How to home grow your next holiday

Thursday, April 14th, 2011 at 10:36 am

I am a firm believer that the garden is a place to be cherished, loved and well looked after. Look after your garden and your garden will look after you. Something I’ve been working on recently is turning my garden into, not so much a sanctuary, but a holiday destination. This summer is all about feeling as though I’m holiday even when I’m not. Rest and relaxation can be found a lot closer to home and what could be better than feeling like being on holiday even when not? Choose somewhere, maybe from your travels, where you felt especially relaxed or happy. You could create a Japanese water garden, an Ibiza bar or a shady palm grove. I’ve chosen to recreate a classic garden area you might find in the south of France.

Garden Furniture

For my French holiday, available all year round, I opted for Teak Garden Furniture from Capital Gardens. For me, this set of furniture really encapsulates everything I remember about holidays in the south of France. Beautifully shaped and really warm - gorgeous, soft wood – this furniture bristles with the sound of cicadas and bees.

Shady Trees

One thing I remember enormously from all my French holidays is the relaxation to be found under the shades of beautiful trees. Low hanging trees such as willows droop low enough to dapple patios with a beautiful light as well offer shade and a layer of green over furniture. Low hangers also soften garden furniture and cleverly disguise it so it becomes less of a focal feature. Unless, of course, you aim to make the furniture a pivotal point in your garden.

Ornamentation

By ornamentation, I mean gravel and steps. French gardens like those I have seen have all cleverly used gravel, stone and steps to create layers and add depth. Quintessential of sunny areas, gravel is an immediate enhancer and shimmers in sunlight. Creating short gravel paths and lining them with flowers, cacti and interesting stones is a fundamental tactic to creating a Mediterranean garden.

Plants

To create a really French feeling garden, the plants you decide to go for are key. French gardens are typically colourful; full of pinks, reds, oranges and greens. Opt for geraniums and fuchsias which are beautiful and plant them in warm terracotta pots to help create that sunny garden feeling. In the south of France, smell means everything, so plant plenty of tangy herbs such as rosemary and sage. These are strong willed herbs and hardy during the winter. At last but not least, make sure there is plenty of lavender. A good natured plant, lavender fields carpet the south of France and your garden will benefit from a good blanket of it. You’ll love its heady fragrance as much as the bees.

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