The garden at L'Echiquier . . .

The garden, covering 5000 m² (0.5 hectares or 1¼ acres), lies mostly to the front of the house, which faces south. It has been laid out in four styles.

Paths lead to and through various environments. Wildlife and plants are generally encouraged by attempting to provide different habitats, and by not using chemical products. The principles of organic gardening are respected as far as possible.

The garden is not particularly child friendly i.e. there are things that can; attach to, cut, drop on, prick and/or sting you and certainly nothing should be eaten without knowing that it is safe.

[The Soil Association]   [Garden Organic]
[Royal Horticultural Society (RHS)]   [Association Kokopelli]
[Agriculture biologique]   [Le bio (Organic Farming)]

• Fish pond
• Decking
• Lawn
• Helicoidal herb garden*
• Front terrace
• Japanese garden
  (including small fish pond)

* Herb Gardening by Robert Sulzberger
ISBN 10: 0947793704 — ISBN 13: 9780947793708.

• Tent pitches
• Circle of silver birch
• Fruit walk
• Grassed areas
• Heart garden
• Shrubs

• Bog garden
• Shaded woodland
• Lake
• Teepee
• Long grass
• Peripheral walk
• Weather stone
• Hedge window

• Raised beds
• Greenhouse (polytunnel)
• Composting
• Fertiliser brewing

Formal (near the house)

• At the front is the lawn (an artificial environment if ever there was one), laid down a few years ago after lengthy preparation with sandy topsoil brought locally from near Tannerre*. This worked well, but with a policy of no chemical weedkillers or fertilisers (I am prepared to make an exception here but P is not), the whole thing now needs a re-seed or a re-think. A camomile or thyme lawn, perhaps. The lawn can be used as a tent pitch (The Queen's Pitch).
• Moving anticlockwise around the house, outside the kitchen door are a small terrace and a helicoidal herb garden*.
• Next to the paved area is the decking beside the fish pond. The decking sits snugly under a male holly tree, apparently the biggest in the village, which gives dappled shade in summer and protects the pond from the heat of the afternoon. The decking leads around to a small raised perennial bed and a tent pitch (The King's Pitch).
• The 7000-litre (1500-gall UK) fish pond contains different types of goldfish (carp and orfe), comets, shubunkins and golden orfe. The pond is serviced by mechanical, biological and ultra-violet filters with the addition of aeration pumps in the summer to keep the oxygen levels up. As a result of the clean water, the carp breed well but the orfe have not done so yet. The pond has attracted many other life forms including frogs and dragonflies.
• Before the decking the path turns round the side of the house with another raised border for vegetables and flowers to the right.
• The path continues along the back of the house with a rough section seeded with wild flowers alongside. At this point the path is separated from the garden by a retaining wall of railway sleepers.
• Near the back door is the Japanese-influenced area, laid out with white gravel and a 1500-litre (330-gall UK) square fish pond, a rill and cascades, all of which can be illuminated at night. The whole area has been set out with plants that have Japanese sounding names. There is space for a yoga mat and table and chairs here.
• Just outside the back door is a small covered wooden terrace, used for eating out of the heat of the midday sun.
• The path continues anticlockwise along the west side of the house to the garage and workshop.

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* Tannerre more info.

The drive

Less formal (further away)

• At the front, across the main drive, are some larger plants, roses and shrubs, arranged roughly in the form of a heart. This garden will eventually be planted with more aromatic and tactile plants.
• Further out, a circle of silver birches and box enclose a hammock space. The hammock will brush against mints and lavenders as it sways in the mottled shade of the birches.
• To the right is the BBQ and campfire area.
• To the left is some rough-cut grass and another tent pitch (The Knight's Pitch).
• Further to the left, near the gate, is a patch of blackthorn which produces sloes for gin. The blackthorn thicket may be developed into a maze or a retreat.
• Along the drive stand a large cherry tree and walnut trees. We harvest the fruits of both, leaving enough for the birds and red squirrels.
• The curved 'fruit path' from the gate to the birches forms a boundary between the less formal and wilder areas. The fruit is mainly soft fruit, currants, peaches and apricots, although some of these will need to be replanted. The peaches and apricots will be trained into an espalier or cordon hedge. Raspberries did not like the hot and dry conditions here.

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Wild (nature takes the upper hand)

• Behind the circle of silver birch is a path leading to a large unlined 600,000-litre lake (132,000-gall (one million pints) UK). This was to be a reservoir. A mechanical wind pump would lift water to a water tower' enabling the garden to be watered using a gravity feed. The lake was dug into the natural earth which appears to be clay. So far it has failed to fill up, but has retained water through several summers, even the 2009 drought.
• The soil dug out to create the lake was used to build a ridge, which has been planted with willows and plums, and spring bulbs visible from the house.
• Behind the bank is a small wooded area with a path running through it.
• To the right this shady path leads alongside the neighbouring property and back via the bog garden to the campfire/BBQ area.
• To the left the path leads through a 'dell' and on to the teepee, another place to hang a hammock. In the hedge at the south-eastern end of the garden is a small stile leading to the road.
• Returning to the house, you can either :-
  • walk along a path cut through the blackthorn, straight past the 'window' in the hedge and the 'weather stone', and back to the drive, or
  • return via a patch of long grass, where a log cabin is planned on the left, to the filter pond. Turning to the left takes you to a bridge and back to the birches.
• Between the bridge and the birches there are plans for a semi-covered stage for entertaining and events.
• Various bird boxes have been built and placed in the wild area but as yet they seem uninhabited. The surrounding countryside must offer them plenty of other choices.

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Vegetables (behind the house)

• We grow vegetables in a series of raised beds measuring 2.4 x 1.2 m (8' x 4').
• Behind these plots are the composting bins for kitchen waste, leaves and some grass clippings. This is also where nettle fertiliser and the like are brewed and matured.
• Beyond the compost area is a stile to the road leading to the hamlet of Les Creux. This is the northern edge of the garden.
• The hedge bordering our property and other hedges across the road help protect L'Echiquier from the winter northeasterlies.
• Next to the raised beds is the polytunnel, used for seed germination and for growing tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and so on.
• The vegetable garden area is being enclosed to diminish damage by chickens and sheep who may lose their way there. It appears, however, that moles are not subject to these rules.
• A.M.A.P.P. In July 2009 we joined the 'Association pour le Maintien d'une Agriculture Paysanne de Proximité - Les paniers bio de Saint Privé', a co-op of local food producers and buyers in our village.

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Lists of plants and trees   [BBC plant_finder]   [RHS plant finder]  

Trees

Plantes
aromatiques

Flowers

Fleurs

Oak
Birch
Walnut
Willow
Blackthorn
Cherry
Quince
Spindle
Pear(s)
Apple(s)
Hazel
Plums
 Mirabelles
 Greengages
Elm *
Medlar

* sadly dying

Chêne
Bouleau
Noyer
Saule
Prunelier
Cerisier
Cognassier
Fusain
Poirier
Pommier
Noisetier
Prunier
 Mirabellier
 Reine Claude
Aulne
Néflier

Mint(s)
Thyme(s)
Basil(s)
Verbena
Rosemary
Dill*
Fennel*
Sage
Sorrel
Borage

* these interbreed

Menthe(s)
Thym(s)
Basilic(s)
Verveine
Romarin
Aneth
Fenouil
Sauge
Oseille
Bourrache

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