Improving our Gardening Game | Queen's Escape
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- Опубликовано: 31 май 2024
- When it comes to most things, we like to start first and learn later. But this was a rather taxing approach when it came to gardening. In the 1.5 years that we've been at Queen's Escape, we have learned a lot about what NOT to do when it comes to plants. I've (Karen) done as much research as I can on the plants we already have so I can master taking care of them and then in time, I'd like to start a Kitchen Garden.
xxoo
Karen & Bo
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For the driveway you want rhododendrons. They are understory plants, which means they grow best in forest like conditions with filtered light and they come in a mind boggling assortment of colors. Azaleas would work also, but they tend to be smaller. What you want to is to create depth by using plants of different sizes. The hydrangeas will work, but you will need to prune out some of the limbs to make sure they get enough light.
This is right, I agree. Both rhododendrons and azaleas come in shades of pink. The rhododendrons will get fairly big and will be a showy display of pink>
Agree. Hydrangeas don’t exactly “come in shades of pink”, they will be pink or blue depending on whether the soil is alkaline or acid. Easily changed.
I will start looking into the varied height tip- bc I’m wondering where the tall should go and where the short, you know - the rules… 😂❤️
@@queensescape glad I could help. You should check out Chateau de Grifferaie. They have a youtube channel. When they cleared out a section of their long driveway, they found dozens of rhododendrons that had been planted by the previous owner and buried under brush. The rule is taller in back, shorter in front. You want to look at the height the plant is expected to grow to and not the height of the plant when you buy it. When you plant a garden, you want to plant it for 5 years in the future, because most shrubs will be mature at that point.
I wholeheartedly agree with rhododendrons and azaleas. They are lovely and for the most part quite sturdy. ❤
Gardening is a learning process, and not every year is the same. Weather plays a lot into it. There is nothing like watching your work come to fruition and enjoying fresh, non chemical sprayed foods. Keep pressing forward.
Peonies are beautiful but they bloom only a short time. Then you have nothing but a green bush. You need some larger plants that bloom through the summer. Roses , butterfly bushes are nice but you need to dead head so they keep blooming. I would buy a good gardening book to get ideas on how to plan a flower bed. You’re working hard but you need help planning. Also a darker mulch shows the plants off better. You both are working so hard and things are looking beautiful ❤️❤️ Find a good nursery and have someone give you some ideas for your area.
I’ve had bad luck finding a good nursery. Many would sell me just any old thing I’ll buy. But the garden planning book is on my list. We haven’t put the focus on that yet this year. But as we want to plant roses in the fall, I will need a plan. And not just any plan, I need a plan that will look good from a distance for wedding photos. 😊
Karen you are doing a great job with the gardening. Don’t get discouraged if a plant doesn’t do well. It can be the soil or the season or too much or too little water. It’s all trial and error and error. Growing vegetables will give you a lot of rewards. Keep a journal of what does well and what doesn’t. Keep us posted on your progress. Deborah. North Carolina 😊😊❤❤
Thank you for that encouragement. I can’t wait to grow something I can eat. 😂
It can also be where you plant it. I moved our berry vines three times before I found the spot they love. It is all trial and error.
I see all these new ways to prepare and plant beds. Eg cardboard etc. personally I would only do my beds the old hard way. Preparation is all. The area for the plants needs to be dug over all weeds and roots removed, then top up with new compost. Then to plant, prepare hole by digging down add small amounts of compost, water hole, plant and water again. Yes you weed during the growing season. Good luck whichever way you choose. 😊
I really appreciate knowing what the ‘old, hard way’ is. There’s lots of advice out there, but I almost never know what’s tried and true. Thank you. 🙏🏻
I really think you should plant some roses in the front gardens to provide height to the beds.
We think so too
I learn so much from my gardens! It took a couple of years for my peonies to bloom more than just one single flower.....and usually the deer eat the buds before they bloom! This year I have 5 buds.......and sprayed it heavily with liquid fence...so we'll see. BRAVO on getting the tractor unstuck! It would be nice to see the old church from the terrace.......not an easy job pulling that big tree down! Great that the farmer is harvesting the field! Enjoy your summer and many guests! Cheers!
Liquid fence?!? What a great product name. Congrats on your 5 buds!
@@queensescape Great name but SO STINKY.....which is the point to make plants smell SO bad that they do not nibble. Kinda a cross between rotten fish and cat pee! 🤮
I love peonies too! They will be so beautiful as they grow into bush-like flowers. I see Karen is quite organized with her compilation of gardening & flower details. Great gardening work Karen. 👏👏❤️
Thank you. I hope I make some progress. 😊
Karen I liked your hair color in the opening of this. You are pale like me & I have to add a bit of color to soften my white blonde hair. It looked really pretty on you. Again you make me want to get more organized.
