Our Front Garden

Most of the time when I write gardening updates you see pictures from the vegetable garden and not our front garden mainly because our front garden is a Work In Progress ... and has been really ever since we moved in.  Slowly, though, it is taking shape.

The access from the door to where we park the car has been through various transformations over our 8 years here - horrible weedy gravel, mud, more mud and fine gravel.  We thought the fine gravel would work only to find it stuck to out shoes and migrated into the house at a horrifying rate.  Even if we remembered to wipe our feet, some still got in and the animals never remembered to wipe their paws.  It wasn't too bad in the dry but after rain it was awful.  Something needed to be done before winter. 

A while back Simon did some work for his sister in England and afterwards had a piles of paving slabs left over ... so he stuck them in the back of the 4x4 and brought them over to France.  Now we have a lovely path with slabs and gravel that is big enough NOT to stick to our feet.  Quelle relief ... and it looks bloomin' good too.

So today I give you some random pictures from our front garden .... with enough close-ups not to show all the work that still needs doing!

I'll start you with part of the new path and planted central bed (plus some piping ready for an electricity cable for when we decide on"something" later on!).

This old wagon wheel rests against our front wall and was rescued from our local déchetterie (dump).  Lemon verbena is growing in front of it.

A cat will always find a sunny sheltered spot and Henry can be found all over the garden depending on where best he can get warm and comfy.  Today it was squashed between some pots and our fire brazier ...

 But previously it has been the BBQ ...

 Or guarding the front door ...

The orange tree and geranium were both birthday presents and I am wondering how to overwinter them.  The polytunnel will not stay warm enough so they may well have to come inside later in the year.

Most people might think that the flowers of the passion flower are it's best feature.  I certainly love the flowers but it was it's leaves and tendrils that caught my eye a couple of evenings ago.  I can see fairies dancing in the fading evening light.  Can you?

Finally, summer may still be hanging on here with some glorious warm days, but we know this won't last for ever.  When the cold weather arrives and we light our wood burner we'll be glad of this wood, stored in the garden and ready for easy access on cold nights.

How is your garden looking?  Is summer still hanging on or has autumn arrived?  For more garden gloriousness head on over to the How Does Your Garden Grow linky run by Annie from Mammasaurus.