🌺Enchanting Gardens: This Week @frdvil’s Garden in Normandy, France. #GardeningTwitter #LoveGardening

Welcome to my series of gardens and their gardeners.

Over the next few months I will be adding to my regular #SixOnSaturday posts with Sunday spots for fellow gardeners.

I always look forward to Fred’s Saturday post as he grows some unusual plants and has lots of good gardening advice. It was Fred who inspired me to try growing ginger and last year’s plant was a great success. This year I have had to try harder to get a ginger growing, but hopefully it is now on it’s way.

Fred has kindly agreed to answer a few of my questions and tell us a bit more about his garden and plants.

Fred!

Where do you live and garden?

I live in France in Normandy and my garden is about 5000 sqm

What soil type and growing conditions do you have?

The soil is mainly clay and quite heavy, but for years I have been adding compost and manure and now it has become lighter.

Front Garden

Tell us more about your garden, for instance how long you have been gardening and what you have created in your garden.

I’m almost 49 and I have been gardening since the age of 10 when my father suggested that I sow my first seeds in his vegetable garden. They were simple things, like radishes. I really got into gardening when I bought my house in 1999. At first, it was simply maintenance, but I developed a certain attraction for exotic plants while traveling. When I was 40, I had a beautiful greenhouse as a gift. 

I discovered social medias by chance and found the posts in English were the most interesting (imo), but also the most passionate people: that’s why I continued in English and I’m quite happy with it! 

At first, my garden was just a lawn with the house in the middle and a hedge around it. I created different parts by types of plants (fruit trees, vegetable garden, exotic plants, a first pond, then a small second one, ericaceous plants, etc… , while preserving the large trees and some of the lawn of course.)

Ericaceous border with rhododendrons, greenhouse

Do you have a favorite type of plant in your garden?

It’s hard to say…I obviously like exotic plants with large leaves, but also any type of plant that produces edible fruit. 

My challenge in recent years is to grow the plants that we don’t see around here, and I can say that it works !

I know that you like to grow exotic plants, can you tell us about some of them?

Vegetable garden, back garden, field with horses ( not mine! )

My first attraction to exotics came from traveling to Italy and Spain, when I was a child with my parents.
I was amazed by the cacti and succulents: that was the starting point. I brought back some cuttings in tin cans…!

Then I’ve developed my own knowledge (I’m not a gardener! It’s just a hobby)

What is the best thing about gardening for you?

Having hands in the soil and potting plants is addictive for me. Growing a plant from a seed and watching it grow!

If you like beautiful pictures of inspiring gardens and plants do follow Fred on his social media.

Fred’s blog https://fredgardenerblog2.wordpress.com/

Twitter @frdvil | Instagram @frdvil

Please join me in thanking Fred for taking time to answer my questions and providing photos for this post.