Thank you for that nice compliment. That was more my natural color when I had a natural color. 😂 I’m convinced it left my head as soon as my daughter was born. 🥰
Gardening is great work out, and so rewarding when the plants settle in and the gardens come together.
Your peonies will be gorgeous if they bloom. With gardening every day is a learning experience. Thank you so much for sharing.
That’s kind advice. Thank you. 😊
If you look at Escape to Rural France, they have recently planted Hydrangeas all along the driveway under the trees, and that was planned by a Landscape architect, Davy, so you have your plants in the right place.
How wonderful of you to share that. You’ve given me a little hope. Thank you.
Great job , I’m like plant it see if it grows and learn .. your doing fine it’s a CONTINUOUS JOB AND NEVER ENDS .. I LOVE IT 😍
❤️❤️❤️
Everything is looking absolutely wonderful. You should add some creeping Jenny to your urns where your lavender is creeping. Jenny comes back every year and looks absolutely stunning.
Thank you for giving me the name of the plant. I put it on my shopping list. ❤️
Growing your own food is a really good thing ❤
Your doing great with the garden, it’s such a long learning curve, I’m still learning after 30 years. Hydrangeas take about 3 years before they take off, when they do, remember to cut back in spring when you see shoots/growth on stems. They can grow 3ft or more in one season. 🥰love what your doing, just enjoy it. 🇬🇧🏴
That is so encouraging. Thank you. 🙏🏻
I grow plants very economically by saving seeds and cuttings from whatever I am cutting up for cooking. I have many chilli plants from seeds I save and spring onions/ shallots from the roots I cut off. I also grow ginger and garlic from sprouting off cuts.
Yum! I think I’d also like your cooking!
I had a very large garden. I canned a lot of things. Sold our eggs and canned vegetables to a restaurant!! It is very rewarding!!
Sounds like you are learning a lot of research!! That is good!!
Lots of love from Tennessee!!
Thank you. How cool about selling to a restaurant. Your food must have been good.
@@queensescape when the restaurant ran out of our products, specialty the eggs, the customers wouldn’t eat any one else’s. So the restaurant would call all the time asking if our products were ready. Lol!! It’s a lot of work to do but as a family , it brought all of us closer knowing that other people loved our foods!!
You are doing a great job!! Keep it up!! I do watch your episodes!!
Lots of love from Tennessee!! I’m originally from northern Iowa and southern Minnesota!! I only lived in Tennessee for 16 years!! Next moved will be France in five years. Like you, I also do lots of planning saving for this new adventure. My goal is 800,000 to 1,900,000 to spend on a chateau but will have a lot extra if I spot one over that. Lol!!
I have two girls who are in the business world in Memphis tennessee and Orlando Florida.
So hoping to get them on board!!
But love your episodes!!
Take care!!
Azaleas and Rhododendron would be really beautiful and would grow nicely in a dappled shaded woodland area near the driveway.
For spring blue color that can easily be lawn mowed in summer and fall without damage to plants, along your driveway may I suggest the following: For Get me Nots (seeds to plant, late spring, bi annual, mix seed with soil and sprinkle along driveway where wanted in early summer for following spring time flowering), Scilla/Chronidoxia/Squill (all tiny bulbs that self seed after flowering, will tollerate summer shade so long as they have sun exposure in early spring, flower early spring to middle spring, summer lawn mowing will spread the seeds and once established will provide a carpet of mostly blue with hint of white flowering, plant bulbs in fall to early winter before soil freezes)
I love detailed suggestions like this. Thank you so much for sharing your understanding. 😊🙏🏻
Well done, keep up the good work.
I would agree put Rhododendrons they would look beautiful up the drive on both sides. I wouldn't put Hydrangeas in full sun they don't do well, plant in filtered light . Kathy USA 🇺🇸
Hydrangeas need shade and lots of water, here in South Africa they come out at Christmas which is summer.
Oh yes. I’ve been to Cape Town 3x, always at winter for work bc we needed to shoot summer scenes. 😊😊
The peonies are looking great they have grown since last year i hope u get some flowers . Hydrangeas are a great plant , i have heaps u can buy blue ones they should do good down under the trees on the driveway just make sure u buy 1.500 metre ones they seem to grow quickly and are hardy .
Oh I hope so! ❤️
It is a great idea to create a kitchen garden. You can plant different varieties of tomatoes (in a warm spot) etc etc. Please use powdered seaweed to fertilise tomato plants. You will get satisfying results. I promise you. You can create an herb garden, too. You are becoming very well adjusted to French countrylife. Your neighbours will be impressed.
