LANDSCAPING 2009: THE TREND IS "FRENCH COUNTRY"

Welcome to landscaping season 2009! Although the first day of Spring 2009 falls on March 20th, the month in the Northeast is a perfect time frame in which to begin planning. And the trend in 2009 is one of The Green Man's favorite styles: FRENCH COUNTRY.



French Country design incorporates the French Impressionist color pallete of Claude Monet, particularly those of his gardens at Giverny.



This means lots of pinks, peach-tones, reds, burgundy, yellows, violets, and lots of white. Plants favored are wisteria, nasturtiums, morning glories twining through grapes, vines of all sorts such as CLEM-atis, roses, irises, lavenders, catmints, various fruits and vegetables, and others. The look is informal yet geometrical and structured, and incorporates standards, pea gravel walkways, and brick.



Iris banks at Giverny









For the landscaping season 2009, The Green Man will be encouraging clients to install substantial potagers based on strict geometry that incorporate herb gardens, iris banks, daylily banks, substantial amounts of knock-out roses in pink and yellow, but not red, puctuated by a few old roses such as Gallicas, a water feature that is simple yet elegant, potting benches, lots of Provence-style urns and pottery,and a cage de poulet for a few ornamental breeds.

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Cage de poulet

The Green Man will have more on the details of the 2009 "French Country" look in upcoming posts. Meanwhile, he urges clients to determine the approximate area of the potager. Recall veggies need 6 hours of full sun per day.













Locate your wall water feature near the terrace or a sitting area where the sound can be enjoyed. Keep it simple.

Locate areas for the potting shed, storage shed, and the cage de poulet. Sketch the locations out on a sheet of paper as bubble diagrams until your approximate plan is just right. Remember to keep traffic circulation open around the property.