International Garden festival - Chaumont

The Dutch garden entered by horticultural designers MAAKspace was awarded a Coup de Coeur at the International Garden Festival at Chaumont-sur-Loire in the summer of 2020. The annual garden festival’s international professional jury found the garden to be an extremely successful interpretation of the theme: ‘Back to Mother Nature’. Thanks to an abundance of birch trees providing dappled shade, the garden has a serene ambience. The shade-loving perennials, planted in lava, represent the sumptuousness of nature. At the centre of the garden is a large water dish, a symbolic eye, which encourages visitors to reflect, while itself reflecting images of the sky, trees and visitors themselves. The eye symbolises the world and reminds us that Mother Nature is comprised of ecosystems in which every form of life plays a role.

Van den Berk Nurseries was co-sponsor of this garden and supplied 85 birch trees (Betula pendula) in three different sizes. Lageschaar Vaste Planten sponsored the rich underplanting.

Photo above: Benjamin Lorioux
Photo below: MAAKspace