The Lude gardens of the Château du

At Tectona, we have always been passionate about gardens: we admire their beauty and also the people responsible and we want their know-how to be passed down generations. And so we were naturally drawn to the gardens of Château du Lude, an architectural gem officially classed as a "Jardin remarquable" in 2004. It is located in the Sarthe département, near the city of Anjou, and T magazine is delighted to give you a guided tour encompassing the past and the present.

The Eden On The Banks Of The Loir

Day breaks at the Château du Lude, enveloping the earth with a cloak of dense mist. Countess Barbara de Nicolaÿ watches over her estate as the sunshine bathes the terraced gardens in golden light. Although the gardens were outlined as far back as the 17th century, the current lines were laid down by the landscape artist Édouard André (1840-1911). For nearly four decades, Barbara de Nicolaÿ has not only maintained the gardens but sublimated them. “When I arrived at the Château in the 1980s, the gardens were, in a sense, static. At the time, the estate would host a light and sound show that occupied the entire space”. The open-air theatre show was held for nearly 40 years and firmly placed Lude in the public’s mind. When it ceased in 1996, the gardens could once again breathe. Lilacs, daphnes and hellebores quite literally flourished.

The Secrets Of The Earth

With patience, Barbara de Nicolaÿ learned the arts of horticulture and the science of botany, much of it from Mr Martinet, the former gardener: how to prune rose bushes, how to propagate honeysuckle by taking cuttings, how to sow watercress,… The secrets of Lude, from bygone eras and from the prewar period, would also reveal themselves. The sum of these efforts has culminated in the magnificent gardens we see today. First was the kitchen garden occupying nearly four acres, today cultivated by the permaculture way and surrounding an orange grove. Then in 1997, the Éperon garden next to the east facade of the Château emerged revitalised by landscape artist Augustin d’Ursel. Other attractions for visitors are the box tree labyrinth and the rose gardens providing opportunities for promenades full of surprises and punctuated by splashes of Clementina Carbonieri, Archiduc Joseph and other hybrid tea roses.

A Fragrant Refuge

Further down, in the French-style garden, yew and magnolia topiaries have replaced the geranium beds, while the still water of the ponds pleasingly contrasts with the jovial flow of the Loir and the agricultural plains on the other bank. Nevertheless it is the Source garden, which forms a transitional zone towards the wooded park in the southern part of the estate, that remains Barbara de Nicolaÿ’s favourite place to while away the hours. Here, on the outskirts of the botanical promenade amid trees native to China brought by the collector Jacky Pousse, the blossoming of shrubs releases fragrances to delight visitors, in winter as well as summer.