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Sue
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 Posted -
31/03/2007
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17:34
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I have just spent the last 3 full days digging out a formal herb garden, laid out in a French style symmetry.( hence the bad wrist). Now I need to plant things quickly before all those weeds come back
I already have rosemary, thyme, chives, mint, lemon balm, marjoram, and lavender(multiple plants of each). Has any one any ideas about othe perenial herbs that can with stand long periods with very little attention. The soil is well drained and very fertile. I have 8 symmetrical patches in all. Two are already filled. This year I am putting potatoes in another two of them , but I need some ideas for a long term permanent herb plot. I did think I would do one patch with annuals and biennials like parsley and basil.
Sue
Sue
If you keep searching you'll find it
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moh
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Posted - 16/04/2008 : 13:42
Looks a fabulous place Sue - lucky you!
Say only a little but say it well  |
Sue
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Posted - 16/04/2008 : 15:19
We got it for a a bit of a song moh, we could NEVER EVER have afforded anything like this in England. It was very unfinished inside, and the garden was very rough indeed with a a paddock with orchard and stables that we didn't know were there until we hacked it all back. All the gravel paths were knee high, if not higher with perennial weeds.
We are almost finished inside now and I have got a couple of flower borders and a rockery established, nothing too much, as I want to enjoy rather than work. We had a successful veggie plot last year and hope to establish a bigger one in the paddock when I am able. Inside the house we still have to finish the walls and decorate in the study and laundry room. We need to do the downstairs bathroom/shower room.The kitchen needs redorating after a burst water main last winter, and we have a huge loft to convert. Gone is the idea of a gite, too much hassle. I fancy an Art studio cum games room for the grandchildren when/if/ we ever get any!!!
Out in the paddock we are planting trees and want a wild flower area. Big hopes as you can see, but it is so nice and quiet there we don't hanker after much more. Nearest villages are each 2-3 Km away. Loads of birds around and little traffic. We can reach all the tourist areas within an hour if that is what we fancy
Sue
If you keep searching you'll find it |
Stanley
Local Historian & Old Fart
36804 Posts
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Posted - 17/04/2008 : 07:22
The Stanley patch is tiny by comparison and the herbs have survived the winter well. Ready for a tidy up and a light weeding as soon as the weather is fit. I thought I'd lost the Ladslove, it's very slow to establish, but noticed this week that there are green shoots on it. Very small but I think it has wintered. Brave little plant! The lilac is in bud as well......
Stanley Challenger Graham
Barlick View
stanley at barnoldswick.freeserve.co.uk |
melteaser
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Posted - 17/04/2008 : 08:28
I'm tempted to follow your example Sue. We have been building a very nice relationship with one of our french neighbours, we see him most days when we are over for a cuppa and a chat. He likes to practice his english on us so the converation sounds comical. He talks to us in english and we reply in french as much as possible.
We phone him before each visit and he pops down and cuts the grass for us. During our last trip, he asked if we had any plants that might need tending/watering. I have avoided buying any as they wouldn't survive the harsh sunshine June-September.
I'd love to have a small herb garden, even just a few planters to make the place look more welcoming. I might start looking during the next trip.
On the topic of France, Gui, our neighbour, told me about this website http://www.geoportail.fr/ It is similar to live maps. It is quite detailed, certainly in our region anyway. I think the images are about two years old though.
Mel
http://www.briercliffesociety.co.uk |
Sue
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Posted - 17/04/2008 : 10:25
Thanks for the info Mel.
As for plants, Bob put an automatic watering system in for our pots, so we can have geraniums etc all through summer, it makes the house look lived in. We have extended the watering system to plants that we don't want to lose. We think if you can't get the plants in by May , they will soon die as the roots don't have time to devlop before evaporation from the leaves kicks in with the heat.. We have started planting a lot of things, like trees in October, and smaller plants in March.
Obviously we have missed this year as we couldn't get over. We have some herbs and lavenders here to transport but I don't know if I will be fit to travel by car in May. The Dr and the physio both feel an op is going to be my only way forward, since the recent problem with my foot and leg
meanwhile whilst we are here our very willing neighbour is pruning our wild fruit trees, hopefully next year we will have a better crop
Stanley, I don't know ladslove, what is it like
sue
If you keep searching you'll find it |
belle
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Posted - 17/04/2008 : 13:43
Actually Sue I am good at weeding and strangley love it, that and cutting back. My most favourite thing to do is to entice a dandelion out of the soil, I have developed a knack of teasing and wiggling that nearly always gets the entire root out, no matter how big it is...think it comes form learning how to prise limpets off rocks as a child.....there is a definite knack to shaking somethings foundations so that it lets go it's hold.
Life is what you make it |
Sue
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Posted - 17/04/2008 : 13:55
Funny you mentioned shaking foundations, its a bit like what you have done on this site.
Right , nextquestion, can you keep up this excessive love for weeding for 1 acre... so I can scatter my wild flower seeds?
Sue
If you keep searching you'll find it |
Stanley
Local Historian & Old Fart
36804 Posts
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Posted - 17/04/2008 : 14:02
They seem to call Ladslove Artemisia Abrotanum now or Southern Wood. There used to be one outside most cottage doors in the old days, thay are a fresh scented leaf when crushed and were reckoned to be a good thing.
Stanley Challenger Graham
Barlick View
stanley at barnoldswick.freeserve.co.uk |
belle
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Posted - 17/04/2008 : 15:43
I can do a day, would that be an acre?, with one of those lovely lunches in the middle...actually last bit of weeding i did was on my ma in laws allotment...another useful habit I have is not being able to leave something untill it's finished...useful for weeding and wall paper stripping!
Life is what you make it |
Stanley
Local Historian & Old Fart
36804 Posts
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Posted - 17/04/2008 : 17:14
Obsessive behaviour? Perhaps a call to the local psychiatric ward could find some candidates for release into the community?
Stanley Challenger Graham
Barlick View
stanley at barnoldswick.freeserve.co.uk |
Sue
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Posted - 17/04/2008 : 17:22
I don't know Stanley, Belle sounds very useful!!. Mind you I think the lunch is the best part of the process!!
Sue
If you keep searching you'll find it |
belle
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Posted - 18/04/2008 : 10:09
Actually as you described it on the 'what did we have for tea post', i couldn't help thinking, there's no way I could eat all that at one sitting. as I have got older my digestive system has decided to leave the planet before i do, with a tendnecy to ulcers, a hiatus hernia, irritable bowel and gall stones I can rarly manage more than two courses, three if you count the gaviscon at the end of the meal! So i could be back out ont he weeding whilst you lot are still having coffee!
Life is what you make it |
Sue
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Posted - 18/04/2008 : 10:14
I have two of those four complaints plus another digestive one related to asthma, but hey I could manage it, the portions in France aren't big, very small by English standards, but they love flavours...Total volume probably not much different froma aplate of fish chips and mushy peas, and we took a long time to eat it. But if its going to save us money, keep up with the weeding. Do you do digging as well, I have a new veggie patch to slear and turn over!!!!
Sue
If you keep searching you'll find it |
belle
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Posted - 18/04/2008 : 16:28
It's a while since I dug, but it is yet another skill I have, and enjoy...especially with a grape! (scots for garden fork)
Life is what you make it |
Sue
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Posted - 18/04/2008 : 18:22
Hmm , you seem to fit the bill quite well. We have however already broken two garden forks digging as we constantly hit small pieces of granite. What about trees, Do you prune trees?
Sue
If you keep searching you'll find it |
Herb garden, any ideas the gardeners amongst you
