It had been two years since my last visit to the love capital of the world; and I was head over heals yet again… Spring time in Paris is a must see, with the flowering trees (Aesculus and Paulownias particularly) putting on an amazing display of colour, and an erotic ambiance which hovers and envelops you as you picnic (with a fine drop of red!) in the parkland surrounding the Eiffel Tower.
Despite my love for the city on a whole, the gardens are what drew me back to this beautiful city. Travelling with a group of students undertaking the Wisley Diploma in Practical Horticulture (see the education section at www.rhs.org.uk); we had received a grant to visit iconic gardens in our chosen destination. Arriving in Paris, we visited both Jardin des Plantes and Parc des Buttes Chaumont. Both of these are very different in their own right and worth a visit, but if you are limited for time, then my pick in central Paris would be Parc André Citroën.
Constructed on 14 hectares, the public open space is the former site of a Citroën automobile manufacturing plant, being named after its founder as Parc André Citroën. It is a modern landscape consisting of a number of gardens and features which is said to create a transition from the urban to rural landscape. The creators, Alain Provost and Gilles Clément are two of France’s leading landscape architects and explain the design as having four themes – artifice, architecture, movement and nature. Each is represented in its own unique manner, blending together to create an overall landscape that has elements that will appeal to nearly any plant enthusiast.
The central feature is a large lawn which is popular with Parisians who enjoy taking a break from their busy lifestyles to work on their tans. It is surrounded by a number of various water features and tightly clipped Magnolia grandiflora, Photinia robusta and huge blocks of Carpinus betulus (Hornbeam) and Fagus sylvatica (Beech). Surrounding the lawn, the landscape splits off into a number of very different gardens all with their own character and style. One area, known as the Serial Gardens were of great interest, portraying six different colour themed gardens which provide inspiration to any gardener. They demonstrate various dramatic planting combinations, featuring a wide range of plants and utilising hard landscape features and structures which tie the whole setting together. The blue garden for example was looking particularly spectacular with swathes of Ceanothus thyrsiflorus, Myosotis, Camassia cusickii, Pansies and a show stopping display provided by a large Wisteria floribunda. One plant which really stood out in this garden however was not blue flowering, but a large yellow flowering Cytisus battandieri. The plant complimented the rest of the garden with its silver blue foliage, but when in flower it stands out from the rest and makes a huge statement. Parc André Citroën is a well thought out landscape with many attractive features, providing a tranquil haven for escape from the busy city life, right in the middle of town.
Other parts of the garden feature a variety of clipped plants, all grown for their colour and seasonal interest. In one area there is a grove of Betula under planted with Buxus which is clipped into small squares of varying heights. I was in awe of what was being achieved there. What to the untrained eye looks simply like an amazing landscape, I doubt is appreciated for the high level of maintenance which goes into such a setting. Parc André Citroën is one of the most astonishing urban landscapes I have seen.
Outside of Paris, I visited the decadent Palais de Versailles. Here lies one of the most famous landscapes of the world, typical of the French Baroque style, the site was designed as the palatial centre of government for Louis XIV. It is made up of vast avenues, opulent fountains, magnificent parterres, a collection of elaborate outdoor sculpture and an Orangery where the ‘Versailles’ planter originates (a style of planting container).
Walking around the site is tiring to say the least, the place is huge. Classical music is played over huge speakers, setting the scene and projecting into every corner of the garden, relaxing and diminishing the effect that thousands of people in one place can have. The buttress of a Platanus (Plane) tree provides welcome respite from the hot midday sun, allowing one to revel in the magnificence of the avenues that the line of trees creates.
Clipped conical Buxus is a prominent feature around the palace, with the main vista (the Great Perspective) covering not only the Park of the Château but the whole town of Versailles stretching out as a centre point from the Palace. Either side of this vista, the garden is split up into large squares, surrounded by hedging and formally laid out in a pattern of diagonal running paths. Each large square is laid out differently creating very different settings, but walking between them one can easily become disoriented by the never ending stretches of pleached/hedged Fagus that wall you in either side of the path and fork off in all sorts of geometric directions. Versailles has a bewildering layout, but one which works given its size. The formality makes for some ease of movement around the site, while each corner reveals something different; sometimes a quiet and shady corner under a burgundy leafed Beech (suspected Fagus sylvatica ‘Riversii’) tree surrounded by buttercups (Ranunculus sp.) springing from the lawn or a hot dry gravel square featuring at its centre, a flat water feature that throws out ridiculous amounts of water at a ridiculous height from a singular jet.
On arrival, with the warm European sun pelting down upon the masses, none of the water features were running. However, as the light clouds began to roll in early afternoon, on queue something magical happened. The fountains came to life little by little, with their glory adding a unique element to the landscape. In a landscape as vast as this one, without the running water it felt hot and heartless, but with the sound and light spray of water in the air, life was restored and an ambiance of elegance was created.
