Turin is a city of 900,000 population located in northern Italy. Before Rome it was the capital of Italy.
LA VENARIA
La Venaria is the largest palace in Europe with 861,000 s.f. It was completed in 1675 and became an UNESCO Heritage Site in 1997. It was one of the residences of the Royal House of Savoy.
The gardens are mostly 170 acres of lawn and clipped hedges of Hornbeam, Yew and boxwood in a very formal pattern.
There are some flower beds on the cross axis near the palace plus a large fountain.
Another water feature is a mile long canal stretching away from the palace (look for the baby ducks.)
At the end of the mile long canal is the Diana Temple (now destroyed) and then 7000 acres of fenced hunting land.
The wisteria arbor displays 3 varieties – white, pink and purple.
Areas for vegetables as well as fountains.
1700 fruit trees were planted here in 2010 to mimic what was here 400 years ago.
Large areas of landscape are used for the city’s resident’s hobbies such as model boat sailing, model airplane flying and sculpture displays.
This elite condominium complex in Turin is designed and planted to look like a forest of tree houses. The structural steel looks like tree trunks.
The landscape design was beautifully done using Red Japanese Maples, yellow bamboos and various weeping groundcovers.
The views looking into the complex on the first floor are a little fuzzy because had to film through a glass barrier. The top photo is the drive leading into the resident’s private garage which is hidden underground.
It is like living in a treehouse.
The groundcover is Spring Cinquefoil (Potentilla verna). The irrigation system is inline drip emitters spaced about 18″ apart.
The Po River is nearby. It is the longest River in Italy.