Latest news on the pétanque front chez moi: Yesterday, it was officially confirmed that I am participating in the June pétanque tournament. My first tournament. Fingers crossed!
I hope that you have started to play pétanque in your area as well.
I hope your tournament went well!
@queensescape According to other players (!), I am getting better. The tournement took place last Sunday. Many participants. We stopped for a buffet lunch, which was laid on. I am building up my confidence, but I still need to learn so much. You should have seen the huge ornamental silver trophy for the winning team. Think Ascot level! We had a great time. Thank you for asking. Keep well.
Karen, your marketing project management skills are translating well to the Chateau life and are admirable, along with stamina. I have Sarah Bernhardt peonies for beauty and fragrance, along with a fuchsia color variety(?) without aroma for contrast. Also a Hardy hibiscus for June/July; daylillies for July-Aug; then Autumn Joy Sedum in that bed. I have several hydrangeas with my eye on a new variety, FAIRYTRAIL BRIDE™ CASCADE HYDRANGEA™. Many other shrubs and varieties. Your white flowering shrub that looks like white bridal spirea would be pretty along the car park area. Thanks to you & Bo for sharing your life. Cheers from Kansas🌞🕶👒👩🏻🌾🪴
Yes! I want that fairy trail bride hydrangea for my planters. Thank you for that idea. It’s perfect!
I copied down all your flowers. Thank you. ❤️
Thank you for the nice compliment btw.
The hydrangea will need to be watered every evening. I think they would look lovely in your front garden as well up against the wall🤔
Yes. They’re really thirsty. Thank you for the advice.
Well done with the gardening! I also have the same peonies that I grew from a bulb in a pot. Has taken about 4years to get established but they were beautiful. Would you consider some roses in your peony garden as well? They like full sun. Hopefully there is a local garden centre that can help you with advice snd what would grow best. I’m off to the garden centre today as it’s finally sunny again in the UK!
We really want roses there. 😊
Mulch with STRAW not hay. Hay is filled with seeds and straw has very little seeds in it as it is the result of threshing where the seeds are removed for animal feed. Straw is used for bedding in barns and refreshed daily with all the animal droppings imbedded in it. Easily available too. Any weeding should be easier too as mulching encourages weed roots to be shallower and easier to pull.
You’re right. I learned it the hard way.
Do Rhododendron...very pretty and they have different colors..
Do they like shade! I can ask Google that. Haha. 😊
Yessss they are a shade or full sunlight....they like acidic soil...West Virginia state flower...they are soooo beautiful
Look at David Austin roses, Heirloom Roses & Jackson & Perkins .. many varieties
Thank you. I’ve copied that down.
I had my hands in the ground since i could hold a small shovel now i am 71 and i am still learning lol still prefer cardboard over weedcover it works good for a while neverless weeds popped up and they sre harder to pull since the roots claw into the cover all the best 😊
Ps look up weedkiller made with vinegar dishsoap and salt works pretty good
Just watched your video, can’t wait to visit! We arrive there on Jun 18th, coming from Jefferson City, Missouri!
I’ve heard about that. Need to make some up. They love White vinegar in France.
Oh my! How wonderful!! 😀😀
🍎Fabulous summertime, hot hot beach day in our part of the world!