Versailles, is not just a garden, but a landscape that oozes with arrogance, dwarfing the people that move through it, emphasising the self indulgence that it was developed around. The garden has much to offer at many levels, not just for the horticulturist and garden lover but for the historian as well. Delving into the history of the place helps to understand the magnificence of Versailles. It is indeed one of the most famous gardens in this world for a reason; the pure monumental scale on which it has been constructed is something that must be seen with the naked eye. It simply must be seen to be believed…
Text and Photos by Anthony J Curnow
Monday 12 May 2008
Thursday 1 May 2008
Great Dixter - A Garden of More Than 4 Seasons
Great Dixter is one of England’s finest garden examples where traditional horticultural practices are still being used to maintain an historic, seasonally interesting and highly intensive garden full of colour and contrast. It is an English garden of aspiration!
Set around the Manor of Dixter which dates back to the 1450s, the gardens were developed from 1912, when it was bought by Nathaniel Loyd as an agricultural property with farmhouse attached. Since that time, Christopher Loyd who inherited the property after the death of his father Nathanial in 1972, developed a strong love for plants and as such became one of England’s acclaimed gardening writers and plantsmen.
Christopher Loyd met Fergus Garret in 1988 when he was visiting the gardens as a student, and their combined passion and motivation led to a lifetime of friendship. Since the passing of Christopher Loyd in recent years, Fergus Garret has continued to set gardening trends while challenging horticulture. He has done this by avoiding traditional planting schemes and literally reinventing the colour wheel by utilising combinations that go against the rule such as the use of pink and yellow! On arrival to Dixter, one of Garrett’s first challenges was to convert what was a tired old formal rose garden into a rainbow of colour that would be an exotic garden featuring Cordylines, Cannas, Dahlia, Musa, Eucalyptus, Verbena bonariensis (a characteristically Dixter plant) and others. This level of ongoing experimentation is what makes Great Dixter one of Englands much loved gardens.
I was spending two days at the gardens with the Wisley Diploma students on a volunteer weekend, but little did I realise in the middle of winter that the gardens would be bare, only outlined by the characteristic Dixterian Yew hedges. As a result, there were a number of other maintenance duties which take place throughout the winter, and the one I was assigned to would be making fresh potting mix (or compost as it is called here).
The first step in this process is to use a turf cutter to take the top off a meadow and then to stack this high and let it decompose. From this, shavings are taken from one end and spread over an area, and then top dressed with compost from the gardens which is comprised mainly of decomposed clippings from those same meadows. These two parts are then rotary hoed together before being shovelled through a screen filter. This fine material is the base of the compost, with peat, pine bark, grit, fertilisers and other additions made after it has been sterilised by a huge fire throwing machine. It is backbreaking work, but I think one would agree that it makes a supreme growing medium, whereby plants will grow out of the media into its new surrounding soil quicker. This has been found on site at Great Dixter, primarily attributing to the fact that they are being grown in essentially the same soil they are to be planted into as stock plants for the gardens ongoing replacement scheme.
The stock produced by the Gardens Nursery staff is sold through a small plant centre at one end of the gardens, where visitors have the option of buying a plant propagated and grown on site in Dixters very own compost. It makes for a very attractive and attainable souvenir!
There are many interesting attributes that characterise Dixter as such a progressive garden. Quiet possibly it’s most popular of these is the successional planting schemes which Christopher Loyd is famous for. Having written many books on the topic, Dixter is the garden where these ideas were born. In each season the planting schemes primary goal is to provide interest throughout the entire growing season. This means that from Spring through to Autumn as one plant flowering early in the season begins to fade, another pops up in its place to provide further interest. There is no doubt that the level of success is varied, and it is an ongoing challenge to find combinations that work well, resulting in an incredibly high maintenance garden where the love for plants is evident at every level.
The philosophy behind successional planting is exhaustive, but to start such a canvas as Garret explained to us, the first step is to identify what you want the garden bed to look like at its peak and work first backwards and then forwards from that point. In doing so, think about using as much variation in colour, texture, form, height, flower, fruit and leaf and also plant type such as climbers, evergreen, perennials, biennials and annuals so that you create a canvas which changes constantly. The key is to also ensure that it looks good if it were viewed not only in colour, but black and white which is where the varied design elements and principles come into play. It’s all about balancing the number of plants so that one doesn’t swamp the other and they live in harmony. For example, bulbs will often die off if the other plantings around them are too thick and don’t die down at the right time.
