If you're an experienced gardener then you're probably looking forward to being able to grow a whole new range of flowers, shrubs and trees in your very own Mediterranean garden paradise. And even if gardening is not normally your thing then the prospect of trees dripping with lemons and avocados or of brightly coloured bougainvillea tumbling over your pergola is a delightful prospect. The reality of course can match your dreams and the joy of picking your own exotic fruit and making Seville orange marmalade without having to go to Sainsbury's is hard to beat!

With warm wet winters and hot dry summers, growing things is a generally rewarding proposition. However, living at altitude can throw in a few surprises just to keep you on your toes – like the -8ºC frost we had in January 2005! Thankfully that was very unusual but you might find that you have to allow for windy situations, occasional extreme heat and the odd sprinkling of snow! Soils are very different too and if you want to grow vegetables then you might need to work at improving the stony hillside that you have inherited. Here at Sunset Properties we can vouch for the fact that it's really easy to spend a lot of money at the many garden centres on the coast only to find that you really can't grow the plants you used to love in the UK . Remember that water is in short supply and so we need to use it wisely so there is no substitute for good advice and for taking a look at what your Spanish neighbours are growing. Succulents and cacti are always a good bet.

Having said all that, whether you are exploring and developing an existing garden or creating a whole new one of your own, you will definitely enjoy the experience. You can have a great time producing brilliant displays of colour and a great harvest of fruit and vegetables that will be the envy of friends and family back home!

Here in the Competa area we are lucky enough to have a resident expert, Lorraine Cavanagh. In addition to running her own garden design business, Lorraine owns a small nursery close to Competa and is always on hand to advise on what to plant where. Competa residents are often seen calling in with a diseased leaf or two asking her to identify the problem and recommend a solution! And her book ‘Mediterranean Garden Plants' is the gardening bible around here and is a great starting place for identifying, choosing and caring for your plants. Most of us keep it in the car just in case we should find ourselves near a nursery! You can buy it throughout the UK , online at www.moyhill.com or get it more cheaply here as it is stocked in several local shops.

Happy gardening!