It’s been a time of catch-up for me recently. When our old mower gave up the ghost last year we left the garden pretty much to its own devices.  From time to time I’d drag out our small electric mower but it was no match against the grass that had taken advantage of our mild winter and grown tough and tall in the blink of an eye.  Frustrated with such a wimpy machine, what I needed was a machine with clout: a cross between a tractor and a stealth bomber.  After visiting a number of garden centres we found the perfect big beastie; thanks to its power in two days I’ve managed to tame our rampant green weed into looking almost like an immaculate English lawn.

As you can imagine our garden is a blend of English and Mediterranean plants with, for the moment, the accent more on the English side of things. Spring in our garden heralds the flowering of Forsythia, Christmas Rose, Forget-Me-Nots, Snowdrops, Crocuses, Daffodils, Grape Hyacinth, scented Narcissus and Tulips.

This year I’ve decided to take full advantage of April and with the ground still amenable, plant up a small English cottage garden just outside our office. So far I’ve already planted a variety of Clemantis, Tree Mallow, Campanula, Lupins, Buddleia, Snapdragons, Foxglove, Wisteria, Honeysuckle, Hollyhocks, along with a variety of perennials and edging plants all heavy with childhood memories.  

Leading from the cottage garden to the pool area, I’m planting a series of fragrance roses to turn this area into my "rose garden". While we already had some old rose bushes growing there these are sadly unscented. Thus we’ve added two absolutely magnificent perfumed climbing rose trees (bought at the 18th Fête des Jardins in Sophia-Antipolis last Sunday) and some wonderfully scented David Austin roses we found at Botanic in Mouans-Sartoux since then.  

Leaving the rose garden behind us, a short walk brings us to the pool and our BarBQ area and another area of lawn where I plan to have an assortment of Lilac trees and other scented scrubs. The end of the garden will be turned into a small woodland, taking advantage of the large riverbank trees and Weeping Willow that grow there and who will give dappled shade to the ferns, bluebells and other woodland plants I envisage planting.

My Mediterranean garden will be located in front of the house as it receives the full blast of the sun and already has some wonderful palm trees that set the French Riviera tone. While two young Wisterias climb slowly but surely up the side of the house I plan to add further sun-loving Mediterranean plants but who can survive a few rather cold and frosty days here in winter.  Dainty petunias, nasturtiums and mini snapdragons have been planted in large beige earthenware pots just by our front door - another suntrap.

While the tip of my fingers may be slowly turning green, I’m happy to say that they can still nimbly scamper across the keyboard even when covered with plasters!