2011 Garden Design & Gardening in Brittany Update...

Just incase anyone new to this site wonders if I'm still work as a Designer and Gardener in Brittany... well I am!  I've just been so busy with work there hasn't been anytime to update this site... and what better way to use a Sunday afternoon with the rain pouring down outside which is a welcome sight with such a dry few months here... one of the driest on record!

Aside of all the gardens that I maintain here for people; mostly with second homes, one of my larger projects this year was for one of my longest standing clients who live in Jersey. I undertook this project along with a local French landscape designer. These are the photos before we started!

They were keen to soften the look to the front of their property creating a terrace from local granite that was more in-keeping with the style of their house and making it a much more pleasant area to sit in and enjoy a BBQ or glass of wine, opening up the views from the terrace by removing some of the rather large shrubs and replacing them with a more natural style of planting using a mix of grasses and perennial plants in the main.  The following photos show the early stages of this project and once the initial planting had been done.

Most of the stone that was used in the terrace area came from a a tumbled down granite building on a small plot that the couple had recently bought. The posts are locally sourced slate which, once the grasses and taller perennials grow up, should contrast well with the soft-style planting.

I'll hope to be able to update you on the progress with this project as the plants develop!

This sweet little house in the middle of a village in Northern Brittany belongs to another client where I recently undertook to give his garden an overhall... incase you're interested it is now up for sale so if you'd like any more information do get in touch.

Here are some of the before and after shots of the work in their garden!

I've also had a whole mass of other projects on the go as well and I hope to have the chance to update you on some of these in the coming weeks... I thought I'd finish off with some updated photos of the garden makeover I showed in one of my first postings on here...

Brittany Garden Design....

It's been one of the busiest starts to the year that I can remember and determined to post something new on my business site for 2009 in order not to give the wrong idea to prospective new clients that I literally have no work... infact the total opposite!

The last few years have just been amazing with a really good quantity of work and new clients to work with that there's not been enough time to keep everything updated on this site - so long overdue, I thought I'd add something on here about the actual design work I've been involved!

My latest project has been for one of our local vets with a contemporary, modern design of house eagerly awaiting a complimentary garden plan. I've thoroughly enjoyed the challenge to design something that not only mirrors something of the angular nature of their home but that also provides a design of soft curves and planting which will provide this family with some much needed privacy from surrounding neighbours. I created this mood board to help the clients understand some of my ideas which always helps with visualising the changes.

There are some lovely horizontal wood panelling on the house, which I decided I wanted to incorporate somehow into my plan and there was also the issue of doing a planting plan that would involve using plants that wouldn't produce an over-abundance of pollen due to both of them suffering with hayfever allergies....

So gradually bit by bit the plan took shape and has taken on a somewhat Japanese style which works well with the house and the style of garden the clients were looking for. With a busy life style and a 2 yr old to look after they definitely need a reasonably low maintenance garden!

It took three meetings with them to come up with the final plan and I now await the work to be done probably starting late summer, so more to be revealed as time goes on, so watch this space!

If you have an area of your garden you'd like some ideas for or a whole garden you'd like help with designing and are living in within a reasonable distance of Brittany, France - please don't hesitate to get in touch by emailing me at jardinmiranda@wanadoo.fr

However, I'm aware that many people reading this could well live quite a distance from Brittany - a total garden design might be difficult from a distance, but a planting plan would be very achievable if you're needing to add some colour and structure to your garden and don't know where to start and would like some advice on what to plant and how to care for your plants - all you'd need to send would be some photos, the size of the area you'd like to plant up, the aspect of the site, any ideas you have yourself and also colours and plants that you don't like and this can all be done via correspondence! Everything is possible...

I much look forward to hearing from you....

Keeping up with your hedges...

This year I think down to the increase in wet weather earlier this year and sudden increase in warmth has caused the hedges in Brittany to sprout very quickly - infact I've done all my hedgecutting almost a month ealier in 2008 than last year!

It really is worth keeping on top of your hedge cutting to prevent them getting totally out of shape or even collapsing as some do when they get top heavy. My recommendation would be to cut your hedges twice a year - once in early summer and the other in the autumn/early winter.

Here are some before and after shots of one done recently....

Before!

Before

After...

After...

After...

Planting design for a sunny, courtyard garden ....

At last a moment for my first posting in 2008 to give you a glimpse of just a small part of my work.... I took on this job last year to tidy up and give this holiday home a pretty summer flowering garden which would also be easy to maintain... here's how things started...

I spent almost a day getting the whole area dug, bind weed and bramble roots all dug out and everything ready to plant... until the builders arrived to repair the wall... So today I went along only to discover that all the bindweed and ivy roots which had been one of the causes of the stone wall collapsing had been put all over the lovely prepared soil along with a pile of rubble... trials and tribulations eh!

So after some more digging and sorting - the area returned to the state it was in when I last left it. Time to put some edging in... wooden edging is a great solution for those not wanting to spend out on a stone wall and keeps the soil from spilling over the gravel as well as adding to a neat & tidy appearance. Once the edging is in place the soil could all be raked out and plants put in place... now for the good bit... getting them all planted!

Finally the finishing touches - adding some bark chips not only smartens everything up - especially for a rental property, but also helps keep weeds at bay and helps the soil to retain moisture during warm and dry weather too.

The plants I chose are easy to keep and take care of, have a long flowering period such as Potentilla, Hypericum and Osteopurnum, good for attracting butterflies to the garden - such as Caryopteris, Buddlea and Laveteria and also some were chosen as they keep their leaves all year round to retain some winter interest for the benefit of winter visitors - such as Santolina, Photinia and Escallonia. All of these plants are frost hardy too considering the extremely cold winter period we had in France just before Christmas... worth thinking about when you're splashing out on plants.

Eh... voila!

For advice on planting or if you'd like something similar in your garden - all sizes of garden catered for- if you'd like some help... do get in touch!

Welcome to my business site...

My plan for this new site is to use it to post information on my work to give clients more of an insight into my gardening services available to them.

For anyone wanting references from clients who I've worked with, I'm very happy to provide these as I regularly hear how people have been let down by those who promise the earth and fail to provide clients with what they're looking for - especially difficult if your property is a second home and you're not there to oversee any work being carried out. I'm happy to send photos of any work done whilst you're not there and for larger projects I'll send you pictures to show ongoing progress.

I've tried to adopt a flexible approach to my work as clients' needs vary considerably. So don't ever feel that your project is too small or too large. You may just want some advice as to what to plant in the garden or how to tackle a specific area, want someone to come and show you how to prune your roses - I could go on as the list is endless!

So watch this space for more information - in the meantime if you want to get in touch I'd be delighted to hear from you.

E-mail jardinmiranda@wanadoo.fr