Rías de Galicia: A Garden at the End of the Earth

Did you know...

• The rustic boat in the garden has been carefully designed to look like a traditional Galician fishing boat, and even has the correct fishing code on the side. Garden designer Rose McMonigall, sourced the boat from eBay, and it was bottle green before it was repainted
• The wall at the back of the garden is made up of 5,000 scallop shells, which were shipped in from Spain. Shell cladding is a traditional building method in Galicia, often found on west-facing walls to stop damp problems inside the building
• The misty outline of the distant headland painted on the shell wall gives the garden a feeling of depth and atmosphere. The shape of the hills are an accurate reproduction of the Cape Finisterre landscape, which translates as 'the end of the Earth'
• The lobster pots in the garden had to be shipped in from the Galicia region, as the shape of the pots is completely unique to the area. The rustic and wooden planks are designed to look like old ship beams, and were actually borrowed from the designer's barn!

About the garden

This garden is an Impressionist view of the extraordinary landscape of the Rías De Galicia, the Estuaries on the rugged Atlantic coastline of Galicia in northwest Spain. Here, a series of large rivers meets the ocean, at a point which was once believed to be the end of the Earth. 

The composition paints a small, secluded cove, glimpsed through pine trees. A path winds up from the beach though a palette of shrubs, rock plants and atmospheric grasses, to a fisherman’s cottage. The planting scheme explores the spectrum of salt-resistant and tough vegetation that blends together to create an idyllic coastal painting.