Discover the inspiring journey of a stunning French garden transformation

Sometimes, often perhaps, life doesn’t go the way you’ve planned. In 2006, Solihull couple Christine and Gary Logan were looking forward to a house in France and all the dreams that came with it. 

They had found their house – in the Creuse, in central France. “I’d told Gary he could choose,” remembers Christine. “I had pretty much decided on our previous houses so it seemed fair. We went to see it. There was ivy growing up inside along the walls, up the staircase, mummified rats, sacks of baby spiders hanging down, no mains anything. I heard Gary saying excitedly he thought this was the one. To be honest, my heart sank,” she confides. 

They bought the house but Christine’s mother died and her father was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. The French project was on hold until 2019 as Christine devoted herself to caring for her dad. “We had trips occasionally to work on it but nothing much,” she recalls. When they finally moved in, Christine had but a few months to enjoy it before she was diagnosed with cancer. “I turned in on myself, the garden became so important to me in that time,” she says quietly. 

The garden became a haven and a solace during the long weeks of treatment. “Gary was amazing – I told him what I wanted and he created it. He built pergolas, did all the heavy landscaping, shifting gravel, laying paths - that kind of stuff,” she says fondly. 

I ask what gardening experience they’d had. Christine laughs, “Not any really. I had been an interior designer in the 1980s. I knew what look I wanted. I wanted to create distinct areas. Different ‘rooms’, each with a very different feel. 

Surprises around every corner

“I didn’t want to be able to see the whole garden at once. I wanted the paths and doorways in hedges to lead you on, to reveal surprises. I was used to using colour and texture, shape and form. I knew how to draw focus, to lead the eye, towards or away from things. I am also a watercolour painter so I appreciate broad sweeps of colour.”

“The medium in the garden was different though. I didn’t really know about the plants, I didn’t know all their names. I guess I have been lucky, things I have planted have done very well where I have put them.” She smiles. I suggest she must be an instinctive gardener. She laughs. “Maybe. When I first opened the garden people kept telling me that they’d never seen penstemons so big!” 

I think Christine does not give herself credit for the observation and understanding of her planting which allows her to continually learn what thrives. She has built on the success of the penstemons, finding more colours and plants which happily associate and work within her schemes. “I am learning: I am learning all the time. I have joined a gardening club. People are really supportive and helpful. We go and visit each other’s gardens. Eat cake, drink tea and talk. They’re all coming here soon. I am learning to propagate. The club members like to take cuttings from the gardens we visit.”

Follow the garden path

Starting from the top, Christine and Gary have created a patio area with a pergola with a winding path which leads to the area she describes as the Wellness Garden. “It’s my sanctuary within my sanctuary,” she says. “It’s shaded by an ancient oak. It’s beautifully cool on a scorching day. We made a big table from white washed scaffolding boards and fence posts, we’ve hung a chandelier. It’s a very calm space.” 

From the there you can pass through towards the Mediterranean garden. “In a way, that’s in entirely the wrong place,” Christine admits. “It’s on clay, not the right conditions, you’d think, but the land slopes and the rain runs away and it gets baked, so it works.”

“From there you can move through to the Italian beds – they are full of hydrangeas – and then on to the gravel garden where we have an outdoor kitchen and entertainment area. And the boules court, almost obligatory.” 

Carry on, through the trees towards the pond, and you will find the arches smothered in roses. “I never used to even like roses, before,” Christine admits, almost not believing herself. “But they are fabulous, we have loads and they smell divine,” she enthuses. And then there is the Pondering Shed. “Not potting, pondering,” Christine explains with a giggle. “It has a rocking chair and lovely views. I sit there and contemplate. I hatch new plans.”

I ask if Gary has become as keen a gardener as she has. She hoots. “Gary doesn’t like gardening. He reluctantly embraced it. He often tells me to slow down and to stop thinking of new projects – like that’s going to happen! But he is brilliant. He has turned the old village bread oven into a little brocante for me. He laid 30tonnes of gravel, and took a pick axe to the compacted soil to enable me to grow in it. He dug out the rocks so we could use them in the rockery.” 

Gary’s support – practical and emotional – is clearly a huge factor. They celebrated their Golden Wedding anniversary, inviting the entire hamlet for a garden party. “Everyone was so amazed by the garden, it was the first time they realised what we had done.”

Surprise prize winner

One day, in 2023, quite out of the blue, there was a knock on the door. “The people from the Mairie were there. We were told that we had won a prize for our front garden. I was so surprised. I hadn’t entered anything, I didn’t even know there was a competition.” From this success, Christine decided to share her garden. “I wanted to give back,” she says. “People were so good to us, we were so well cared for. I was looked after. I found Open Gardens/Jardins Ouverts. We also acquired more land to expand the garden. We got a move on and we opened for the first time in 2024,” she finishes. 

It is astounding that in such a short space of time and under circumstances where most people may have given up or completely retreated from the world, Christine, with Gary’s loyal help and support, has created an incredible garden and wants to share it with everyone. 

The garden is open the first Sunday in September – this year it’s the 7th. “There will be tea and cakes – I’m doing a Paul Hollywood carrot cake, a lemon drizzle and a fruit cake,” she promises. Full details on www.opengardens.eu

I ask what is next. “Oh, I’d like to create a formal garden: a lawn, plinths, agapanthus, raised beds, paths,” she says, fizzing with plans. I hope Gary’s ready.