April at the Clos du Coudray

More than 8,000 species and cultivars flourish in this jewel of a garden in Haute Normandie.

02/05/2004
April at the Clos du Coudray
Yesterday, a writer interviewing me for an article on French gardening style asked me what gardens I would recommend seeing for visitors to France. Le Clos du Coudray popped into my brain first and foremost. Of the scores of gardens I have visited in my adopted country, this extraordinary oeuvre remains my absolute favorite for a number of reasons. Since we are now in the doldrums of February, let me cheer you up and inspire you by taking you on a stroll through this incredible garden in April. In later articles, we'll revisit this garden in midsummer and in autumn, so you can appreciate how intricately orchestrated are the seasons of color at the Clos du Coudray.

The Clos du Coudray is a nursery as well as a garden extraordinaire. When you enter the garden from the nursery's boutique, you find yourself in the Roseraie, or rose garden. This is the most formal portion of the planet Coudray. Rectangular beds demarcated by paths of stone and brick are planted with mature shrub and climbing roses, the latter clambering over an elegant pergola which extends the length of the garden, adding vertical interest and even more structure to the space.

Almost all the roses are ancient varieties or species, such as the pale yellow Rosa primula already in flower in April (above right). Like all the plants included here, the roses have been selected for their adaptation to the micro-environment in their particular niche, as the Clos du Coudray is an entirely organic garden. Any experienced gardener's eye will immediately discern evidence of the monumental amount of work that has gone into creating optimal environments for each and every plant in the garden.

Even this early stage, the rose garden is not wanting for color, for although the backbone of this garden is the roses, they are flanked by tapestries of perennials, grasses, and annuals that provide an ever-changing symphony of color harmonies throughout the year. I don't believe I've ever been in a garden where color echoes are handled more masterfully than here. Even textures are echoed, as in the fringed yellow tulip above, and the yellow-green sedge with its fringey flowerheads behind.

Most gardeners are familiar with the concept of garden "rooms," or the idea of dividing a garden into small compartments that are visually delimited by structures, hedges, trees, etc. To live this concept, it suffices to stroll through the Clos du Coudray. The entire garden comprises only 20,000 square meters (roughly equivalent to 20,000 square yards), yet you experience a number of entirely different gardening worlds, each isolated from the next by skillful use of visual blinds. The effect is a sense of suspense, surprise, and discovery as you walk through the garden.

It's important to keep in mind that the Clos du Coudray is a family garden. Begun in 1973 by Marie-Christine and Jean Lebret, this couple impassioned by gardens spent the next 30 years "building their nest." "Lacking the fortune to go with our dreams, we had to use time, energy, and tenacity to take its place," says Mr. Lebret. Today, their son Michael manages the garden while daughter Delphine and her husband Jean-Marc (who have perfectly matching red hair) run the nursery offering over 3,000 varieties. Most awesome to remember is that the Clos du Coudray is not a chateau garden that was built and maintained by hosts of horticultural employees. tThis family built this garden.

Mr Lebret spent many years as a photo-journalist. Perhaps this explains why the Clos du Coudray is a garden of picture-perfect vignettes. In this paradise of plant combinations, every element--color, texture, form--is carefully and simultaneously considered. Take your time--and your camera and notebook--when visiting this garden, because it is the "idea garden" par excellence.

In fact, it is a drastic over-simplification to refer to the Clos du Coudray as a garden, because it is in fact a complex composite of many entirely different and distinct gardens. At the west extremity, there is a forest understory, with a nearby white garden and hosta garden; a yellow garden, and a beautiful, classically French potager organized in elegant carrés. Not even the vegetable garden escapes artistic composition, as this exquisite combination of rhubarb and espaliered pear (note the echo of white pear blossom and fluffy white rhubarb flower) attest (photo left).

Continuing eastward, you wander through a primrose bog, spectacular rock and gravel gardens, and an extensive jardin de berge or "canal bank" garden which flanks a stream running through the property. A visit to the garden's web site (http://www.leclosducoudray.com) will help you to appreciate the almost unimaginable amount of work that has gone into creating these gardens. Although the site is in French, you won't have a hard time understanding the photo-journey through the history of the garden's creation. (From the home page, click on "Jardin" and then on the "histoire" link.)

Like all gardens, the Clos du Coudray is a work in progress. After seeing the photos of the construction of these gardens over the last 30 years, you'll probably think the owners foolhardy for not hanging up their shovels. Yet, just last spring, yet another new garden opened: le Chemin Exotique--or the Exotic Path. This garden will have you rubbing your eyes in disbelief that you are in Normandie as you find yourself transported into a jungle of lush, tropical colors and foliage textures. By an astute combination of microclimate creation with Normandie's surprisingly mild climate, and of course, by dint of mind-bogglingly hard work, the owners have created a tropical wonderland that I found even more spectacular than the famous Jardin Exotique in Monaco.

With I'm sure an eye to the emotional impact of your journey through these garden worlds, the Clos du Coudray lets you down gently for a soft landing back in reality by leading you along a semi-wild path of azaleas and species roses on the way to the exit from the garden. When you find yourself back in the parking lot, you experience a feeling akin to that of exiting from a movie theater from a matinée to find yourself in a world that has darkened while you tarried in the fantasy land of film. With a sense of disbelief, you look back over your shoulder and see nothing but a wild-looking, impregnable hedge and the blank face of a building. Was all that real?

Open daily April 1 through October 31 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Adults: 6.50 euros
Children: 3.50 euros

Le Clos du Coudray
76850 Etaimpuis
FRANCE
Tel. +33 (0)2 35 34 96 85
Fax +33 (0)2 35 34 52 57
http://www.leclosducoudray.com
Email: plante@leclosducoudray.com

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