3‘minutes reading
Mechi Camargo designed and cultivated for years his garden in Ingeniero Maschwitz following a clear idea: that it was an extension of the house and also of its character.
Today it is an intimate space, built little by little, where symmetry coexists with surprises and each season has something to show. You have to enter from the front, cross the patio and go through the entire house before arriving.
I try to make the garden attractive at different times of the year, so that there is always a reason to go out and enjoy it.”
— Mechi Camargo
The starting point
Landscape by profession and observer by trade, Mechi designed and cultivated this space for years following an idea that was clear to her from the beginning: classic lines, a lot of symmetry, rhythm.
The pool is in the center and that organizes everything. “It is undoubtedly what determines the different spaces: the solarium, the fire pit, the play space for the children and a shaded area with trees.” That decision cost her arguments with her husband, who imagined the garden as a soccer field, but she remained firm.
Process and evolution
He garden It was put together little by little, because the budget was not enough. Mechi propagated his own plants, divided them, moved them. “A lot of work and effort,” he says. “The only thing I do spend on is putting good landwhich I think is the key to success in stonemasons.”
Over the years, the trees grew and the shade gained ground. Far from seeing it as a problem, Mechi assumes it as another stage in the life of the garden: incorporates new species that tolerate penumbra, adjusts training pruning.
“It evolves because the plants grow, but since everything has been thought out, it increasingly takes the shape I imagined.” That phrase well summarizes his way of understanding landscaping: not as a still photo, but as something alive that develops.
Be a landscaper in your own garden It has its paradoxes. Mechi recognizes the technical advantage, but also knows how to relax. “I always say that in a blacksmith’s house, a wooden knife. Here you do what you can.”
He doesn’t feel the pressure of other people’s gaze, and that, he says, is a privilege. What it does keep intact is the habit of observing: going around, correcting, detecting a pest in time, making room for the plant that needs it. “They are small actions that make a big difference.”
The most recent in the garden It is a greenhouse that arrived before we knew exactly what it was going to be used for. The place was already planned; the use appeared later. Since she likes to make bouquets, she started bringing flowers from the market, and almost without wanting to, she put together a flower shop in his house. Next year he wants to use it for germination. You have to find the time.
She also gives rotating workshops, once a week, in the homes of different students. Each class is a garden different and a new problem to solve. “Nice groups are formed and we share plants and experiences.” Teaching, like gardenworks best when it’s an exchange.
Mechi says he doesn’t have a favorite sector. He likes to enjoy each space according to the season, and above all “I love looking at it!” And in that simple phrase is perhaps the key to everything: a garden that, after so much work, makes you want to stay.
