Here's the plan for the garden from Anthony, our master garden designer! He has found a heritage nursery that can provide tradional french plants and trees for the garden.


Entrance (area ‘a’ on outline plan)

This area will be a formal and practical space acting as both a traditional courtyard space and car parking area. (also possible use as petanque pitch)
This area will be surfaced with compacted self-binding gravel, the gravel will be chosen to match the façade of the barn.
A formal, circular water feature will be built, using the local stone, to act as a centrepiece / focal point.

planting :
- Lavender border planted in front of house
- large planters (local stone) evenly spaced along front of barn containing uniform, ornamental
planting


Walled Potager (b)

This area will be enclosed within newly constructed walls and the existing hedgerow. Raised timber beds will be built to form a traditional vegetable garden, a gateway will connect this area to the orchard.

planting :
- Blackthorn (Sloe) bushes planted through the existing hedgerow
- Vegetable beds : use of local and heritage varieties


Natural swimming pond (c)

A natural swimming pond (size to be determined) will be built behind the orchard area. This will include a swimming zone and a plant regeneration zone. Marginal pond plants will be used to soften the edge of the pond. Suitable young trees and shrubs will be used to create shade and privacy.

Natural arbour /outdoor dining area (d)

The existing trees will be pruned and trained to create a natural arbour which will be used as a
shady outdoor dining area. Roses and other scented climbers will be planted to grow through
the tree framework. The ground will be covered with a bark mulch.


Rear of barn / woodland area (e)

A formal gravel garden area will be created adjacent to the rear of the barn. This will link
the patio area to both the outdoor kitchen and the planned swimming pool.
(possible use of stepping stones to create paths)

A shady ‘woodland’ area will be created by thinning out some of the unsuitable trees and
underplanting with suitable shade tolerant plants.

Two low curving stone walls will be built to separate this area from the more informal and
wilder sections of the garden.

planting :
- various herbs grown in pots adjacent to both the kitchen door and the outdoor kitchen area
- a border of lavender planted to separate gravel area from the shady area.
- suitable shrubs and perennials planted in shady area.

Informal planting (f)

This area will be planted with drifts of large perennials and grasses. This will create an informal
area of colour and movement, needing minimal maintenance, that will link the formal areas
at rear of the barn with the wilder meadow /pond area.


Wildflower meadow with pond (g)

This area will be sown with various wildflower and grass seed to create a natural wildflower
meadow.
An informal wildlife-friendly pond will be situated towards the rear of the meadow area.
A seating platform will be built extending over the pond. The view from the platform will
look out over the meadow towards the barn. A suitable tree (willow) will be planted to create
shade.
A mixture of marginal pond plants and grasses will be planted to merge the pond into the meadow area. Various shrubs will be planted through this area to ensure winter interest.
Gaps in the existing hedgerow will be filled and new hedgerow will be planted to enclose the end
of the meadow.


Miscellaneous works

- a path will be created to link the various areas and focal points. The path will meander through the
property, at times formal, at others less so.

- the orchard will be slightly thinned out and other suitable fruit trees added.

- if feasible, the well adjacent to the farm house will be reinstated and suitable damp-loving
plants planted in the area

An extra door - this is for the master bedroom!

The door from the kitchen through to the hallway is also on.

The wall that is in the wrong place - at least we caught it in time (before they did any more work). It should be under the beam so that the beam shows in the bedroom (so it is in the middle of the beam)

The underfloor heating pipes going down in the second bedroom.

We have DOORS inside the house - they look great. more to follow

These will be the sinks in the other bathrooms.

This will be the sink in the master bathroom.

These are the taps we have chosen - hansgrohe again.

shower taps!

These are the shower heads we have gone for in the 3 showers,

This is the toilet that will be in the bathrooms/wc

When we were in France we met with the plumber (Mr. Lambert) and re-chose the bathroom fittings. We felt that €1500 euros was a little steep for each shower. We did go with Philippe Starck designed stuff from Axor/Hansgrohe for most of the stuff however....

The builders started to put up the partition wall between the master bedroom and the en-suites. It was in the wrong place. The lovely beam that we wanted to be in the bedroom was going to be above a plasterboard ceiling in the bathroom, completely hidden from view. I phoned Didier to ask for an explanation and he said it was because the bathroom pipes were in the wrong place (which we had asked to be moved several times previously...). He sorted it out and they will be moving the pipes (and partially completed wall). Job done.

The new doorway into the second bedroom.

The third bedroom is very nice and airy. We are plastering over the plasterboard walls.

The second bedroom is now boarded out. The tilers will put down a traditional floor over the underfloor heating pipes so that the tiles can be shifted into this room whilst the liquid concrete floor is put down throughout the rest of the barn. (allegedly the liquid floor takes 5 weeks to dry, but they have bought some dryers....)

The hallway has some great original features. It is a bit dark so we have asked for another socket for a floor lamp (as well as the spots)

The WC looks bigger than we thought. Seems like a good size.

The hallway is now boarded out. You can see where the right hand wall was straightened up from the end beam.

The kitchen now has all it's walls and a ceiling.

Mr Idely (the partition wall man) has cleared out their equipment. The main room is HUGE. Didier has finally come around to having a large traditional fireplace..

One of the poplar trees in the back garden (at night...)

Our friends, Don and Connie, visited for a long weekend. We had lots of great food!

Lots of stuff

The toilet is taking shape!

The en-suite for the 3rd bedroom is taking shape - they have moved the toilet pipes into the correct room!

The baunderie has walls!