Garden Apartment in Port Vendres, South of France

This is a blog - an ongoing, adhoc report on the people who visit the Garden Apartment on the Mediteranean in Port Vendres, South of France. Scroll down to find out more or if you wish to see photos of the apartment and gardens can pick September 2006 archives below. Contact: K@artificialstage.com

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Thoughts on gardening, here and there

 Another grey, damp day in London, and garden here looks pretty sorry for itself. It was dry and sunny for 2 hours last Sunday so I ran outside and pruned the fruit trees, and hauled the garden debris to the dump. Then the rains started again. In Port Vendres right now, regardless of the weather, there will be something blooming. The lemon-scented white roses often flower in January. Looking at old photos from 2002 I notice that the Mulberry tree was a slim sapling on the top terrace. Now it spreads its branches across the entire top terrace, its trunk thick enough to hang a hammock. The fig should be cut down, its almost dead, and has loads of new green branches springing up beneath that would replace the old part in a few years. But I love the shape of this gnarled  fig and it gives additional shade, so I'll keep it as it is for one more year. Besides the fruits are very sweet even if the yield is small.

One year, when I am not working, I'm going to spend January in Port Vendres planting fruit trees, and February and March watering them. In the meantime, I'm temptd to have some WWOOFers come to stay.