Beautiful Garden on French Soil

Starting a garden on French soil may mean turning over a new leaf in more ways than one, explains landscape gardener Lynda Harris. Beautiful Garden on French Soil

Homeowners restricted to a small garden in Britain can often afford a house with a big garden in France, maybe even one running to several acres. The relative affordability of land gives people the chance to stretch out, with plenty of space for flowers, an orchard, a potager garden, perhaps even a swimming pool with beautiful views over the surrounding countryside. Gardening in France, however, can be very different to gardening in the UK. The mild British climate has allowed us to impress the world with our abundant mixed borders packed with shrubs, roses and perennials. Our mild wet winters and cool damp summers allow us to grow a wide variety of plants, collected throughout the world. Many people buy property in France to escape those very cool wet conditions so we shouldn’t be surprised if gardening in France throws up new challenges. The trick is to turn those challenges into opportunities and to match the style and layout of your garden to the local climate and landscape to maximise the chances of it thriving and having a sense of place. Be realistic too, about how much time you have to spend gardening, especially if you are not a year-round resident.

Climate contrasts 

A common trap for new gardeners in France is low winter temperatures. Tricked by the hot summers, we are tempted to plant tender, frost-prone plants (plantes gélives) such as succulents, bananas or citrus. For a few mild winters you might get away with it; but even in relatively southerly areas of France, the frosts can be far harder than they would be in the UK. In some winters they can get down to –12°C. This year has already been particularly hard with thick snow in Montpellier and on the Côte d’Azur. An internet search for ‘carte de rusticité des plantes France’ will bring up a map showing minimum temperatures. Neighbours can be an excellent source of information too, and what better topic to open a conversation with a new neighbour than the weather? When buying plants in France, it’s worth asking the nursery or garden centre whether the plant is rustique (frost hardy) or gélive (tender). Conversely, the very hot weather can be bad news for plants we love to grow in the cool, moist UK, especially favourite varieties of fruit such as gooseberries and redcurrants. Cox’s Orange Pippin apples, for example, do not thrive in the south of France, preferring a cooler climate. Look at fruit varieties sold by local nurseries or find a specialist such as fruit grower Eric Dumont (ericdumont.fr) who can advise you on the best local varieties for your climate. As well as minimum and maximum temperatures, look into the direction and strength of prevailing winds. Are you in an area that is hit by the famous window-rattling Mistral or Tramontane winds? Look at your local landform to get a steer on where your property might be hit by strong winds, especially if you live near the coast. This will help you decide on where to site windbreak hedges or where to avoid planting trees or plants that might suffer from drying or salt-laden winds. If you live in a coastal area, planting a shelter-hedge might be the best way to establish a garden.

If you can wait, it is advisable to do nothing in your new garden for the first year. This way you can discover the microclimate of your garden. Where does the frost lie longest; where is it exposed to wind; where are the wet or dry areas? You can also find out what plants you have in your garden throughout each season.

Soil success 

The success of your garden is entirely dependent on your soil and on choosing plants that will thrive in the particular geology of your area. It is possible to improve sandy or clay soils by adding compost, but the acidity of soil is difficult to change and it is always better to work with it rather than against it. It is possible to plant acid-loving plants in alkaline soils with the addition of ericaceous compost (terre de bruyère) but this will be an uphill battle to keep replenishing, and sooner or later the roots will hit alkaline soil and sicken. It is far better to plant alkaline lovers and save yourself the effort. In Brittany the acid soil turns hydrangeas blue and rhododendrons and camellias thrive. These plants are a sure sign you have acid soil. You can buy soil-testing kits (kit test ph sol) from the local garden centre or online. Basic back-toschool litmus paper or high-tech electronic versions are both available. Acid soil (sol acide) is considered to be pH<7, and alkaline soil (sol basique, calcaire or alkalin) pH>7.

