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The Mediterranean garden : surrounding the main house is the natural Mediterranean and semi-arid flora with a big Phoenix palm, prickly pear and large agaves. A short distance away you find oak and pine woods and a small olive grove. |
Round the main house we are also cultivating a variety of citrus trees that are already bearing fruit: lemons, oranges, grapefruit and kumquats. Other plants that are typical of this location are drought-tolerant and heat-tolerant bushes and trees like cistus, lavender, rosemary, thyme, laurel, fig and quince trees, persimmons, oleander, cotoneaster, yucca and a variety of wild herbs. To keep down the vegetation we have a few Corsican sheep that graze on most parts of the site. Despite this, we have to mow once a year. The olive trees - some of them centuries old - are all pruned in the winter to get back to a higher yield. We harvest the olives in November and December with the help of as many people as possible. The olives are then taken in 10kg boxes to the oil mill where our own olive oil is pressed.The benefits 
The advantages of a decorative garden that is adapted to the location are the low level of maintenance and how little water is required. Watering is usually not necessary even in the long Mediterranean summer.
The northern garden
The north part of the site is a wood with big pines and oaks. Many bushes like strawberry trees, snowball, pyracantha, cotoneaster, ivy and juniper are indigenous species and provide an ideal habitat for birds and insects. In the early spring you can also admire the profusion of orchids like the French wild orchid and bee orchid (Ophrys apifera).
The southern garden
