Our Botanical Gardens
The routes of the Quinta are ideal for walking through the plantations and natural vegetation areas.
Our natural park consists of individual parcels with native vegetation and is several hectares in size. It serves to maintain the ecological connectivity and the typical landscape and flora of the calcareous Barrocal, where native trees and shrub species can develop and recover naturally. Undisturbed geobotanical studies can be carried out here. Over the years, small engineering interventions have prevented soil erosion after heavy rainfalls, enhanced the natural water absorption capacity of the soil and contributed to a greater ground water recharge.
Since the foundation of the Quinta small botanical gardens have been created, based on our interest for experimenting and the passion for biodiversity (worldwide there are more than 40,000 different species of trees!), but also to provide a contribution to the conservation of genetic resources. The semi-arid site in southern Portugal is ideal for testing drought-friendly fruit trees such as olive, almond, fig and carob and irrigated crops with different water requirements, such as citrus, apricot and pomegranate. We are also interested in drought-resistant agro-forestrian plants for grazing, erosion control, and not least for the prevention of forest fire through fire-resistant trees, shrubs and ground cover. The choice of plants requires a lot of care and information: the species, varieties and origins, but also to choose the plants which contribute to the improvement of the soil through the development of an extensive plant root system and through nitrogen fixing plants.
Since our stay in the Sahel region of Africa and in the Mediterranean-influenced regions of southern Portugal and Spain, which have been repeatedly destroyed by forest fires, we know how important it is to improve the knowledge of appropriate tree and shrub species to combat desertification. The small botanical theme gardens on the Quinta aim to serve as demonstration gardens for our guests and at the same time as demonstration gardens for students and professionals.
Drought-resistant plantation
This plantation was created in 1989 in cooperation with Prof. José Nascimento (University of Lisbon) through a selection of forage and erosion control plants. It is amazing how in just 18 months a green landscape with a variety of plant species such as Acacia, Atriplex, Caesalpinia, Cassia, Casuarina, Coronilla, Cytisus, Dodone, Dovialis, Lagunaria, Leucaena, Medicago arborea, Opuntia, Parkinsonia Prosopis, Tamarix, etc. was created, from a freshly cleared stony ground.
The plant cover is thinned regularly and has changed in character over the years. The soil quality has improved significantly through a thick raw humus layer and rich soil life.
Exotic fruit tree garden
The plantation was created in 1993 as part of an ambitious solar irrigation project, which was supported by the German Ministry of Research. The goal was a practical demonstration of a solar-powered floating pump that could easily adapt to different water levels. The Quinta had a free hand in the selection of exotic fruit trees from around the world. This now 20-year-old plantation was constantly supplemented by new arrivals and is today one of the most interesting botanical gardens of Quinta da Figueirinha.
Citrus Plantations
In these Plantations you will find a diverse variety of citrus plants such as clementines, mandarine, bitter oranges, pomelo and grapefruit.
Cypress plantation
This plantation is part of a project sponsored by the European Union project. It consists of 27 cypress clones, which were planted in 4-fold repetition in May 2007 together with the Portuguese Forestry Service. The cancer-free tree cultures origin from the University of Florence, and have been made available to many nurseries and forest services around the Mediterranean. After experiences from Italy and Spain, cypresses are among the most fire resistant tree species, being of great value in forest fire prevention.
Together with the local forest service, thoughts are being made to add cypresses of portuguese origin to the plantation, which are expected to adapt better to the local conditions.
Experimental plantation with oak and other tree species
In collaboration with the company Daniel-Weber Biomonitoring, in December 2010 a small experimental plantation was created with several species of oak (Quercus robur, rubra, pubescens, ilex, frainetto, etc.) and other tree species such as the pine tree, Douglas fir and the native and extremely drought-resistant strawberry tree. In future the addition of more trees are planned, such as the cork oak and the Quercus pyrenaica.
