A rose and lavender hedge by the olive garden
In 2025 my amazing sister spent a week getting up with me before the worst of the heat drove us inside to create a bed along the fence between the “road” and the olives. That meant we had to remove a lot of stones, small rocks, and weeds. Then we put down weed blocking fabric topped with bark, and planted lavender and roses. It was so much fun to have a gardening buddy! The fabric was her idea and I am now a total convert and plan to use it everywhere! If you are new to it, here is more than you will ever need to know – but you should also know that weeds do grow in the spaces around the plants and sometimes on top, so you do still have to do a bit of work. That said, it takes me less than an hour to weed the whole 30 yard (28 meter) bed (although as you can see from these images, I do still need to weed/mow around the fence on the olive side to stop it growing through. Hopefully eventually the lavender and roses will choke that out).
When I left last year, the plants we put in were all pretty small; the roses with few leaves and the lavender still looking as if they were in the pots they came in; but when I returned five months later, I was greeted by a dozen small but healthy roses, one already trying to climb up the fence, and fifteen lavender plants that had survived the ice, freezing fog, and wind and were not overwhelmed by weeds like the ones I planted last year were when I came back. The lavender was a mop of leaves and branches and untrimmed flower heads and the roses were full of thin, crossed branches and blackspot but they were alive and there were not many weeds.
I sprayed and removed the infected leaves and as the weather got warmer I gave a hard prune to roses and lavender. The roses are coming back covered with little red (healthy) leaves, and the lavender already mounding. Only one half of a few lavenders sprouted while the other half died, but when I cut away the dead wood they started to fill out so I am quite optimistic. I think it will take two years to look how I imagine, and probably four or five to reach perfection. But that is the point of this garden adventure. Nature moves slowly and I am going at the same pace, not trying to rush things.
Lavender
The lavender is planted parallel to the studios and will fill the border between the fence and the “road,” hiding the bottom of the fence and hopefully distracting from the top. I planted two kinds, so if any of them fail to make it I can replace with the kind that thrives. I got quite a few flowers last year and the plants are already bigger and stronger even after I pruned them. You can already see the plants from the studios, and my goal is to have a row of purple visible from the windows and the patio and another row at the base of the studio wall for the scent. I planted some from seed last fall and have quite a crop of baby lavender that may go in terracotta boxes on the wall if they survive.
Roses
The roses are at the other end of the same border, parallel to the covered patio. I’m going to put in two more so it ends level with the beginning of the vegetable garden. Most of the roses are red, inspired by the rose hedge that lines the road into Cordes from Gaillac and Albi (across from the Spar for those who know), but again I planted different kinds both for the variety and to see which grow best. There are a few Rose de Cahors (the ones that are canaries for the grapes), a sturdy and reliable rose but not very exciting (like the wine of the same name?). The other purchased plants are also allegedly sturdy, but some promise greatness and the varieties met with approval from some of my neighbors who were a bit skeptical about the plan overall. I am growing some from cuttings (see post on March 23).
I love roses and lavender more than any other flowers (although sunflowers are close, and daisies), so I don’t think I could have too many of either but if the new cuttings also root I will probably be close to max for a while—unless I find a new place to plant them.
I’ll post an update on all of this next year—or this summer if they flower nicely.
