Over 25 years designing gardens

Beatriz Perlac is a landscape and garden designer and has been working with gardens all along the Costa del Sol for more than 25 years.

She was brought up here in the south of Spain, with a mixed cultural background and a very Mediterranean upbringing. She spent much of her childhood running through the Andalusian countryside, surrounded by nature and immersed in the culture and everyday life of the local villages.

“It is difficult to imagine today just how different the Costa del Sol was 50 years ago. Much of what we now know as the coast was countryside, with small villages, country houses, agricultural land and a much closer relationship with nature. Growing up in that environment gave me a very strong connection with the landscape that has stayed with me throughout my life,” she explains.

Beatriz's connection with nature also led her to study permaculture, a discipline that teaches us to work with nature rather than against it. “This philosophy has stayed with me and is something I try to incorporate into every garden I design,” she adds.

Over the years, Beatriz has designed all kinds of gardens, from large private properties and fincas to smaller gardens, terraces, rooftops and solariums. “Interestingly, some of my favourite projects are the smallest ones. A small space can be just as beautiful and functional as a large garden if it is carefully thought through,” she says.

“My work has always been about finding the right balance between beauty, practicality and the way people actually use their outdoor space.”

As a garden designer on the Costa del Sol, she has noticed how much people's taste in gardens has evolved. Today, there is a clear tendency towards larger, cleaner and more uncluttered outdoor spaces, following many of the same principles seen in contemporary interiors and architecture, she explains.

“People are looking for gardens that feel calm, elegant and spacious, rather than gardens filled with too many different elements. They want outdoor spaces that connect naturally with the architecture of the house and, above all, gardens that feel like an extension of their home.

“This is something I particularly enjoy working with: creating outdoor spaces that are beautiful, but also comfortable, useful and personal,” says Beatriz.

And that is what she hopes to share with SUR in English readers in a new gardening column starting next week: “Some of the ideas, experiences and little secrets I have learned after more than 25 years of designing gardens on the Costa del Sol.”