Rose pruning - le Grand Pressigny

Before

During

After

This garden has many different areas. This week we have been working on getting rid of all the old wood, the plant which has grown beyond its pergola, currently onto and into neighbouring building!

The job was long & fiddly as the established rose shares the pergola with equally established wisteria and honeysuckle...

It doesn't look much at the moment...but by the summer the re-growth should re-cover the pergola providing shade and the flowers should be in view without binoculars! Photo in bloom as always will follow!

We cleared the base of the climbing plants, added bulbs and shade tolerant plants to brighten up this poolside summer evening BBQ and apero spot :D

More Iris bed maintenance....must be the time of year!

Last week it was at ours http://chezaniagardens.blogspot.com/2011/01/iris-bed-maintenance-les-limornieres.html now an iris 'pond' in La Guerche gets the treatment ;D

Will post a pic of this lovely iris bed in its full glory later this Spring...now without last years' grass, brambles and dead leaves...

Iris bed maintenance - les Limornieres

3hrs on a mild and sunny January afternoon I decided it was time to tackle the 30m of straggly, slimy dead iris leaves...

During the previous year plenty of weeds & straggly grass has also crept in between the iris.

So before the iris get growing again, I donned some gloves and mostly pulled out the dead stuff, the weeds and the grass by hand, then using a half moon tool...I put a new edge on the grass verge next to the row of iris and with any luck by May we will more of the following :D Ok...what is next?!

Courtyard garden - Azay-le-Rideau New Year New Pergola

http://chezaniagardens.blogspot.com/2010/10/courtyard-garden-azay-le-rideau_20.html

Construction of pergola to span the width of the building and out to the back of the garden.

The existing mature wisteria (pictured bare and asleep in Jan ;) will quickly cover the new support and provide scented shade in the spring and summer months.

Pergola constructed in oak posts fixed to metal posts concreted into the ground - the wood stays off the ground and will therefore last longer, also tends to look little more elegant in our opinion than concreting the posts directly into the ground.

Next step will be to return to lay the patio, plant the beds with perennials and cover remaining surfaces with gravel.