Karen, are you kidding me? You pulled away a nice area of grass away from the fruit trees, not to mention the labor as you said it's very hard grass to move from the ground. You're right, it's very important for the sun to penetrate through the ground into the tree, not to mention absorbing the rain water when it rains. Then you did in our imagination, a salsa dance and covered it up with cardboard not to mention mulch. Looking at what you did with the cardboard and the mulch, we feel like we're suffocating and that's exactly what you're doing to the tree. How to you expect the tree to thrive healthy by intentionally covering up the roots from the sun and the rain drops? I must tell you my mother had a mango grove and my parents didn't use fertilizer. As a teenager, I was flabbergasted by the size and the sweetness of the Haiden mangoes the tree produced, not to mention they were as red as an apple. In nature when people go camping and they find a berry bush or some fruit tree they always say, it tastes so juicy and sweet. Many times the reason for that is because of the different good insects that will pollinate on the leaves. That is why some farmers don't believe in fertilizers because a lot of them are made from too much man made products for the consumer to buy buy buy thinking that it's a good thing. I do think using half the amount of one good fertilizer is good for fruit trees, but only one kind. We do have a few different fruit trees ourselves and have started using one kind of fruit tree fertilizer. Before we started using the fertilizer, the fruits were as sweet as sugar bearing naturally without fertilizer. We do like a use epsom salt and sprinkle a little under the tree and on the grass. The epsom salt will actually make the leaves and the grass a lot greener. Sometimes when we Google something online to ask a question, it doesn't necessarily mean it's 90% a good answer. Like the lady that googled how to get to an address and literally ended up in the lake. I can see that happening as we have googled and ended up not in the lake thank God, but not where we want to be! ☺️ If Google doesn't make sense in our book, then it's non sense and ludacris! Just remember, 99% of doctors say to heal a wound or a cut, the best way is to cover it up because the wound is open and you don't want it to get infected, but when you go back to the doctor, he will say it's enough of the bandaids, let it breath naturally and the wound will heal itself and faster. So covering up your fruit trees what Google says to do is like chocking them slowly. I can't think of a nicer way to put it! Just trying to show you the right way instead of the wrong turn, but don't worry, you still have time to make a u-turn! I don't like to take chances if I hear of a better way and that goes for everything, even cooking recipes. Why put eggs and the eggs comes from the chicken's body when I can put put homemade apple sauce or overripe bananas to make the recipe softer. That's one of our baking theories because we don't eat eggs for the last five years since we realized the pastry tastes better without it and the chickens don't eat our eggs! Maybe it's because we're vegetarians, I can't stand the smell of eggs, especially the white foamy stuff in the eggs, we rather have vanilla whipped cream! I'm talking about pure vanilla, not imitation. We buy the whole vanilla beans from Amazon, about a dozen. First open them longways and scrap off the the paste inside. Cut it in three pieces and put everything in a small pot with a cup and a half of water. Add a little coconut sugar or any other spice you like and cook just until it comes to a boil. Let it cool off, put in a jar and put in the refrigerator. Et voila! You have your own homemade vanilla extract for your baking goods. Not to mention the rich flavor from the pure vanilla instead of store bought and it's all natural.
About your new video:
Our theory is if one wants a "Garden Of Eden" garden, the best place to plant your gorgeous flowers would be right around the entrance and sides of your castle that you're talking about. Not at the entrance that's two blocks long that you have to get on the lawnmower to go take care of it the right way. Your best bet for the entrance from your mailbox to your home for that area where you want flowers, would be to plant flowers that doesn't need care, like the gorgeous Bougainvillea that comes in all different colors. They love to climb on branches and do what they want and give you the most beautiful flowers year after year. Not to mention how Italian looking they are as they're all over Italy. They make a "WOW" statement when they're in bloom. In our opinion the best flowering plants that you don't have to go back and forth to take care of in the scorching heat in the summertime, not to mention saving your energy to take care of the chateau, we would definitely invest in flowing cactus plants that come in all different sizes, shapes and forms and take care of themselves whether it rains or not. Not the one's that have needles and thorns, but the flowering ones from the cactus family. They come in all different colors of the rainbow. Putting flowers far away from the chateau is only good when you have a gardener to run around and take care of it year after year. The beautiful hydrangeas that you put on the sides of the driveway would be more gorgeous in the two big pots you have in front of the chateau and on the sides of the chateau. They bloom faithfully every year and the flowers are bigger so they're more eye-catching in the pots. Our most favorite plant that we adore is the famous Italian Cypress. That would look fantastic on the sides from the back to the front of your beautiful Chateau. We think they are exquisite, not to mention classy Italian looking trees, especially since they're elegant like your towers in your chateau. Now we must go water our new dozen baby Italian Cypress trees that we planted in the entrance coming into our front door. The reason why they're so ever green in Europe is because they adore the rain drops. Oh, about the big massive beautiful tree that's blocking the view to your neighbor's castle, since you have so much to do this year, just have Bo trim down all the sides to a quarter the size of the tree. Then next year when you have more time you can get the right equipment to move the beautiful gorgeous tree that's probably been there for many years. Then you won't feel guilty about getting rid of the tree, but saving it's life by relocating it.
Happy Watermelon Summer!🌴
Calla Lillie’s in the driveway? They take shade and spread like hostas .
I really appreciate this suggestion. 😀
I would recommend that you get the advice from a landscape person. Those peonies are too far apart and too small for that area.
They are spaced exactly how far apart the gardening company recommended and they grew from bare roots planted about 1.5 years ago. I will be consulting a specialist soon, however. Want to spruce the area up a bit more.
just wondering if you have tried my cleaner for porcelain and glass (mirror) worked for you or does it need kweeking
Not yet.
Or wait until the ivy kills the tree which it’s already doing by strangling it🤷🏻♀️
Yes. I yanked much of the ivy off the trees last year and Bo has done a good job of it this year.