Getting out into your french garden this spring

The climate in South West France is ideal for gardeners, yet you will find that some plants that grow vigorously in the UK don’t tolerate the different soil and weather conditions and, as gardening is a relatively recent hobby here, the selection of plants can be more limited.

On the plus side, supermarkets often have great offers on plants in the spring - snap them up when you see them as once they are gone, they’re gone.

With the weather already starting to warm up, plants are bursting back into life and blossom covers the trees. You can also make the most of the spring sunshine to get out into the garden and start preparing it for the summer season ahead! Here are some of the things we’ll be doing:

Take stock of the garden and make a plan

Before you start planning garden changes, it is really useful to look at what worked and didn’t work in the garden last summer - Were there colour clashes? Are there gaps you want to fill? Are there certain types of plants you want more of? Having a plan helps avoid unnecessary splurging on trips to the jardinerie! It also pays to check out neighbouring gardens to see what is already doing well and thriving. Gardeners everywhere love talking about their successes - so get chatting over the fence!

Tidy up beds and borders

It isn’t just the house that benefits from a spring clean. After the winter season your beds might look a bit messy. Now is the perfect time to remove weeds and leaves and cut back old dead growth all of which can harbour pests and diseases. Planting ground cover plants can help suppress weeds later in the season. For extra neat beds put down mulch and trim the lawn edges.

Prune shrubs, hedges and fruit trees

Now that most of the frost has passed you can prune without the worry of potential damage. Fruit trees can be pruned up until the point of flowering, conifers are best pruned just before growth starts and early spring flowering shrubs should be trimmed just after the flowers fade.

Divide up perennials

A nifty way to increase the number of plants in your garden. Simply lift the existing clumps from the ground, split with a spade and replant around the garden to form new clusters of plants. This works well for plants that make clumps such as agapanthus, grasses, hostas and irises.

Get creative with pots

Brocantes and vide-greniers are ideal for finding interesting containers that you can use. Anything goes, so get creative with boots, watering cans and wine boxes.

Set up the automatic watering system and water butts

This is well worth it when pots need watering daily in the warmer summer months and also surprisingly affordable.  Automatic watering systems are modular so you don’t need to do it all at once.  What you spend on the system you’ll save on replacing dead plants!

Plant summer flowering bulbs and seeds

Now you can start to get excited about all the plants you can grow this summer. These are just some of the things to start planting now:

• Salvias
• Cosmos
• Zinnias
• Sunflowers
• Coreopsis
• Helenium
• Verbascum

Start a veg patch or potager

If you have space for a veg patch or potager it can be really rewarding. In South West France you can grow a huge range of produce. These are some of the things to plant now to get you started!

• Beetroot
• Chilli peppers
• Tomatoes such as Green Zebra and Ananas
• Kale
• Carrots
• Leeks
• Peas
• Broad beans
• Salad crops
• Spinach
• Leeks
• Aubergines

If you are looking for your own garden paradise in France we’d be delighted to help you find it. You can browse all our properties for sale here.