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
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