Recreating a Typical 17th-Century Garden

Gardening is an ongoing project. It teaches you constancy and patience. It teaches you to accept nature's whims, to battle against them and work with them. It's very complicated. In the 17th century, in France, landscape architects strove to cultivate various shades of green in the plant world. Their search for perfection produced a very distinct style of gardening, the French Formal Garden. In southern Burgundy, between Tournou and Cluny, lies the Château de Comartin. This 17th century building is surrounded by 30 acres of parkland. The property lay abandoned for years, but it has finally been restored to its former glory, thanks to works carried out by its new owners. When the work began in 1980, all sorts of treasures were revealed. The château was crammed full of splendid decor that had been painted and carved. François-Simonet Langlars, one of the new owners, inspects the property every morning. He never tires of its beauty, both inside and out. Before him lie 7,000 square meters of flower beds, a fountain of life and a maze composed of 3,000 box trees surrounded by water in which the former president of the USSR, Mikhail Gorbachev, is said to have got lost when he was invited by François Mitterrand on a private visit to Burgundy. When we came to Comartin in 1980, there was no garden around the château. The land was neglected and boggy because in the early 19th century, the moat was filled with soil from the gardens. The idea was to recreate a garden in an early 17th century style. The gardens were there to enhance the building. It cost a fortune to employ gardeners to create a so-called pleasure garden. In other words, a garden which didn't produce anything. But it was a way of making it feel as if this was a place reserved for the elite. In the 17th century, au Grand Siècle, as it was known in France, the elite liked to lose themselves in greenery. Utilitarian enclosures were a thing of the past. Now gardens were solely for people's delectation. Theatricality and showiness were de rigueur. When we created this garden, we tried to give it a symbolic meaning. Like all early 17th century gardens, this garden had to reflect our relationship with the creator, with God. The flowerbeds traditionally symbolize the garden of Eden. And the maze represents life after the fall. Having been banished from the garden of Eden, you are faced in the maze with the challenges you must overcome if you want to go to heaven. There is a series of seven paths, formed by seven box hedges, to represent the seven heavens that you have to cross to reach paradise, represented at Comatin by the aviary, which symbolizes heaven's gate, where you are united with God. The garden is a landscape of ideas. It's not a reconstructed piece of nature. It is nature being used to create a spectacle, but also a reflection, a meditation. What we've tried to do at Comatin is recreate the spirit of the era, whilst adapting it for today's visitors. In other words, this garden must appear perfectly organized and monumental in layout, but it must also be charming. Grassy paths and less formal planting make this garden more accessible to all. Behind the chateau, there is a vegetable garden. It is an exact replica of a Renaissance vegetable garden and shows how our ancestors grew fruits and vegetables alongside flowers. Those look lovely. Vegetables are mixed in with flowers to create different compositions. This is a garden that produces food, and it's also aesthetically pleasing. It shows that vegetables can be very beautiful elements in a garden. Gardening is an ongoing project. It teaches you constancy and patience. It teaches you to accept nature's whims, to battle against them, and work with them. It's very complicated. At Comatin, as with other French formal gardens, flowers are not the stars of the show. Instead, pride of place is given to nature's primary color. My favorite time of year in these gardens is springtime. Nature comes into bloom at this time of year. It's still young and fresh, so the greens are particularly varied. It is the leaves that create the symphony that brings the place to life. The flowers are simply there to punctuate the green.