By Helga Jensen-Forde for InsideOut magazine www.gulfnews.com
Each year the Emaar Garden Competition is a time of excitement for many of the horticulturalist homeowners who live in Emaar communities and take pride in their gardens.
![* Image Credit: Christopher List/ANM * Inspiration came from gardens the owners of the property had seen in Al Hamra, Spain. * Image Credit: Christopher List/ANM * Inspiration came from gardens the owners of the property had seen in Al Hamra, Spain.](http://burj-khalifa.eu/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/12-300x197.jpg)
As part of the competition, which is now in its sixth cycle and is aimed at encouraging residents to enhance the community through their landscaping, expert judges peruse a barrage of gardens, evaluating them on their creativity and attention to detail.
One of the gardens that emerged as a winner of this year’s competition belongs to Jackie Daair and her husband, Talal, who have lived in their home at the Arabian Ranches for almost two years. Their 15,000-square-foot garden, originally designed by Hennessey Pools and Landscaping, achieved joint first place in the category for best large garden. InsideOut took a tour of this victorious garden, keen to discover what it takes to create a winning al fresco space.
“We tried to make the garden a bit different from most of the gardens we have seen,” says Jackie. “Its theme matches the Spanish architectural style of the house, which may have given it a bit of an edge.” The garden’s Mediterranean feel was strongly influenced by the family’s European travels, Jackie explains: “We wanted the garden to reflect the style of the villa and we got a lot of inspiration from gardens we had seen in Al Hamra in Granada, Spain.”
The garden might be an award-winner at this beautiful La Avenida Hacienda on the Ranches today, but rewind a few years and, like most gardens in the Gulf, it started out as a large patch of sand. “We completely started from scratch with a bare, sandy area,” admits Jackie. “We had our own ideas about what we wanted in the garden and Hennessey’s designer helped us to develop them and come up with a final design. Hennessey did all of the hard work – laying paving stones and constructing the fountains, jacuzzi and gazebo.” More info