The New Collection

We’ve started working on the court and the orchard. They are around the mill and there is grass there that needed to be maintained anyhow. It’s logical to start here and –mind you– a good garden needs at least three years of work. The first year is for shaping and planting the new collection. The second year is for (re)planting, growing and maintenance. And during the third year you’ll be (re)planting, growing, maintenance and enjoying.

So this is the year of The New Collection. We bought some plants in France, but they are way too expensive! We’d rather buy the plants in the Netherlands for example at Abbing (Zeist) … I just love to search around that huge nursery.

So far we have planted the following:

Achillea millefolium ‘Cloth of Gold’

Ajuga reptans ‘Catlin’s Giant’

Anaphalis triplinervis

Anemopsis californica

Aquilegia chrysantha ‘Yellow Queen’

Armeria maritima

Aster ‘Monte Cassino’

Astilbe tangutica

Astilboides tabularis

Astrantia major

Brunnera ‘Langtree’

Brunnera macrophylla ‘Jack Frost’

Calamogrostis brachytricha

Campanula addenda ‘Blue Star’

Carex muskingumensis

Centaurea montana ‘Grandiflora’

Chaerophyllum roseum

Clematis montana ‘Rosebud’

Darmera peltata

Festuca glauca ‘Intense Blue’

Filipendulina rubra

Iris ensata ‘Diamant’

Iris japonica ‘Variegata’

Luzula nivea

Molinia transparent

Pachysandra terminalis

Papaver orientale ‘Perry’s White’

Parthenocissus tricuspidata ‘Robusta’

Pennisetum ‘Karley Rose’

Polygonatum vanitatum

Primula  ‘Gold Lace’

Primula vialii

Pulsatilla vulgaris ‘Alba’

Rodgersia podophylla

Rosa ‘Penny Lane’

Thalia dealbata

Thalictrum rochebrunianum

Trachelospermum jasminum

Trachystemon orientalis

Verbascum ‘Raspberry Ripple’

Landscaping 5700m2

We had a draft vision on how we’d like to landscape the garden. Here’s the big idea.

The sections of the garden

1: The Court in front of the house is the entrance to the property. Grass, a terrace and arches define it. The limestone color of the house needed a blue touch to lighten things up a little. The main colors will be pink, blue and purple with drops of white. To preserve the grass we keep it car-free. 🙂

2: The Orchard will look like untouched fields planted with grass and wildflowers. The waterside will be covered with foliage plants and irises. We’ve planned these streamside beds with open spaces left at certain points to make it easier to access the water. The colors will be white, blue and red, with some yellow in spring.

3: The sun side of the orchard up against the ramp will be place for a wildflower border filled with one set of plants equally covering the whole ramp of 6 meters by 40 meters. The colors will be white, blue and yellow.

4: The big field of around 4000 square meters will be used for the pool and field. This part of the garden will get a traditional hedge. The hedge will be made out of a mixure of three local species: Carpinus betulus (hornbeam), Malus sylvestris (apple), and Crataegus monogyna (hawthorn).

Spending time green

Rose covered with flowers

I hate to admit it, but YES, I DO love gardening. I can spend hours walking through a garden –especially the gardens I maintain– checking on every little perennial to see how everyone is doing.

The mill at Tourteron has 5,700 square meters of garden–and that’s a long walk. Mind you: That’s 7,000 square feet. But I honestly don’t mind. It’s a perfect way to start a day before the first cup of coffee. I’d do it all day if I could.

Do I talk to the flowers and the trees? There’s my next confession: I guess so. LOL!

I could talk about gardening all day and show you every single flower there is. But it’s better if you check yourself: I’ve made three galleries at Flickr only on the garden of the mill.

The (unknown) flowers at Tourteron: about the flowers we discovered in the garden.

The New Collection: about the plants we bought and planted.

Shaping the Garden: about the progress we’re making with getting the garden into shape.

So, those three galleries are enough for you to check out. The rest of the big steps will be blogged here (Flickr is only for the pics).