The FLAURE spirit What is a sparkling garden?

Most often, the reverse. A garden designed for biodiversity relies on plants suited to the soil, the aspect and the climate: once established, they need little watering.

The upkeep changes in kind rather than in amount: some areas are mown less often and left as a flowering meadow, dead leaves stay at the foot of the beds as a natural mulch, and hedges are trimmed outside the nesting season, from spring to midsummer. The first two years need careful attention (watering while the plants establish, hand weeding), while the garden finds its balance.

Yes, and every balcony counts. Linked to one another and to the parks, balconies form stepping stones for pollinators and birds across the city.

A few principles are enough: nectar-rich plants flowering in turn from March to November (thyme, lavender, catmint, sage, agastache…), a mix of herbs, perennials and small climbers, a shallow saucer of water filled with pebbles and a small insect shelter. Before installing large planters, we check with you how much weight the balcony can bear and what the building’s co-ownership rules allow.

The LPO Refuges programme, run by the Ligue pour la Protection des Oiseaux (the French bird protection league), is open to gardens as well as balconies, courtyards and terraces. You register online: you commit to the Refuges charter (keeping wildlife undisturbed, offering it suitable habitats, gardening in an ecological way) and register your garden for one year, renewable. You receive a welcome kit with a sign and practical guides. Conditions and prices are on the LPO website (in French).

We can design your garden from the start to meet these commitments: varied hedges, water points, native and nourishing plants, corners left wild.