Saint-Étienne-du-Grès sits on the plain between the Montagnette and the northern slope of the Alpilles. The setting is very different from the hill villages nearby: larger plots, deeper and cooler soils, family gardens that combine ornament, vegetable plot, orchard and space for children.
On these plain sites the planting palette widens: we keep the Mediterranean base (olives, lavender, cypress) but can bring in species that need more water — Montpellier maple, nettle tree, plane-leaved mulberry for summer shade, Virginia creeper, wisteria. The silty clay soil holds moisture better than the limestone of the Alpilles, which opens up hard-wearing lawns (tall fescue, clover and fescue mixes) and permanent vegetable plots.
Local demand leans heavily towards boundaries and screening: we regularly replace single-species cherry laurel hedges — vulnerable to mildew and poor for biodiversity — with mixed informal hedges combining viburnum tinus, viburnum, photinia and Mexican orange blossom. For timber fencing, cleft sweet chestnut posts remain our standard for their natural durability without treatment.
Maintenance in Saint-Étienne-du-Grès and Tarascon usually takes the form of annual contracts: regular mowing from March to October, hedges cut twice a season, hand or thermal weeding of paths, leaf clearing in autumn, winter fruit pruning in the orchard. The proximity of the Rhône and a relatively high water table also mean paying attention to drainage and to surface water management.
For a project in Saint-Étienne-du-Grès, see our annual maintenance, our family garden design and our automatic irrigation installation, or request a quote.
A free, no-obligation quote, prepared with care by our team.