Grower’s digest – March 2020

Go potty for pots

Plant pots in all shapes and materials come and go in the gardening fashion stakes, but nothing says ‘French garden’ quite like a classically elegant urn shape.

Anduze is the best known brand of glazed planter but the Jarre Calypso by La Redoute (pictured above, back row, second from right) is a nice alternative.

It costs €249, is moulded in ‘aged’ terracotta, and  measures 52x55cm.

Jobs for the potager

As the days get longer, planting season begins in earnest in March.

Salads can be sown indoors, aubergines and tomatoes can go under glass while vegetables such as swiss chard (bette à carde), beetroot (betterave), broad beans (fèves), peas (petits pois) and parsley (persil) can go outside.

Now is the time to buy and germinate potatoes, while in warmer climes of Southern France you can plant asparagus (asperges) and shallots (échalotes).

Mud-free soles

Innovations in horticulture come thick and fast: what could be more gardener-friendly than a welly with a sole that does not get logged up with mud?

That’s the claim of these self-cleaning boots with non-slip soles, key features of stylish two-tone Botte ‘Clean Lady’.

They also boast a Neoprene lining for excellent insulation, and are easy to put on thanks to a textile ‘tongue’ at the rear of the boot.

€54.90 from Gamm Vert.

Insta-jardins

Social media app Instagram is a brilliant way to enjoy other people’s gardens in France, with everyone from chateau visitors to chambre d’hôtes owners posting seasonal snaps and quirky updates from their gardens (users can search using the hashtag #jardins or #jardinage).

This month’s image captures winter sunlight playing on a Bayeux garden, as taken by aggarthibayeux (the Aggarthi guest house in the Calvados town)