Great Dixter demonstrates a truly inspirational style of gardening, bringing forth every little bit of passion that England and Australia share for our favourite past time. Forget the no maintenance style of gardening; this is one style where the purpose is to create your own living landscape full of ever changing interest throughout the year. While it is difficult to create what Great Dixter does due to Australia’s varying environment, the love and care which goes into developing a garden is something that we must harness once more. As horticulturalists in the nursery and garden industry, and the primary promoters of plants, we have to recapture that passion for gardening by encouraging and inspiring our customers when they step through the door of your plant centre looking for something to buy.
Text and Photos by Anthony J Curnow
Set around the Manor of Dixter which dates back to the 1450s, the gardens were developed from 1912, when it was bought by Nathaniel Loyd as an agricultural property with farmhouse attached. Since that time, Christopher Loyd who inherited the property after the death of his father Nathanial in 1972, developed a strong love for plants and as such became one of England’s acclaimed gardening writers and plantsmen.
Christopher Loyd met Fergus Garret in 1988 when he was visiting the gardens as a student, and their combined passion and motivation led to a lifetime of friendship. Since the passing of Christopher Loyd in recent years, Fergus Garret has continued to set gardening trends while challenging horticulture. He has done this by avoiding traditional planting schemes and literally reinventing the colour wheel by utilising combinations that go against the rule such as the use of pink and yellow! On arrival to Dixter, one of Garrett’s first challenges was to convert what was a tired old formal rose garden into a rainbow of colour that would be an exotic garden featuring Cordylines, Cannas, Dahlia, Musa, Eucalyptus, Verbena bonariensis (a characteristically Dixter plant) and others. This level of ongoing experimentation is what makes Great Dixter one of Englands much loved gardens.
I was spending two days at the gardens with the Wisley Diploma students on a volunteer weekend, but little did I realise in the middle of winter that the gardens would be bare, only outlined by the characteristic Dixterian Yew hedges. As a result, there were a number of other maintenance duties which take place throughout the winter, and the one I was assigned to would be making fresh potting mix (or compost as it is called here).
The first step in this process is to use a turf cutter to take the top off a meadow and then to stack this high and let it decompose. From this, shavings are taken from one end and spread over an area, and then top dressed with compost from the gardens which is comprised mainly of decomposed clippings from those same meadows. These two parts are then rotary hoed together before being shovelled through a screen filter. This fine material is the base of the compost, with peat, pine bark, grit, fertilisers and other additions made after it has been sterilised by a huge fire throwing machine. It is backbreaking work, but I think one would agree that it makes a supreme growing medium, whereby plants will grow out of the media into its new surrounding soil quicker. This has been found on site at Great Dixter, primarily attributing to the fact that they are being grown in essentially the same soil they are to be planted into as stock plants for the gardens ongoing replacement scheme.
The stock produced by the Gardens Nursery staff is sold through a small plant centre at one end of the gardens, where visitors have the option of buying a plant propagated and grown on site in Dixters very own compost. It makes for a very attractive and attainable souvenir!
There are many interesting attributes that characterise Dixter as such a progressive garden. Quiet possibly it’s most popular of these is the successional planting schemes which Christopher Loyd is famous for. Having written many books on the topic, Dixter is the garden where these ideas were born. In each season the planting schemes primary goal is to provide interest throughout the entire growing season. This means that from Spring through to Autumn as one plant flowering early in the season begins to fade, another pops up in its place to provide further interest. There is no doubt that the level of success is varied, and it is an ongoing challenge to find combinations that work well, resulting in an incredibly high maintenance garden where the love for plants is evident at every level.
The philosophy behind successional planting is exhaustive, but to start such a canvas as Garret explained to us, the first step is to identify what you want the garden bed to look like at its peak and work first backwards and then forwards from that point. In doing so, think about using as much variation in colour, texture, form, height, flower, fruit and leaf and also plant type such as climbers, evergreen, perennials, biennials and annuals so that you create a canvas which changes constantly. The key is to also ensure that it looks good if it were viewed not only in colour, but black and white which is where the varied design elements and principles come into play. It’s all about balancing the number of plants so that one doesn’t swamp the other and they live in harmony. For example, bulbs will often die off if the other plantings around them are too thick and don’t die down at the right time.
Great Dixter demonstrates a truly inspirational style of gardening, bringing forth every little bit of passion that England and Australia share for our favourite past time. Forget the no maintenance style of gardening; this is one style where the purpose is to create your own living landscape full of ever changing interest throughout the year. While it is difficult to create what Great Dixter does due to Australia’s varying environment, the love and care which goes into developing a garden is something that we must harness once more. As horticulturalists in the nursery and garden industry, and the primary promoters of plants, we have to recapture that passion for gardening by encouraging and inspiring our customers when they step through the door of your plant centre looking for something to buy.
Text and Photos by Anthony J Curnow
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