Private visit to the Mas des Tilleuls garden in Gattigues
FR - The Mas des Tilleuls premices? A private garden, open to visitors throughout May and June, by appointment only.
While peonies, roses, poppies, lilacs, irises and so many other varieties are blooming all along the garden's paths, the Canadian gardener takes us on a guided and... private tour of the place. How lucky we are!
A short introduction
Long term members of L'Aphyllanthe association in Aigaliers, Jim Cluchey and his wife Céline have been creating and maintaining their garden for many years with passion and devotion. A vast 5,000 m2 land carefully transformed over the years and open to visit in May and June.
When designing a garden means interpreting nature in your own way
A garden, yes, a botanical one, of course... As designing a garden always means interpreting nature in your own way, it allows you to participate actively in the creation. You have to learn how to structure spaces and choose species carefully, taking into account seasonality and the blending of colours.
It's a true great challenge, because you have to be able to control your enthusiasm and think more carefully about the plan to be drawn up and the layout of the different parts, while sometimes drawing inspiration for the wilder parts from the discovery trails at Clos Gaillard, among other natural areas.
A project started in 2001
At Mas des Tilleuls de Gattigues, the development of the project began in 2001 and was subject of 2 other major stages, in 2005 and 2015. Little by little, species have been planted, others removed, always with a sense of detail and harmony.
As the scent of flowers wafts through the air on these spring days, the place that welcomes us is bursting at the seams: the many endemic varieties such as rosemary, lavender, olive trees and plane and mulberry trees are brightened up by beds of peonies (30 varieties of Japanese peonies), around fifty rosebushes (did you know that there are no blue roses? ), fragrant jasmines (Jasminum), orange and purple daylilies (Hemerocallis) and irises, all of which have created their own world within the garden.
The borage (Borago officinalis) does not give in to the advances of the biennial evening primrose (Oenothera biennis), the hardy orchids (Barlia Robertiana and Bletilla striata) camouflage themselves, the velvety poppies slip out of the flowerbeds and the shrubs flourish. Among them are viburnums and jacaranda shoots waiting to take root in the space reserved for them, black pepper trees (Piper nigrum) with fragrant, tasty berries, a ginkgo, also known as the forty-ecus tree or the silver apricot tree (Ginkgo biloba) and the dashing ornamental apple tree (Malus Apollo).
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Orchids, named after the ancient Greek philosopher Theophrastus (c. 372 BC / c. 288 BC),
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Trees and shrubs for a forest atmosphere
And then there are the splendid chitalpas (Chitalpa taskentensis), with their ample habit and delicate, light mauve flowers, luxuriant oak-leaved hydrangeas (Hydrangea quercifolia), and an iron tree (Parrotia persica), ‘a survivor of the last ice age, which has achieved the feat of surviving two scorching summers and a rainy year, and which should, if all goes well, grow to a height of 3 m’, explains Jim. 'It blooms very discreetly, starting in December and continuing until February'. The Japanese spirea (Spiraea japonica) is also a delight.
Among the tree species that have acclimatised well to Gattigues are the sober aronias (Aronia arbutifolia), the splendid Montpellier maples (Acer monspessulanum L.), thorny lemon trees (Poncirus trifoliata), Osage orange trees (Maclura pomifera) with surprising fruit that isn't... citrus, or flowering ash (Fraxinus ornus) and white oak (Quercus polymorpha).
Mas des Tilleuls, a botanical inspiration
Naturally, we come across a Henry's lime (Tilia henryana, which gives the garden its name), a species brought back from China in the early 1900s by the British botanist Ernest Henry Wilson, known as ‘the China man’ (1876/1930). Not to mention other varieties in the Tiliaceae family...
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What a reference this Wilson is, given that he worked at Birmingham Botanic Gardens and the famous Kew Gardens in London, before ‘leaving for China, where he discovered the royal lily. He also brought back the delicious actinidia (Actinidia deliciosa, kiwi), Armand's clematis (Clematis armandii). In recognition of his immense work in botany, Henry Wilson was awarded the Victoria Medal of Honour by the Royal Horticultural Society in 1912, the Veitch Memorial Medal and the George Robert White Memorial Medal of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society and the degree of Doctor of Science from Trinity College Dublin. by the Royal Horticultural Society and the Royal Botanical Society and sixty species and varieties of Chinese plants are named after him.
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A desert area in the heart of Uzège
There's also an arid zone where palm trees, bamboo, billbergia and cacti intermingle in a skilful union. We do feel like explorers looking for rare species wandering around the world. It's a fact that we travel to all five continents and many countries on this horticultural tour: China, India, North America, Australia, Mexico, Brazil, Japan and so on...
A source of inspiration
Some of the best things about this garden? The name of each plant is indicated, which is handy for botany enthusiasts and the curious!
The large, old-fashioned wrought-iron greenhouse, where cuttings and other treasures can be found, and the vegetable garden, next door to the nursery for new plantings, are both inspiring. Jim and Céline Cluchey's garden will give you some ideas for seeds and transplants, so you can start your own nursery. See you next season!
Banners credits: 1, 2 & 3©UzEssentiel. 4 & 5©Gerard Bellaïche.
The right address: Mas des Tilleuls, 26 route de la Bruyerette, Gattigues. Visits every day in May, free by appointment. Contact: 06 26 80 84 41.