Le Jardin du Château de Balleroy

Posted by Rosie

Things are ticking along nicely in the vegetable garden here at Eco-Gites of Lenault - beetroot has FINALLY germinated, beans seemed to have stopped sulking and are growing and I almost have a ripe tomato in the polytunnel.  The latter is particularly pleasing as I opened the last jar of the passata I made with last year's tomatoes this evening when I made pasta bake.  I need to be making more soon!

As a bit of a change from normal for my Thursday gardening update, I thought I'd show you some garden pictures from a day out I had with friends this week.  We had hoped to go to Le Jardin des Oubliés but it wasn't open the day we had free so we went instead to the gardens of the Château de Balleroy. It was only 4€ to get in and whilst they are not a huge gardens and not an all-out floral extravaganza they were all the same lovely to visit.  The front gardens are formal and very French is design whilst at the back they are more like an English parkland with paths through meadows and woodlands.

Don't walk on the grass!

A minibeast hotel

Entrance to the bee hives

Flag iris

Meadows with the Château behind

The formal front garden

Orangery and box hedges

You would probably get a  much better view of the box hedge knot garden from an upstairs château window but we didn't go in as we were short of time.  I did also feel rather sorry for the young man whose job it was to clip the hedges - all by hand. I reckon he'll be there for weeks!

Have you visited any gardens of French Châteaux?  Did you like them? Or are you too busy clipping your own Knot Garden?!

Perhaps other gardeners have blogged about visits to open gardens - why not have a look at Mammasaurus's How Does Your garden Grow linky and nose around some other gardening blogs.