“I was drawn to the specific dark green imbued with an air of post-aristocratic decadence,” says Albert Moya of filming Cotubín, the Cantabrian family home and garden of landscape architect Luis González-Camino that is the subject of this week's Great Gardens installment. “You can immediately sense the many generations that have shaped this place.” The verdant, tree-studded four-acre plot is tucked away in the tiny northern Spanish village of Esles, with González-Camino’s roots in the area reaching back to 1502. The garden was created by Luis’ great grandfather, then further developed by his grandfather and father—it is now shared between three brothers of nine siblings. “It is the heart of this family,” says Luis’ sister Maria of the horticultural haven, which is blessed with a long growing season and fertile soil in the region of the country known as ‘Green Spain,’ due to the lush climate formed by Atlantic winds trapped by the mountains. Above all, it is a place for Luis to experiment with designs, plant cultivation and the senses. “I love dogwoods from Asia, Europe and America, Viburnums, herbs and roses, and I especially love scented plants,” he elaborates, talking of the grounds that also boast the second tallest tulip tree in Europe, along with eight other listed trees. “How can you choose between the astonishing height of the tulip tree, the delicious scent of the lime trees or the softness of the weeping branches of a huge willow?”—Lee C. Wallick  

The listed trees of Cotubín:

Common oak (Quercus robur)

Catalpa (Catalpa bignonioides)

Giant Sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteumnow)

Lawson cypress (Chamaecyparis lawsoniana)

Japanese cedar (Criptomeria japonica “Elegans”)

Horse chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum)

Monterrey cypress (Cupressus macrocarpa)

Virginia tulip tree (Liriodendron tulipifera)