Perfect plants 

If possible buy your plants at local nurseries that grow their own plants. Plants bought locally are likely to be good varieties for your soil and climate. In our globalised world, so many plants are imported from Holland or Italy and beautiful plants bought from a garden centre can sulk or even die when transplanted. If you do buy plants from a reseller or bring them over from the UK (this is still legal... until Brexit) cherish them at first to allow them time to acclimatise and make sure they are sheltered from strong sun and wind and regularly watered for the first year. For inspiration look at the plants that grow well in nearby gardens and the local landscape. Looking to the local area can also reduce your maintenance as wild plants and their near relations survive with no mollycoddling from automatic watering, weeding or fertilising. Other local gardeners will be a great source of information on climate, soil and plants; plus they usually love to talk about gardening. Associations such as Open Gardens or Jardins Ouverts (opengardens.eu) may have gardens in your area that you can visit for inspiration and information.

Craft and character 

Some of the most charming houses in France are those built in local materials and in traditional architectural styles, such as the stone mas farmhouse in Provence and the half-timbered Normandy longère. Stone in particular can define a region: granite and slate in Brittany, limestone in the Loire Valley, basalt in the Massif Central. The local materials seen in old buildings and in your local landscape can also be used in your garden for walls, steps, and paving and will tie the look of the house to the environment. Some areas of France are known for their ceramic pots, previously used for storing oil or wine and now ideal for creating a beautiful focal point in the garden with a nod to local agriculture. Antique pots from Anduze and oil jars from the Mediterranean are famous, and reproductions are easy to find. Many traditional crafts such as dry stone walling and the making of pots, tiles and bricks are struggling in rural France and your support may help stop these skills dying out. Local suppliers are easy to find on the internet and often will deliver. If you have an extensive old property and garden to restore, you might be interested in the Salon de Patrimoine at the Louvre in Paris which showcases the work of artisans in traditional materials.

Fauna friends and foe 

Gardening in France is a wonderful opportunity to see fauna that are rare or non-existent in the UK. Everyone loves to spot a hoopoe or a red squirrel in their garden or see migrating storks flying overhead. Other animals that you might be more nervous to see in your garden include wild boar, ragondin (coypu) and snakes. In problem areas, if ragondin, boar, badgers or rabbits eat your plants or burrow, you might want to put up a protective fence and screen it with a hedge. Insect pests, less well-known to British gardeners in France, can be dangerous not only for plants but also for humans. Processionary caterpillars, with their irritating hairs, can be dangerous for children and dogs; ticks, spiders and hornets can all be a problem for gardeners. Be especially careful when clearing scrubby areas or long grass. Box caterpillars (la pyrale du buis) are decimating topiary throughout France and I personally no longer use box in the gardens I design. Two kinds of moth caterpillar are killing the iconic palm trees along the Mediterranean coast.

Jungle taming 

A big consideration for gardeners in France is the time available for maintaining your garden. Whether you are living in France permanently, are a summer visitor or are limited to several weekends every year, your garden design needs to reflect the time you can dedicate to gardening and maintenance. It is usually easy to find a local gardener for basic tasks such as mowing lawns, clipping hedges, chopping wood and raking up leaves. However, it is very difficult to find a gardener who can weed without pulling up precious plants or who can properly prune a rose. Plan your garden around the number of gardening sessions you can realistically do. Four sessions a year would probably be the minimum if you delegate the boring stuff to a gardener. Count on a session in late winter for pruning roses and vines, cutting back perennial plants and grasses. In spring after the last frost, do a thorough weed, prune evergreens and divide and plant perennials. In May, a Chelsea-chop (cutting back of perennials) followed by general dead-heading will prolong flowering for the summer. Plan a final session in autumn to cut down rotting stems of perennial plants, though leave those with dry or architectural stems to provide winter interest and protection from frost. Autumn is also the time to plant spring bulbs. It would be best to forget about annual vegetables if you are not there all year round, though fruit trees, soft-fruits, vines and perennials such as rhubarb and artichokes may survive a bit of neglect. Plants that need to be staked are best avoided if you are not there in spring as are self-sowing plants, unless you are cultivating a wild look. If you have an automatic watering system for the garden or for pots, check the batteries if you are away over summer. Overall, be realistic about how much you can do. If the gardening becomes a chore like the housework, it will be neglected. Your garden in France is above all to be enjoyed, not only when you are gardening, but when you are enjoying an alfresco lunch or apéritif, surveying the results of your labours from the terrace.

sources:  French Porperty News, June 2018

 

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