Many people move to the French countryside to have more space around them. What many newcomers – especially British – quickly notice, however, is that the idea of a ‘garden’ is very different here.
While the typical English garden has an informal and naturalistic design, often incorporating elements such as meandering paths, mixed borders, and a variety of plants, in France it is far more common to copy Versailles and opt for a formal look, the idea being to establish some order over nature.
Indeed, large gardens are seldom called jardins at all. ‘Parc’ is more frequently used, signifying the intention to create a space of mown lawn and trees suitable for the enjoyment of the land-owning class.
Gardens are seldom even found around farmers’ houses in France – the attitude that it is silly to work in a decorative garden after spending all day sweating in a hot tractor is a common one.
Instead most French gardeners with limited garden space focus on growing fruit and vegetables – even in what would be considered front gardens in the UK.
Again, the word jardin is shunned – potager, with its promise of bounty for the soup pot, is almost always used.
France being France, there are pages of rules and regulations about what people can or cannot do in their gardens – and many are ignored.
Some, however, are simple common sense, such as the rules on brush cutting and clearing around your property to reduce the risk of fire destroying your home. Ignore those at your peril.
Cleaning garden growth
Débroussaillage translates as brush clearing, and a débroussailleuse is the noisy strimmer to do it found in nearly every rural tool shed.
Other useful machines for the job include gyro cutters on tractors and chainsaws to prune branches, but it is possible to do the work with hand tools if you have the time and a strong back.
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Débroussaillage might involve cutting low-hanging branches, strimming grass, trimming hedges or shrubs and clearing away dead leaves.
In some areas of France, it is mandatory. These regulations are known as obligations légales de débroussaillement (OLD).
You can read more about those rules in the article below.
OLD regulations are primarily concentrated in the southern regions (Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Corsica, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Occitanie and Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur) where there is a greater risk of wildfires, and requirements are imposed at a departmental level.
In general, people who live in departments where débroussaillage rules are in place must cut back their gardens if their property comes within 200m of a forest or other woodland.
Where these apply, owners are typically required to clear 50-100m around their built property (house, pool house, garage, outbuildings, etc). This radius can also extend beyond their property if their neighbouring land is not used or maintained by another owner.
Even if your home is not in an area classed as being particularly at risk from wildfires, there may be a prefectural decree requiring you to carry out débroussaillage over a 50m radius around your property.
Your local prefecture website should contain instructions for affected residents, and your mairie should be able to help if you are unsure as to whether the rules apply to you.
In at-risk urban areas, débroussaillage is normally also obligatory for the owners of properties situated within 200m of woodland.
Tenants can also be responsible, if it is mentioned in the rental contract.
The government’s Geoportail map site has details for all of France (you search for your commune by postal address).
Trees must not be planted right along a boundary line, especially if the other side of the boundary is a field where agricultural machinery is used.
Most communes recommend that trees should be planted three metres from a boundary, so that when they grow, branches will not have to be hacked off to allow the combine harvester to reach the edge of the field.
Hedges should also be set back from the boundary so that when grown they can be trimmed back to the boundary line easily.
In towns, it is good practice to avoid disputes with neighbours by planting trees away from the boundary so that branches do not overhang.
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What are some other important rules?
Bonfires are officially banned.
Instead, all garden greenery should either be composted or taken to the local tip where special containers are ready to receive it.
This is probably one of the most ignored rules in rural areas.
It seems silly to expect everyone to buy a trailer, have a car capable of towing it (many electric cars cannot have tow bars fitted because of where the batteries are positioned) and do a 30km-or-so round-trip to the déchètterie with three trailer-loads from one session of hedge clipping.
In towns, the situation is different – if you have a smoky bonfire in a small back garden, expect a fine.
And if you do have a bonfire in your garden, watch it closely and make sure you have the necessary equipment to control it.
Do not do so when there is a ripe crop of grain next door – if the fire spreads, you will not be popular.
Pesticides: Rules on garden pesticide use were tightened by the European Union and translated into French law in 2019.
Gardeners cannot buy, store or use synthetic pesticides, a general term which covers insecticides, fungicides and herbicides. Glyphosate weedkillers such as Roundup, which used to be widely used, are now banned.
A whole range of ‘traditional’ pesticides such as Bordeaux mix – a fungicide made by grinding copper sulphate and lime into a fine powder to be mixed with water – can still be used in France.
Follow instructions to make sure there is not an excessive build-up of copper in the ground.
In theory, products allowed in the garden will have an EAJ (emploi autorisé dans les jardins) label but this is not always the case if you buy them from a farmers’ co-operative.
Whatever product you use, you must not do so within five metres of a river, spring, pond, or other water source, or near a drain or ditch leading to a river or sewerage system.
Making your own pesticides is officially banned in France, but lots of people do it.
Seeds: The European Union also, in the mid-1990s, insisted that only approved and tested seeds and tubers be sold.
In France, the law caused outrage because it meant local varieties of vegetables might be at risk of extinction as big seed companies would not pay to have them approved and tested.
Associations saving local varieties sprang up all over the country and, if you are interested, will be delighted to have you as a member. They get round the ban on selling seeds by explaining that members just exchange seeds for free (troc).
Pruning and cloning: Similarly, local associations trying to save old fruit species abound. Most organise training days in early spring to teach people the best way to prune trees, and to clone them.
