Services - Dionaea

We design and build residential, tourist and business gardens and parks.

Design

We have extensive experience in designing the surrounding green areas of hotels and major tourist complexes, which is our principal activity. However, our designs often feature smaller or larger gardens, atria and roof gardens of family homes.

While an undeveloped estate spanning several hectares lends itself optimally to an interesting park design, we will put equal fervour into them and into planning a project of just a few dozen square metres. Our careful selection of plant species and plant elements will turn any space into a cosy, attractive setting.

See more images

What makes up a landscaping project?

Landscaping projects take place in several stages. They are adapted to the specific demands of each client, the site and its intended purpose, as well as to the climate and microclimate conditions. The final solution needs to meet all aesthetic and functional requirements.

Before a first sketch, we make an on-site visit to gather all inputs necessary for proceeding to the design. The project is developed from the initial sketch, followed by the conceptual design, the main project design and detailed construction documentation. Throughout this process, we maintain active, two-way communication with the client.

What is preliminary design as opposed to detailed design?

PRELIMINARY DESIGN is developed based on ideas and sketches which lead to concepts. It defines the organisation, position and general choice of plant material, garden and technical elements including paths, sitting areas, steps, water elements... The project is designed combining the terrain survey and the client's wishes, which we then adapt to the actual possibilities of the location, as well as the available budget. Before designing, we assess the quality of the existing plants on the location. It is important to us to preserve the existing natural and historical values, which we integrate into the new landscaping.

Once the client accepts the preliminary design, we develop the MAIN and DETAILED DESIGN, which includes details of all technical garden elements, a planting plan with precisely defined plant species, solutions for surface finishings, paving schemes, technical details of specific park elements, necessary descriptions and a detailed cost specification. Our main and detailed designs also include an automatic irrigation system design.

Construction

The implementation of any landscape design begins with preparatory work, earthworks and fine planning of the ground. What follows is the construction of the irrigation system and technical garden elements, as well as the planting of the selected plants, laying of grown turf or seeding new grass to form lawns.

As a special challenge, we gladly accept the modelling and landscaping of more demanding, devastated or steep terrains, which are turned into attractive and comfortable space to stay in through a careful approach to both the design and its implementation.

DIONAEA-VRTOVI is authorised to work on the facilities included in the historical and cultural heritage.

Personal selection of plants

We visit nurseries across Europe (Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Croatia) to make a targeted selection of best-quality planting material to suit each project. We organise the transport, storage and maintenance until it is time to plant it. We have exclusive cooperation with nurseries producing and preparing plants.

*We stand behind the quality of all our installed plants with a one-year warranty.

Rooftop gardens

Rooftop gardens were a trend until very recent past but are now becoming increasingly represented in building design. Rooftop gardens, also known as green or greened roofs, have a pronounced ecological component while also providing aesthetic and functional value to their users.

The kind of garden we are used to may also be located on the roof, but the construction of a rooftop garden is more complex. With regard to the potential and wishes, rooftop gardens can be intensive or extensive.

What are intensive, as opposed to extensive rooftop gardens?

INTENSIVE rooftop gardens are garden segments that have been fully transposed to the roof, but their construction is slightly more demanding. They are designed as spaces to stay in and rest, including all garden elements – trees, shrubs, lawn, water elements, footpaths, irrigation systems, etc.

As such roof gardens are not built on natural soil, the conditions for normal growth of plants need to be specially created. As early as designing the building which houses it, the kind of rooftop garden we would like to have needs to be defined so that it can have the load capacity necessary to support the soil depth and to provide for its feasibility in construction terms.

See more images

EXTENSIVE rooftop gardens require minimum maintenance while still providing the cosiness we are used to in gardens. They are usually constructed in spots that are not accessible to all and that we would like to be “green” and visually pleasant; they will not be used actively. A limited soil depth of 8-12 (15) cm also restricts the choice of plants to adorn such gardens. Among the species to be used are numerous succulents (typically, sedum), meadow grass and less demanding perennials.

Carefully designed, interesting installations and formation of crushed stone aggregate (gravel or pebble) surfaces represent an added value of rooftop gardens.

See more images

Park elements

Park elements are a feature adding special value and character to any garden, so we treated them with particular attention as early as the design phase. The following gallery provides an overview of the park elements we have created, such as a bio-pond with a corten bridge, fishes made of perspex on rooftop, fountains, gazebos, garden paths, design pavements, sculptures...

*Park elements are not made separately, but only as part of integral garden landscape design.

See more images

Selected projects