21. Ma maison est un jardin

The ideal garden meets humankind’s needs while paying full respect to nature. Here, such harmony has created a garden in which you seem to be in your own home, in which indoors and outdoors combine in the heart of a contemporary house fashioned from plant life. White is the dominant colour, capturing the light beneath the ceiling of the sky as visitors make their way through each of the rooms in this utopian setting.

Once through the tree-lined, flower-decked entrance, the welcoming living room opens onto a pond. A portico separates it from the nourishing, perpetual kitchen, an opulent larder where fresh vegetables and aromatic plants grow within arm’s reach. The dining room is the garden’s heart. Its table hangs suspended, as if levitating, giving promise of convivial gatherings nourishing mind and body alike. One of its ends acts as a fountain, spilling its pure waters into the pond. In the intimacy of the bedroom, a romantic four-poster bed is set on a carpet woven of grass and moss. Lindens, camphor trees, hops, verbenas and perennials fill the dreams of its occupants. And just before the exit, soapwort, jasmine and sponge gourds recreate a regenerating bathroom.

This transposition of house to garden brings human beings back to the earth, providing them with an opportunity to live their lives and dreams in symbiosis with nature.

PASSION JARDIN -Sylvère Fournier, Jérémie Boissière, Cédric Eygrier and Allan Bontoux, landscape gardeners-

 

 

Looking back at his childhood in Mayenne, Sylvère Fournier above all remembers the time spent in his grandparents’ vegetable garden, holidays spent on his uncle’s farm and huts built in the forest. So it’s no surprise that he was drawn to nature and knew what he’d be when he grew up: a landscape gardener. As he didn’t find what he needed in the school system, he started out on his chosen career when he was just 15, obtaining a Certificate of Professional Agricultural Studies (BEPA) in landscaping following a sandwich course at Maison Familiale et Rurale. He then went on to take a Professional Baccalaureate in Landscaping as an apprentice. Having got himself qualified, he spent some time working at various companies before moving to Avignon in the south of France (a more propitious region as far as practicing his profession was concerned) at the age of 21. In 2008, he set up Passion Jardin, a company specialising in garden landscaping and care. With a real passion for his profession, he became increasingly interested in the design and architecture of gardens, leading him to enter for the 2015 "Carré des Jardiniers" competition, which he and his team won. "Carré des Jardiniers" invited him to “Jardins Jardin” 2016, where he once again made his mark by winning the “Landscape Design Prize with his garden Apesanteur Estival (Summer Weightlessness). Invited back to “Jardins Jardin” the following year, he won the “Press Prize”. With his ongoing need to create, he signed up for the Côte d’Azur Garden Festival, where he won the “Official Jury Prize”.

Born in a little village in Provence in 1988, Jérémie Boissière spent happy childhood holidays in the Cevennes countryside, feet often in the water, looking for gold alongside his grandfather, and organising fishing trips (a passion he still has). After losing interest in training for the agrifood sector, he went looking for a profession that held meaning for him and in which he could achieve his potential. He ended up taking a Professional Baccalaureate as an apprentice at Passion Jardin, become its first employee. A true landscape technician, he has become one of the company’s essential pillars.

Cédric Eygrier was born in Chateaurenard in the Bouches-du-Rhône. He spent his childhood under the Provence sun, lulled by the song of the cicadas. He has loved nature ever since he can remember, with an initial passion for animals that later spread to plants. As a result, he set himself to tending his parents’ garden and growing his first plants. As life would have it, he strayed somewhat from his childhood dream and focused on studying electrical engineering. After taking his baccalaureate in this field, he realised that there was something missing, so he went looking for another, more fulfilling career path. He spent a few years in the agrifood sector before finally deciding to follow his first instincts and starting on professional retraining in the field of landscaping at Carpentras Serre. This new pathway, along with a little luck, led him to carry out his apprenticeship at the company he still works for today. He’s been a landscaper in the Passion Jardin team for 13 years now.

Allan Bontoux was born in Montélimar in Provencal Drome. As a child, he spent his school holidays in Remuzat (a little village in Provencal Drome) with his grandfather, who introduced him to manual work and instilled a love of nature in him. It was this that made him want to work in the open air when he grew up, in a profession connected with nature. Classrooms were not for him! He acquainted himself with various such professions early on, via a fourth-year sandwich course at the Maison Familiale Rurale in Richerenches, finally selecting the profession of landscaper as his goal. Determined to achieve it, he prepared a Professional Baccalaureate in Landscaping at the Louis Giraud Apprentice Training Centre (CFA) in Carpentras. After passing the exam, he enrolled in a course leading to an Advanced Technician’s Certificate (BTS) in Landscaping, as an apprentice at Passion Jardin. This year, Sylvère Fournier suggested that he become a permanent member of his team. He had no hesitation in giving up the BTS course and accepting the offer. The company, which aims to make best use of knowhow and technical and artistic skills in order to create unique, innovative gardens, had won him over. And he has learned to work rigorously there, while cultivating a sense of aesthetics and knowing the pleasure of work well done.