When we arrived at La Basse Cour there was no garden but a lot of grass and some trees. Initially work on the garden had to take second place to work on the house, which you can see here: House Renovation.

However, we always had the intention of creating a garden here. After all, that was one of the reasons for our change of lifestyle and moving to this region of France, whose gentle climate - neither too hot in summer nor too cold and severe in winter - is perfect for a wide range of temperate plants.

In fact, so strong was that urge that we began our first flower beds while awaiting planning permission in 2004. This was partly out of necessity to hold the hundreds of plants that we had brought with us from our garden in England. Those first efforts now form a rich tapestry of colour bordering the sunken terrace at the rear of the house. At the same time we cleared the area which now forms the vegetable garden and erected the good, solid greenhouse that we had brought with us.

In 2007 we undertook the major job of draining and dredging the silt-choked lake, which had been left untended for 50 years. A huge job - see here: Lake Dredging.

Work could then begin in earnest on the garden in 2008 - a rose pergola some 20 metres in length, substantial flower beds, planting the lake margins with aquatics, 200 conifers planted on the far side of the lake, constructing a well for irrigation ... the garden work goes on, and despite aches and pains, we love it!