19. Le cocon végétal

The ideal garden is spared from human intervention; it is an area of preserved nature, like a butterfly’s chrysalis. This cocoon, composed of white threads stretched over a dome-shaped metal framework, encloses a patch of primary forestland: a virgin forest symbolising nature’s resilience in the face of human activity.

Protected by the cocoon, trees and plants are free to develop as they wish. Pioneer species and indigenous vegetation alike prosper, creating a place of refuge for biodiversity. Colonising their environment, climbing plants gradually make their way out through the top of the dome: hops, honeysuckle and clematis are ready to conquer new realms… Resistant to global warming, a pool brings an added touch of freshness to this natural shelter. Visitors may wish to stay in its shade a while longer, simply relaxing or lost in contemplation on the benches provided along the way. Outside the dome, human activity has defiled nature. Plants are hostile, spiny and twisted. They survive, but without managing to dominate their mineral surroundings.

This garden is intended to act as a reminder that human beings must not destroy nature, either for their comfort or in the name of their personal interests, which are ephemeral by definition. A world still needs inventing in which cohabitation is possible. Nature was here long before we were, and it’s up to all of us to take good care of it. Threatened with disappearance, it will take us with it.

 

 

“My name’s Gaël Alexis Lefebvre. I was born in Charleville Mézières in the Ardennes in 2001. My father’s an engineer and my mother’s an account manager. I’ve also got a sister who’s 4 years older than me. Up until I was 20, I lived in Givet, a little town in the Pointe des Ardennes area bordering Belgium. I moved to Aquitaine this summer, near Bordeaux, where I hope to get together with my parents again after I’ve completed my studies. My playground and wonderland has been nature ever since I was small. I spent a lot of time in the garden with my parents as well as with my grandfather, who lives in the country. My first interest was butterflies. In order to satisfy my curiosity, I also had to find out everything I could about the caterpillars they came from, and, what with one thing leading to another, I got interested in the environment they lived in. I then wanted to know more about spiders and stick insects, I bred some of them, and then carnivorous plants, I’ve still got some; I like epiphytic plants too. I started practicing music to help open myself up to culture and art, but it was painting that really did the job. At the club I went to every Wednesday, they introduced me to all sorts of media and colours, there was a lot of focus on creativity and that helped me find my way after finishing my third year of secondary education. General education wasn’t for me, I had to understand, touch and create natural environments, and naturally enough, I turned to horticulture and obtained my professional baccalaureate in 2019. As I’d acquired a good deal of knowledge about plants and their environment, and in order to round off my training and improve my creative flair, I decided to prepare a Bachelor’s Degree in Garden and Landscape Architecture, a course I’m currently following at ISIa in Gembloux in Belgium. My taste for nature and its environment also extends to two passions that drive me. The first is hiking, in order to share the places and ecosystems that surround us with other people. And the second is scuba diving, which I’m currently training to be a trainer of so as to be able to introduce other people to the sport and, above all, instil the values of respect for the aquatic environment. Nature in all its forms is my game space, and revealing and respecting it is my leitmotiv”

“My name’s Marvin Demaude and I’m 22 years old. I come from Saint-Ghislain, a small town in Hainault Province in Belgium, located between Mons and the French border. I spent three years specialising in maths and science up to my 5^th year of secondary education at the Saint-Joseph Institute in Saint-Ghislain and then decided to switch to nature and forestry. So I enrolled in the 5^th year of qualifying technical studies in the “nature and forests” branch at the Provincial Institute of Secondary Education in Ath. My end-of-studies work there bore on management and monitoring of a forest environment. It was carried out on a patch of woodland in the Havré Intermunicipality near Mons, under the supervision of Antoine Roland, a Department of Nature and Forests (DNF) forest warden. I’m currently continuing my studies in landscape and garden architecture at the Haute Ecole Charlemagne, the ISIa in Gembloux. Over the course of my studies and internships, I’ve acquired knowledge of forestry work (felling, tree marking, scaling, inventorying, pruning, game surveys, etc.) as well as management of natural environments, fishing, hunting and flora. With the training I’m currently undergoing, I hope to found my own company and make a career in garden layout combining ecology with aesthetics.”