Planting a garden in Batumi: lawn, trees, hedges, care

Planting a garden in Batumi: what grows in the subtropics

Adjara's climate is humid and mild, and plants establish and grow fast here. Planting a garden in Batumi can include things that grow only in greenhouses elsewhere: palms, magnolias, camellias, hydrangeas, bay, citrus, oleander. The lawn stays green almost all year. The flip side is the same: weeds, creepers and suckers also grow fast, and without care a garden loses its shape in a season. So we choose plants not only for looks but for how much care you are ready to give them.

What to plant by the sea and on a slope

• right by the sea, plants that tolerate salty wind: oleander, pittosporum, tamarisk, some palms;
• for hedges, cherry laurel and other dense evergreen shrubs;
• on slopes, plants with strong roots and ground cover that hold the soil;
• in shade under trees, hydrangeas, ferns and camellias;
• by the pool, plants without falling berries or thorns.

Box, once the main hedging plant in the region, has suffered badly from the box tree moth, so we do not advise it for new hedges. Bamboo grows fast, but without a root barrier it takes over the whole plot and the neighbour's. The overall garden composition with plant selection is the job of a landscape designer, more on the landscape design page.

Lawn: turf or seeded

Turf gives a ready green lawn at once and suffers less from weeds in the first year; a seeded lawn is cheaper but needs several months to thicken. Any lawn needs a prepared base: we remove construction debris, loosen compacted ground, bring in topsoil and level it with a fall for runoff. How the plot is prepared is described on the landscape works page. On wet spots we install drainage first, otherwise the lawn rots.

When to plant

The best time to plant trees and shrubs in Batumi is from autumn to spring, when it rains and there is no heat. Summer planting is possible, but plants need daily watering and some still suffer from the sun. Semi-mature trees come with a root ball, are planted by crane or by hand, staked and watered all through the first season. Lawns are best laid in spring or autumn. So new planting does not dry out in the first summer, irrigation is installed at once, more on the irrigation page.

Garden care

In the subtropics care is constant: mowing from spring to autumn, trimming hedges and shrubs, removing suckers and creepers, feeding, mulching, checking the irrigation. For owners who are rarely in Batumi we take the garden on a subscription, and as part of managing the house we look after the plot too, more on the villa management page.

How much planting costs

A seeded lawn with soil preparation costs from 13 ₾ per m², turf with base preparation and laying from 20 ₾ per m². An ornamental plant with planting from 330 ₾, a semi-mature tree with planting, staking and first-season watering from 1 980 ₾. A hedge with planting and mulching from 125 ₾ per linear metre, topsoil delivery and spreading from 84 ₾ per m³. Garden and plot care on a subscription from 420 ₾ a month. The final cost is set after a site visit and an agreed estimate.