Gardener's digest: reusing rainwater and April vegetable patch plans

Spring has sprung and with the arrival of warmer weather in France, you are surely keen to spend more time outside in the garden. 

Whether caring for your vegetable patch or browsing outdoor furniture in anticipation of summer heatwaves, we offer tips and inspiration for gardening projects to tackle this month.

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Watering solution

With hot, dry summer proving ever more challenging for gardeners in France, one obvious solution is to catch rainwater from gutter downpipes. 

The good news is that there are some stylish solutions available, including this elegant, Made in France ‘Récupérateur d’eau mural’ (wall mounted water catcher) by Sweeek.

A lid is included to close the 300 litre tank when full, and there is a connector included to connect the collector to the gutters. This is available in kits that can be adapted to three diameters for round gutters: 70mm/80mm/100mm and for square gutters, 75mm.

Product dimensions: 60x34x183cm; height of tap, 40cm; weight, 17kgs. Price: €134.99 (reduced from (€149.99).

The grower’s April agenda

Readers with a potager (vegetable garden) will have plenty to keep them busy this month, including planting seed potatoes, beetroot and carrots directly outside.

Meanwhile aubergines, chillies and tomatoes should be sowed undercover. The same applies to celeriac, courgettes, squashes, pumpkins and marrows, as well as leeks.

This is the last month for planting out asparagus crowns and Jerusalem artichokes as well as shallots and onion sets.

Get set for the sun

Many French garden furniture retailers are selling off last season’s stock at this time of year, making it a great time to bag a bargain sunlounger.

For example, this ‘Aubagne’ set of two sunbeds by Oviala is made of sanded, stained and oiled eucalyptus wood and textilene – the synthetic woven material composed of a polyester blend that can withstand weather and UV rays.

Resistant and durable and, currently on sale at the reduced price of €299 instead of €499.

Insta-jardins

Instagram is a brilliant place to enjoy other people’s gardens in France, with everyone from visitors to chambre d’hôtes owners posting seasonal snaps and quirky updates from their gardens (users can search using hashtags #jardins, #monjardin, #jardinage or #potager).

If you are considering making this the year you install a swimming pool, consider browsing Instagram for some piscine inspiration. This one is from @bassinsatypiques

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