So now we’ve got to that time of year. When we think about moving outside into the garden and for want of a better term, exterior decorating. I like to think of our garden as very much a continuation of the house and a really good indoor/outdoor flow is absolutely vital. In winter I like bringing the garden inside with whatever greenery is still available but once spring arrives it’s time to fling open the doors and let the inside out. Our outdoor areas are very much an extension of the house and I remember my mother in law always told me to think of the garden as a series of different rooms. However, I do always try to have something that connects one area to the next so that you can wander effortlessly along feeling totally at ease, the eye being constantly drawn forward to what lies beyond.
One of the great things about moving to this new house was the garden was already well established with lots of different areas which was a great starting point as it was not at all a blank canvas. Fortunately though it had an air of neglect and was missing enough that we felt we could put our own stamp on it.
Over the past two months we’ve worked endlessly both inside and outside to get the look we want. Let’s start by walking out of the kitchen and into the courtyard. Every room in the garden has a name because it just makes life easier when you’re looking for five children or three dogs and a cat or two to know which room you’re talking about!
So originally, the courtyard garden was literally used as a wide walkway between the house and the barn by the previous owners.
They did have an outside plastic table but it was not a place to linger. However the moment we first viewed the house with the agent we knew what we wanted to do. Both Roddy and I had the same vision of how it could be.
We brought nearly all of the stone from the old house with us which was a backbreaking job. For the first four weeks here I kept roping someone into helping me move the stone around to create the look we wanted. This was actually much harder than it sounds because each large piece of stone takes four of us to move it just a few inches so when I then said that I don’t quite like it there, I would like to move it a foot in one direction or the other it was really a very very big deal and my quest for perfection made me less than popular at times! But eventually we got it exactly as we wanted.
Once we were quite sure we put down a layer of biodegradable organic weed matting with an enormous amount of help from the girls.
Then we ordered 10 tonnes of gravel to be delivered. Spreading the gravel was another back breaking killing job. This was a rigorous bootcamp fitness session every day!
From the courtyard we go through to the south facing terrace of the guest house which we are renovating and for some reason one of our daughters nicknamed this quite delightfully “the fairy garden”. This overlooks the Pool and the garden beyond. We’re waiting for the ‘abri’ (a huge retractable cover on sliders for the entire pool) to be delivered this week as it is a wonderful way to heat the pool by creating a greenhouse effect.
Leaving the pool behind us we head into the orchard garden which is dominated by cherry trees. We’ve done quite a lot of work here to give it some definition because for me it was very much a long rectangle that didn’t really create much interest. Here, for me they had made one of the biggest garden mistakes in my opinion by planting everything on either side and nothing down the middle. All this did was exaggerate the long narrowness. What I wanted to do was lead the eye around so you don’t quite know what you’re going to see next, making you look at the sides and not down the centre. I wanted to create some magic. With this in mind we worked with our neighbour from our old house who is a landscape gardener and we planted a series of semi-mature shrubs in select places to create some curves to make you stop and look at whatever is blooming at the time, which right now is Iris and lilac.
We also had 6 tonnes of topsoil delivered by a local farmer mostly for the new potager beds. However, there was plenty leftover and we put this on top of the spartan grass in many areas around the edges of the garden. Then I have sowed lots of wild meadow flower seeds having carefully chosen the mixtures with what I hope will go with our climate and our soil. I have planted wildflower seeds nonstop for the past five or six years and I have never been successful! I think I know why! Because they’ve always been suffocated by the grass and have never had a chance to germinate and thrive and also I think through lack of water. So this time I am hoping with a bare layer of topsoil and little to no competition and with my diligent watering keeping them moist that this time they might grow! This morning I noticed seedings are emerging everywhere and I am cautiously hopeful.
We have also left the grass under the largest of the cherry tree’s unmown as a natural wildlife habitat for the insects. Leaving so many areas to grow untamed is vital to this garden and I believe the juxtaposition of wild and manicured makes a visually pleasing and more interesting garden.
From here we arrive at the potager which we have built from scratch with raised beds made from old timber we have found lying around. It is now starting to come to life but that is going to be another entirely new post next time when it will be that little bit further forward. But for now I just wanted to show you around and I hope it gives you some inspiration to think that it doesn’t have to be perfect to give you pleasure and that is the most important thing. And of course no garden for me would be complete without a potting shed! I’m still working on it, but for the moment I’m content to stand inside and look out!
This last photo was taken at the weekend, an easy salad lunch out on the terrace right outside the kitchen door, in our newly completed courtyard. Simple perfection and utter bliss.
Our French Oasis 
How beautiful you have made it.really a marvellous place. Stay safe
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Hoping to get to our family in France next year and do some travelling. We would love to come and stay in your gîte and see the area. Keep our fingers crossed. We live in Sydney and have been so lucky here!!
