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| THE ORCHARD |
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| THE KITCHEN GARDEN |
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| Jean Cocteau in his Milly garden - 1962 |
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THE PROJECT IS STRUCTURED AROUND THE GARDEN'S SPECIFICITIES, THE DEPTH OF FIELD, THE OMNIPRESENT WATER, VISUAL HIGHLIGHTS AND THE ONCE SO COLOURFUL ATMOSPHERE OF THE FLOWERBEDS.
Built along a grid of straight lines, the depth and mystery of the garden are heightened by a series of screens, varyingly transparent, that dialogue with the light.
These screens works like filters, modifying our perception
and emphasising the sequence of the different areas
leading up to the wood.
Cocteau's garden invites the visitor to stroll through the artist's poetic universe.
The two gardens surrounding the house remain ascetic and sunny.
The fruit trees of the kitchen garden will be replanted. The boxwood borders will be filled with roses and simple perennials, tiny mauve pansies visible from the window of Cocteau's bedroom.
The sculpture garden will be equally austere. No trees will be planted there. The yews around the herm will be cut back and reshaped to create a screen beyond which the visitor may glimpse the orchard and the path leading to the wood.
Crossing the footbridge that leads to the orchard, the visitor enters a space floating between the wood and the house, the chateau and the village, in the midst of the canals. The path leading to the wood has been slightly widened. The backdrop, replanted with hornbeams, forms the second screen.
The fruit trees are replaced in their original forms and varieties. Between the box bushes, straight lines of lilies, roses, peonies and irises flower alongside narcissi, hyacinths and humble pansies.
The dominant colours are strong, pure and basic: deep orangey reds bursting into flame against the blue sky
and tempered by hints of white.
The generous orchard enchants the visitor's gaze which stretches as far as the church bell-tower. |
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