Photo-shop image of my new provençal garden
A Photoshop image of my new Provençal garden has been created by the architect. Since the house is newly built, the soil has been upturned and is not in great shape. Additionally, the soil, which is mostly clay (argile), becomes horrible and sticky in winter. Shoes, garden boots, cars, and lorries get stuck. A few times, vehicles have even had to be pushed by me to help them get out of the mud while being dragged by another van.
As the location is Roussillon, an ochre-colored house and ochre-colored soil were expected. But no! Fortunately, the house has been painted in a cream/beige shade, which is preferred by me. However, the soil has is not red but instead appears as just normal brown dirt. You can see the village of Roussillon in the left background.
To the front border, a partial Eleagnus hedge has been planted, along with a couple of lovely jasmines and some multi-coloured oleanders surrounding the parking area. Yet, the absolute jewels in the crown of this unworked plot are the nine 100-year-old olive trees. These nine statuesque beauties provide great structure and solidity to this new garden, allowing all the other areas to be visualized more clearly.
Chanelling Beth Chatto – The Dry Garden
I am re-reading The Dry Garden by Beth Chatto, because I have been struggling a bit to choose and to place the right mediterranean plants in the right places, so as to create something beautifully cohesive.
So when Beth Chatto says this . . . this time reading I really get it! “You may be one of those people who, in the tantalising jumble of a junk shop, can pick out a piece of furniture or a picture and take it home knowing exactly where to put it so that it will look like an heirloom. I try to do this with plants.”
This is her super-power!
On the other hand, I am that ‘junk-shop’ person who can instinctively discover hidden treasures wherever I find them. I can return home to place these bits n bobs I pick up along the way in just the right place so as to achieve something that enhances the entire space.
This vintage ladder was retrieved by my son in the junk and here it is lovingly refurbished as my glamorous kitchen rack. It has been stained a burnt wood colour which harmonises perfectly with vintage copper kitchen utensils .
And here on the right, are my two large stainless steel industrial lights. These were found in a little antique shop in Apt, and are just waiting to be installed over my long outdoor terrace dining table.
This is my very own super-power! I am not the person who can do this with plants yet, so am in training with Beth Chatto as my far-a-way mentor.
Finding my Gardening Super-power!
Chatto gardens in England on heavy clay, so we share that in common, and there are many tips in her book to help me to use my clay soil in the best way possible.
As well, and most importantly, Dry Gardening Guru Olivier Filippi states in an article for Gardens Illustrated: “It is totally different from an English garden,” he says. “The first thing is that you have to forget about flowers in summer. We focus on foliage and the diversity of texture and scent, and play with evergreen material, which covers the ground all the time, at different heights from low groundcover to high mounding plants. You have to consider the garden as a sculpture, not a painting.”
I have a long way to go with this training, especially as things I may have gotten away with in Sussex, they may not work so well here in Provence as my new best friend Julien from Pépinières des Monts du Vaucluse warns.
I was on my way back home from the kinesiologist in L’Isle-sur-La-Sorgue and popped into one of my favourite garden centres, and there he was driving his little tractor. He was friendly and welcoming, and jumped down from it when I arrived. In a very short time he taught me quite a bit. He is a dedicated gardener, young and so knowledgable about all things gardening.
Beth Chatto writes: “In deciding what to plant I first select each plant, tree or shrub for its shape and character, not for the colour of its flowers. (Colour schemes often seem to make themselves!) I try not to dot plants in empty spaces like pins in a pin-cushion, but attempt to create a shape that lifts your eye upwards, rather than only paint a picture on the ground.”
Julien said if I take photos of the spaces I need help with, if I come back mid-March he will help me to plan all my new garden spaces’!
Pépinières des Mont du Vaucluse
If you are in the area, do stop in and take a look. You may not be able to transport plants back home with you from Provence, however you are sure to be inspired by this charming pépinière (garden centre). It just oozes chic and opulence, with a beautiful riot of plants, trees and pots and other decorative items, all tastefully chosen for the mediterranean garden.
Ms Chatto writes about plants: “They need a background, a middle ground and a foreground. There will be star performers, but there must be a supporting cast. All will contribute to the scene, making highlights and shadows.”
Determining the right plant for the right place will be forefront in my mind when I meet up with Julien in mid-march with my photos. Luckily for me, plants are Julien’s super-power also. As I’ve always adored plants, their names seem to stick with me, so it is time for me to remember my old favourites, learn about new ones, and work out where they may enjoy living happily all together, in my new Provençal garden.
Pépinières des Mont du Vaucluse
1844 département d901, 84800
Tel: 06 04 53 42 38
There is no website for the moment however there is a Pépinières des Mont du Vaucluse Facebook page . . . but perhaps only if you use Facebook:
