The Jardin des Lianes, France; a superb garden in the north of France

Visit The Jardin des Lianes

The Jardin des Lianes is a charming private garden in the Pas de Calais department in the north-east of France.

Explore the Jardin des Lianes

The garden was voted the "Prefered garden of the French" in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region in 2014 by viewers of the France2 television channel and is certainly one of our favourites.

The garden has grown gradually over 25 years in the place of the field that once surrounded the owners house. it now covers over 5000 m2. A private passion for gardening rather than a business entrerprise, the couple worked on the garden weekends and evenings until eventually they decided to open the garden to the public.

Because time was tight the owners chose a style which is visually stunning but does not require too much maintenance - no herbacious borders or cottage-style beds here! Rather an emphasis on shrubs and trees which have all year round interest.

Attractive leaf shapes and colours, flowers and fruits and an artistic eye when it comes to planting. Scent is also given great importance in the garden.

Many of the shrubs and trees planted are rare or unusual varieties and lead to many new discoveries. A new favourite of mine is the stunning Sinocalycalycanthus raulstonii "Hartlage Wine".

The garden boasts over 400 varieties of English or ancient roses and 250 varieties of hydrangea - mostly Japanese cultivars.

To keep down weeds the shrubs and trees are underplanted with masses of geraniums, hostas and other ground covering plants.

The garden is delightful across the seasons. Spring brings a rich tapestry of leaf shapes and colours, the wonderful scent of the numerous viburnums in the garden and the colours of the early flowering shrubs.

This leads to rose season with a bonanza of colours and scents throughout the garden.

Summer brings the flowering displays of the hydrangeas and the perennial flowers in the garden which lead into the magnificent autumn colours of the Acers and many of the trees and shrubs.

Structural interest is provided by a charming dovecote, a blue-painted cabin and various arbors, seats and benches. A blue-painted cabin will delight children as a peek inside reveals a tiny country kitchen.

Some of my favourites are the flowering cornus such as Cornus Kouse "Milky Way" with its tiny white star-like flowers and the pink variety "Satomii". With similar flowers the Viburnum Plicatum "Molly Schroeder" also caught my attention.

A more common shrub that I will be buying for my garden for its scent is the Elaeagnus "Quick Silver" variety which flowers in April/May time - much later than the more common Elaeagnus.

The garden has been rewarded with "Jardin Remarkable" status

The Jardin des Lianes garden guide

Address: 8 rue des Capucins, 62140 Cheriennes. It is north of Abbeville and west of Arras.

The garden is open every day except Wednesday from 1 May to 30 September.

From 14.00-19.00 weekdays and 10.00-19.00 weekends.

Prices are 5 euros for adults and over 12s.

Gardens to visit nearby

Another very charming garden in the area is the Jardins de Maizicourt. Indeed there are lots of fabulous gardens in the area. Look out also for the Jardin de Sericourt and the Parc du Bois du Moutiers with a garden co-designed by Gertrude Jekyll herself!

You can find more local travel ideas in the North East France guide,