When I get back from holiday, I go straight out into the garden to see what has come out. At this time of year, though, it can be disappointing. Most plants seem either flattened by storms or bleached by drought – or both. My dahlias are beginning to sing their song, but the rich autumn opera of late September is barely a whisper.
So it’s a question of looking forward or back. What gardening tips did I bring back from the holidays which I could use next year in the garden? Some are like those bottles of local wine – so delicious when drunk by the beach, but they don’t travel.
Why don’t my potagers look like French ones?
But we went to
Repetition works well
Armed with our trusty copy of Normandie Parcs & Jardins , we visited Parc du Bois de Moutiers, the only Lutyens and Jekyll house and garden combination in
Think big
The other thing that worked very well in this garden was the size of the terraces. I think this would translate well into the average middle-sized garden, too. Splashing out on an extra-large terrace would not only cut your mowing time, but it can offer a sense of space and grandeur. Even if you don’t have a Lutyens house as a backdrop. It would be worth making sure that the stone was good quality, though – a huge acreage of concrete slabs might create the industrial look. Not in a good way.
Generous stone terraces at the Bois de Moutiers – and you don’t have to have small terraces just because your house or garden is small.And think small…
Most of the gardens we visited had little collections displayed in a very French way. It’s the equivalent of having ornaments on a table or shelf, but outside. Here this collection of birds’ nests and oyster shells was on a shelf in the outhouse where we paid our entry fee for Le Parc et Verger Les Pres. It wasn’t for sale – it was just there, looking pretty. I’d like to do a few collections of found objects in my garden. But with all the weeding that has sprung up since we went away – it’ll just have to be another dream for the time being.
If you live in the South of England, there’s still time to pop across the Channel to enjoy a few
Do you have any gardening ideas from your holidays?
Thanks for reading,