Need some help with our garden

[Si Tie]

We have a place in Caleta.  Its a corner plot.  Without going into details we have had issues with the last tenant and
thankfully they are out.  Ive been over and done most of the repairs but one of the next jobs is the garden.  When I say
garden the house is wrapped on two sides with pecan (Not sure if thats how you spell it).  We used to have decorative stones
with plants and an irrigation system but all that is gone.   Whilst we are not looking to put an irrigation system back.  Where can I buy new pecan
and maybe get hold of some decorative stones.  If we did put some plants back where is good for pots and what plants are
the best.  Hopefully will have new tenants soon who will look after any plants.  But maybe looking at plants that can survive
months without water.

[Emmi Smith]

My fave place for Picon is the builders merchants behind the DISA petrol station on your right when coming back to Caleta from PDR just past the hospital. Reasonably priced and they have a selection of sizes of the stones.

For plants and pots Happy Plants is highly recommended,in Tefía.  https://www.facebook.com/happyplants.es/  They have a wealth of knowledge about local plants etc.and as they are Dutch, they speak excellent English.

[Johnrgby]

While I totally agree with both your recommendations Emmi, Saskia is Dutch Paul is Welsh, he is from The Mumbles {Swansea }

[windermeregolfer]

Agree about Happy Plants they are great and so helpful.

Not sure about not putting a watering system back in if you have plants, especially in pots, can you honestly rely on your new tenants to water?

[Emmi Smith]

I've a tenanted house in the UK and tenants are usually very long term,but NEVER seem to tend the garden at all. In my case it is completely decked with a few pots on it. Prior to letting,the pots look lovely with easy to manage plants. By the end of the tenancy, they are mere sticks in a pot of weeds!! I can never get my head around it.  It would just take 10 minutes a week to water them, but it never happens.

[Spitfire58]

Si Tie,
If you intend to continue to rent out then I would reconsider your plan. Tenants as a general rule will NEVER look after your property as you would and I am talking from experience. I had a rented out flat in the UK & when I got in back (after 1&1/2 yrs) could not believe how anyone could live in or cause so much filth except to say that it wasn’t there’s so they didn’t care !!
I would ditch the pots & any greenery unless you put in a watering system & just make it as good as you can within the limitations & accept the fact it will not be kept as you would like it & therefore plan accordingly. Cynical, I know, but I think realistic ☹️☹️

[Si Tie]

Thanks for all the replies all helpful.  Spitfire I think you maybe right.  We always try and think the best of people.
Ive rented out property in the UK and whilst most people are decent eventually you end up with a bad tenant.
How big are the bags and how much does the picon cost?

[TamaraEnLaPlaya]

There are plants you can put in that can happily go months without watering. Give them a good soak when you are around and then forget them. Mainly cactus types and yuccas but also some of the natives like tabaiba. Most of these prefer NOT to be on irrigation and do better in the ground rather than pots.

Drago (slowly grows to a tree)

Tabaiba (low shrub)

Lentisco (a tree if you have the room! drops red berries)

Tajiniste blanco (low shrub)

Cardon Canario (a cactus but not too vicious!)

Algarroba (another tree but not quite as vigorous)

Yucca

Agave - loads of varieties

If you're interested I'll load some pics and info - let me know if you'd like this. Shame but the Cabildo didn't do the free plants this year - most of these are their standards in the giveaways just because they don't need much water!

If you need a lot of picón you can go to the 'transportes' and get a lorry load delivered. As you turn into  the industrial estate where Ideal is in Puerto they are immediately on the right, normally several lorries sitting there waiting for work. Personally I wouldn't touch picón - I go for grava, it's a size up from picón and doesn't get stuck in your sandals/dog's paws etc. Also cats don't mistake it for cat litter!

[Can the Man]

From my experience renting property in Ireland tenants never look after the garden. I had a 4 bedroom detached house with landscaped gardens front and back (used be our family home) that I rented out for several years and every time I had a change of tenant it cost me a fortune to bring the gardens back up to spec. In the end for the last tenancy I found a local odd job man that had a hankering for gardening who agreed to look after the garden for €50 per month and I made this a condition of the tenancy that they would pay him cash directly once a month. It worked great for nearly 4 years when I sold the property to the tenants, I don’t know if the kept him on.

With regards the picon I too would recommend the larger pieces, we had a flower bed in our apartment in Caleta that I spent some Money on doing up with some cacti and Aloe Vera, and then covered in picon negra to which all the local cats decided it was the local toilet, and every time we came to stay I would have to 1 remove said cat *****, remove weeds, remove all the papers that had blown into the garden and got stuck in on the plants. In the end I gave up, ripped out the bed, filled it with rubble, paved over with cement and then tiled it so it makes a lovely bench that my grand children love to lie on as it’s always clean and it’s warm. In the future it will be a lovely feature for large urn flower pots and plants when I retire there.

[MB30]

Bags of picon are €2.25. 50 cm x 35 cm. so you will need  a lot if you need to cover a big area. I find them ideal for topping up, not sure they deliver or can sell you in square meter loads.