Guides · Exposure
What to plant in a south-facing garden
A south-facing garden is worth money and is unusable in August without a tree. Plan the shade before the planting.
South-facing ground is the exposure everyone wants and the one that gets planted the most carelessly, because everything flowers. The constraint is not what grows: it is that a paved terrace against a south wall reaches 45 °C at six in the evening in July and nobody sits on it.
So a south-facing garden is designed around one tree — placed to the south-west of the seating, four to six metres out, so its canopy covers the terrace at the hour the terrace is used and not at midday when nobody is there. A pergola does the same job faster; a parasol does it badly and blows over.
Then the paving. Light sawn stone and gravel stay ten degrees cooler than dark porcelain or asphalt, and a gravel edge between paving and planting takes the reflected heat off the plants. Everything drought-adapted then works with no irrigation at all after two summers.
The four rules
- 01One tree, south-west of the seating, four to six metres out. Shade at 18 h is the whole point.
- 02Light-coloured paving. Dark stone is a radiator you cannot switch off.
- 03Group by water need: drought plants together, thirsty plants nowhere.
- 04Water deeply for two summers, then not at all. A hosepipe every evening makes a plant that cannot survive without you.
What we plant in full sun
24 species in our database are chosen for full sun — 4 trees, 2 hedging species, 6 shrubs, 3 grasses, 5 perennials, 4 edibles. Prices are French retail nursery prices per plant, 2026.
| Species | Type | Height | Spacing | Price | Why it belongs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Field mapleAcer campestre · Érable champêtre | tree | 8,00 m | 6,00 m | 165 € | The reliable small native canopy for heavy ground; takes clay and wind without sulking. |
| OliveOlea europaea · Olivier | tree | 5,00 m | 5,00 m | 240 € | Needs sharp drainage; on clay it is planted on a raised gravel mound, never in a sump. |
| Snowy mespilusAmelanchier lamarckii · Amélanchier | tree | 5,00 m | 4,00 m | 145 € | Three seasons out of one small tree: white blossom, edible fruit, red autumn. |
| Sweet cherryPrunus avium · Cerisier | tree | 7,00 m | 6,00 m | 78 € | Prune only in summer: a winter cut on a cherry invites bacterial canker. |
| HornbeamCarpinus betulus · Charme | hedge | 2,00 m | 0,33 m | 6 € | Holds its brown leaf through winter and is the cheapest good hedge on clay. |
| SilverberryElaeagnus × ebbingei · Chalef | hedge | 2,50 m | 0,60 m | 15 € | Evergreen, salt- and wind-proof: the hedge for an exposed or coastal boundary. |
| Cotton lavenderSantolina chamaecyparissus · Santoline | shrub | 0,50 m | 0,50 m | 8 € | Silver mounds that hold their shape all winter and ask for nothing. |
| Japanese hollyIlex crenata 'Dark Green' · Houx crénelé | shrub | 0,60 m | 0,50 m | 14 € | Used instead of box: same clipped form, and box moth does not touch it. |
| LaurustinusViburnum tinus · Laurier-tin | shrub | 2,50 m | 1,20 m | 16 € | Evergreen screen that flowers in January, which is when you need it. |
| LavenderLavandula × intermedia 'Grosso' · Lavandin | shrub | 0,80 m | 0,60 m | 9 € | Dies of wet feet, not of cold. On clay it goes on a 20 cm gravel ridge. |
| Rock roseCistus × purpureus · Ciste | shrub | 1,20 m | 1,00 m | 12 € | Flowers for six weeks on poor ground and resents being fed. |
| RosemarySalvia rosmarinus · Romarin | shrub | 1,20 m | 0,80 m | 11 € | Evergreen structure and a kitchen crop from the same plant. |
| Autumn moor grassSesleria autumnalis · Seslérie d'automne | grass | 0,50 m | 0,40 m | 7 € | Plant in blocks as a low matrix: it closes the ground and stops weeding. |
| Golden oatsStipa gigantea · Avoine géante | grass | 1,80 m | 1,00 m | 13 € | Holds its structure through winter and catches low western light. |
| Purple moor grassMolinia caerulea 'Transparent' · Molinie | grass | 1,40 m | 0,70 m | 11 € | One of the few good grasses for heavy, damp ground. |
| Hardy geraniumGeranium × oxonianum 'Claridge Druce' · Géranium vivace | perennial | 0,50 m | 0,50 m | 6 € | Covers ground under shrubs on heavy soil and asks for one cut a year. |
| Mediterranean spurgeEuphorbia characias subsp. wulfenii · Euphorbe des garrigues | perennial | 1,10 m | 0,80 m | 10 € | Architectural all winter. Wear gloves: the sap burns skin in sunlight. |
| ThymeThymus vulgaris · Thym | perennial | 0,30 m | 0,30 m | 5 € | Plant it where you walk past it, at the terrace edge and along the path. |
| Wood sageSalvia nemorosa 'Caradonna' · Sauge des bois | perennial | 0,60 m | 0,40 m | 7 € | Flowers twice if you cut it back hard after the first flush. |
| YarrowAchillea 'Terracotta' · Achillée | perennial | 0,70 m | 0,50 m | 7 € | Flat heads that read well against grasses, and it does not need staking on poor soil. |
| Autumn raspberryRubus idaeus 'Zeva' · Framboisier remontant | edible | 1,60 m | 0,50 m | 7 € | An autumn variety is cut to the ground each February: no canes to tie in. |
| BlackcurrantRibes nigrum 'Andega' · Cassis | edible | 1,50 m | 1,50 m | 12 € | Fruits on last year's wood: take a third of the oldest stems out every winter. |
| Garden mintMentha spicata · Menthe verte | edible | 0,60 m | 0,40 m | 5 € | Only ever planted in a sunken pot. In open ground it takes the bed. |
| StrawberryFragaria × ananassa 'Mara des Bois' · Fraisier | edible | 0,25 m | 0,35 m | 4 € | Replace the plants every third year: yield halves after that. |
Every Dossier states the hour it was designed for. South-west exposure means shade on the terrace at 18 h, and the plan is drawn to deliver it.