstone walls echo that legacy, giving structure while rooting the garden in the island’s heritage.

To soften their edges, Alexander planted swathes of cascading rosemary, Erigeron karvinskianus (Mexican fleabane) and Plumbago auriculata (plumbago). The trailing blooms bring a gentle touch that blurs the boundary between architecture and wild.

Brief exceeded

The clients asked for simple yet romantic. Now they enjoy a garden whose beauty draws them outside to a life lived outdoors. At once restrained and generous, it is rich in soft blooms, movement and tranquillity. And above all, its rooted in the Mallorcan landscape, blurring the line between the garden and wild.

Photos by Mashamba’s Alexander Warren-Gash and landscape photographer Clive Nichols.

Your garden should belong to Mallorca. Get in touch to create an outdoor space that feels part of the island itself.

Blurring Boundaries: When Garden Meets the Wild