Hi there,
I’m looking at creating native habitat by combining garden flowers, plant, bushes, vines and trees.
Currently there is a fairly long and wide expanse of lawn going down to a small fish pond that’s spring-fed, bounded by pasture fencing on one side and a small lane on the other.
Has anyone done any plantings for native habitat, especially in Haute Vienne or Poitou Charente? If so, please would you consider providing photos and/or comments of what you’ve done?
Cheers. Happy gardening.
Have a look to see if there is a branch of CPIE locally, amd particularly their ‘bienvenue dans mon jardin au natural’ initiative. As they can tell you precisely what your native local environment is. We took part in the bienvenue open days and they were a good way of meeting other people locally with similar interests - as well as getting a supply of cuttings, seeds and so on!
Beware of box trees, a native plant in the area but blighted by the Pyrale de Buis moth.
Talk to your local agricultural lycée, they may have a conservation orchard and be willing to sell you fruit trees. They should also be able to give you all sorts of information.
Thank you; I do have a question… would you happen to know where I could look, to find a local agricultural lycée? Would you happen to know of a link to a list of these, by any chance?
Hi Mary… I just popped " Lycée Agricole en France" into Google and it gave all sorts of stuff… suitable for browsing, armed with a hot toddy on a dull day I suspect. 
Vero may be more help…
Stella has it, les pages jaunes are your friend - they tend to specialise so I’d think in Haute-Vienne they would specialise in animals, just as here it is wine BUT they all do plants as well or know about them. You can just go and see them😊
Oh, good to know les pages jaunes are useful! It’s odd to perhaps state this but your verifying their usefulness gives the go-ahead. Otherwise, I might have assumed they were in fact, passé. Thanks.
I appreciate your doing the Google thing. I really do. However, I asked because I wanted more pinpointed info in which to ruminate with my hot toddy. Cheers.
Ha ha… actually, I’ve noticed that there are a couple of Lycée Ag within a day of us… so perhaps I shall be taking the plunge come Summer… I love all things to do with gardening…
Well the other possibility is going on the site for your Rectorat but they tend to be fiddly to negotiate and full of extraneous stuff of little interest or use to a person with a specific question.
Stella, I’d love it if you might comment on your experience after you ‘take the plunge’. Sounds like fun!