Amazingly beautiful. It was worth all of your efforts to create such an incredible outdoor part of your home.
It has been a night just purchased a home in Florida and we are busy doing some outside landscaping – which will definitely improve the look of the place. Exciting.
Warmly,
Gail Zugerman (H) 312.787-1810 (M) 312.543-0047
Website:www.growingolderwithgusto.com Twitter:@zugerman_gail Instagram:growingolderwithgusto
Email: growingolderwithgusto@gmail.com
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Beautiful! I can’t wait to see it in person! 💖
Fabulous! So happy for you and your family.
Love your new home…you couldn’t have said it better. “Simple perfection and utter bliss”. Al of it. Divine.
Truly gorgeous and so much to inspire. So many questions I’m sure you won’t have time to answer specifics but…. does the gravel get hot in summer with radiant heat? (I’d love to do this on a terrace but worry it’s to much hard surface so near my rendered house). You’ve planted straight into the gravel in places with herbs I see have you tried that before? Can’t wait to see this retractable cover! So many questions but I’ll wait for the next instalment xx
Beautiful
A little slice of paradise!
Well done, it’s looking fantastic.
Huge Hugs
The picture of the outdoor furniture, old stone statuary and gravel is absolutely stunning! So much hard work! 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
Absolutely lovely!
Just lovely, thanks for taking us along on your new gardening journey! In the second photo there are some large hydrangeas- did you repurpose them elsewhere in your garden? I can’t tell for sure but they don’t seem to be on that wall any longer? Just curious. 🙂
Do not know how many times I have scrolled up-and-down the photo gallery my smile getting wider every time ! Somehow I had not quite understood how you could leave the beauty you had created until seeing how you were using all you had ;learnt to make the tomorrows even more. enjoyable . . . am looking at the pool on that perfect day wishing I was there . . . be well . . . . .
Wow absolutely beautiful and I loved what you said “simple perfection and utter bliss”. I too love the combination of “untamed and manicured”. Well done to you and your family for all your hard work so far. Looking forward to the progress emails.
What an enormous amount of work but the results as usual are superb. Kudos to you all!
janet
Your post is inspiring – and I like the fact that you do not gloss over the hard work and careful planning involved. I too look forward to seeing your garden truly become ‘yours’ and will enjoy seeing your potager beds.
The structure and choice of plantings make your garden so elegant. Enjoy!
I can’t believe how much you have done in such a short time! Lovely!
Hi there, Good job ! Just had to respond in some way, however short, to acknowledge all your tremendous hard work but, so worth it. Bet your biceps are coming along a treat !! Here in the Morbihan our arums along the drive are still reeling from being hit so hard by the frosts ; latest just last week, but such is the miracle of nature they just might rally, albeit later🤞 Love your russet iris, they remind me of my late mother who loved them … and butterflies, bless her. Bon courage pour la suite, Cordialement Lesley
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Wow, fabulous Susan, where do you get your energy!
How wonderful that there are people such as you and Roddy and your hardworking children who always make everything more beautiful around them! Wish we could dupliclate you all as a package, and scatter you around the world like wildflower seed.
“Duplicate!” Must proofread!
You’ve made such a difference already. I love the courtyard garden.
Beautiful gardens. I know that it takes an incredible amount of work and upkeep. But now you have amazing outdoor spaces that will continue to flourish and become even more beautiful. And,you are able to enjoy the gardens for a longer period time than I am here in Southern Ontario Canada. We start to officially plant our gardens after May 24th and by late September, early October our time spent in the gardens is quickly fading away. Congratulations to all of you. Your hard work has payed off!
Absolutely gorgeous!
Absolutely fabulous! Well done.
Everything looks beautiful!! Can’t imagine moving all the stones around but it certainly was worth it (easy for me to say!) !
How beautiful and soothing.
Belongs the blind wall to the right of your courtyard to your house too?
I wonder about the fact that there are no windows!
Absolutely gorgeous. Your hard work has really paid off. The garden is delightful.
extremely inspiring post written in a lovely manner, many of us do have such spaces but find a thousand excuses to squeeze ourselves inside our homes. thank you
The new garden looks amazing. The hard work you and your family have done has made for a beautiful, restful, inviting oasis! I love the iris you’ve planted, and the native wildflowers you are carefully bringing along. I wish you luck with them.
You have created a beautiful garden. I love your iris and that you have planted native wildflowers. I love reading your adventures.
What a beautiful transformation you’ve created with so very much hard work! Kudos to all of you!
An absolutly great change and worth it. Like the place in front of the huge wall.
A feast for the eyes!
How are you
Thanks so much for your lovely garden tour. All of the rooms are so inviting, you’ve done a marvelous job creating another oasis!
Well, this is indeed your “French oasis”.