So you really want to reduce the maintenance in your french garden ?
Garden maintenance, the war on weeds, call it as you wish it’s never going to go away.
Here are my top tips for gradually changing your tactics so that you can spend less time working on your garden and more time enjoying it.
A very large part of most gardens in the Toulouse area is made up of grass. I will not call it “lawn” because very rarely does that classification apply to gardens with maintenance problems. In theory grass is easy to manage, you just mow it. Fine but what if your mowing time amounts to half your weekend? Ask yourself the question: Does it all have to be mowed to the same standard? How about rethinking and allowing certain areas to grow longer. Most people are now familiar with the modern municipal uses of flowering grass areas or “prairie fleurie” as they say in France. You could allow some areas of the garden to flower then mow them back to short grass level after the plants have set their seeds. The municipalities of France are using this technique to reduce mowing manhours why don’t you? Creating wild flower areas is not difficult there are just a few simple rules to follow and the biodiversity they create is invaluable to insect and animal life. If you would like more info about mowing regimes just send me a message.
