I will tell you about my Garden here in France, It was farmland and the house was mainly for animals but it got renovated a couple of years before be purchased it in 2014. The took out the stairs that were in the Hall. So we live downstairs. There is a wide tall ladder more than stairs in the adjoining barn…Been up there and it is very sloped with planks of wood all over the place…some missing to you could fall through.
We have made the field into a Garden. The best feature is one of two of the pond areas.
the Pampas has recently been dug out and other Shrubs are now in place.
The main is laid to grass and trees but we have invested in a great deal of garden equipment so that has made all possible for us to maintain…well right now the weeds are winning but not for too much longer…Just enjoying all the blooms now and it is getting warmer so out earlier and more breaks taken…another view by that pond area.
No Pampas, was causing too much work as there was 6 of them at one time.
A few blooms and that is it for now.
You have a very nice garden, Dianne 
I love the pond area…
Beautiful garden and plants Dianne and being in France you have the warmth to grow so many things 
Very nice Dianne. I too envy you being in a climate where you don’t have to worry about plants surviving the winter.
I love the pond. Do you have any fish in it?
Yes had 3 gold fishes in that Pond but now Lonesome owns all of it…He is huge about 25 cms. and we have lots in the other Pond but smaller and he might just eat them so have not the courage to test him…He seems happy enough…not that he smiles much…Now the Lilly Pads are growing again he has more privacy which they like.
Well we get some cold here during the Winter and had snow once since we landed here late 2014… the plants do need some protection covers like the Med Palms which we have, just a couple of small ones in Hubby’s famous wood planters.
Our house was built in 1801 and the walls are around 80 cms in depth so heat stays out but the cold stays in and boy did |I feel it the first Winter here with no central heating at all…so some plants need the warmth here including us…
loverly to see your garden, thanks
Well at least you don’t have temps that can drop to minus 15 but our houses are built to keep the heat in during winter. So we have to make sure that our perennials can stand that kind of cold
The new builds here are user friendly and we have one opposite us that has all you need for comfort throughout the seasons. But there are many old properties here in rural France, I do like the old buildings in general and each commune as they are called…smaller than a village… all have a church that is kept clean and tidy but have little in the way of use…France is not a religious country since early 1900’s all religious teaching in state schools ceased because so so many religious wars/murderous behaviours have occurred and scarred the Country way back in time…including my husbands ancestors…New Builds/Plants to Religion how does that happen…
Spend a lot of time weeding. Our drive is like gravel and underneath seems a sand mix of sorts. The grass grows well in this…No screening was laid at the start so a haven for all…Do have a burner that is ok but does not really solve it long term.
Would never consider weed treatments so just have to deal with them naturally…
Some flowers that are blooming…and Lonesome…
Above is Acanthus spinous and can be a bit of a thug…flowers pop and then seed elsewhere but I cut the leaves back as the plant starts to flower and plant up the seedlings, they can go the local Charity Warehouse here that supports all animals…
Lonesome, glad of the Lilly Pads now and he/she like’s to float just below them.
Garden is looking great Dianne. You can tell you’ve put a lot of work in to get it looking like that.
How’s your chillies this season…
The garden is hard work as you know, but its worth it to us…payback with all the colour this season…ok the weeds are a real nightmare but we don’t want to use chemicals…so no quick cure…the burner we purchased is average, but when the roots are deep it’s only burning the tops off…
Hot as always Dianne. Yes I know you work your self hard on the garden.
Weeds are a pain as fast as you clear them another takes it’s place. Never ending task.
Some Photos, Random…lost a lovely honeysuckle with a rose entwined within it but they should grow again as the roots are still in one piece, caused by strong winds and a thunderstorm we had just a couple of nights ago.https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/gg574/diannew4/045.JPG?width=450&height=278&crop=fill
Henryettta our only chicken right now…
Renovated burrow for free and the wheel was a bargain from a house sale nearby here…
Two views of the Wooden Pond Husband constructed a few years ago now. It has always suffered with green water issues,…contains loads of various gold fish, maybe 30+which is one of the causes. it has a filter and pump so should be clear, at least some of the time…
Typical Veggie Plot…fenced to keep out our free ranging Chicken, they are wreckers and only dig where you wish they wouldn’t…we shout Roast Chicken and she runs away…
Early morning at the end of our Garden,when the sun shines at the church’s tower it looks such a lovely sight…
Hebe the first Hebe to flower this season.
Acanthus Spinous…a thug of a plant but keep it small and it is very nice to have…pops seed out, so watch for new plants around the garden…
Garden looking great Dianne. You really appreciate how big it is from the photos.
Have seen Acanthus Spinous in various places never knew what it was called.
Don’t mind it taking over in the garden I have an area I’d be happy for it to colonise.
Newbie but to Gardening
Updates three weeks on…
Lavatera
Himalayan Honeysuckle (Leycesteria Formosa
Clematis
Clematis
Pond Plants & Lonesome
Lilly Pads
Cannas
Hebe, Aquilegia and more
Acanthus Spinous much large than before
Just looked at your Profile, and see your Stateside with the minus 15 at times…Yes that is cold and never experienced that kind of cold…Up in the Pyrenees French and Spanish sides it can happen…being mountainous would be the reason. Climate here has changed the past two years and whether that is climate changes due to pollutants or just the way for now, but hot then cold and then wet and windy…stormy we’ve had all that recently. But we had a period year before last where 40 degrees became the normal for a few weeks…not good at all that…
Welcome to the forum.
Once you have posted a couple I do believe you can then post photos. I love viewing other’s photo’s, whether gardening or other subject.
We had to purchase a small Plot of land at the end of our Garden recently as it had outline planning permission on it. Our fears took over as had previous upsets over land.
We enquired as to the cost of the Land…15,000 Euros. That was NOT an all in Price, yet to include Fees… Estate Agents Fees and the Solicitors fees called Notaires here in France are expensive but the Solicitors always states that most of it goes to the Government in Taxes, which could well be true…
Normally all costs are paid my the Buyer here and always make an offer as it is known that the initial For Sale price is bumped up…Usual games, I call it…
The English Estate Agents actually said straight away that 11,500 Euros would seal the deal. So that was the price we offered…
Long story of lies and deceit by the Estate Agents that would be another Thread maybe sometime.
End of, we own the land and have a wide double width gate installed within the fencing. We had to buy a heavy duty grass cutter as the land is farmland with about 8 Walnut Trees on it…Feels good that we have our peace this time around…
The Fencing to the left is the road. I drops down around 75cms. The view ahead is our elderly non speaking English Neighbours but we do manage to communicate of a sort…
p.s. Just realised I got the view of the Photo wrong…The end view is actually the end of our Garden and the Road would be to the right side and the left fence is the boundary fence to a neighbours , ‘we call him Silver Teeth’ and he loves conversing with my Husband, always joking…Not sure of his real name though…
We share spare plants and cuttings with our new young neighbours with there new baby called Romeo…love that…
now have some lettuce plants from him and we gave Antoinne some Charlotte Seed Potatoes.
