{"id":363107,"date":"2010-02-25T16:33:54","date_gmt":"2010-02-25T21:33:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dirt.asla.org\/?p=3958"},"modified":"2010-02-25T16:33:54","modified_gmt":"2010-02-25T21:33:54","slug":"the-wirtz-garden-%e2%80%9ca-free-spirited-landscape-experiment%e2%80%9d","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/363107","title":{"rendered":"The Wirtz Garden: \u201cA Free-Spirited Landscape Experiment\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\nThe famed Wirtz Garden in Schoten, Belgium, was neglected for more than 30 years before landscape architect Jaques Wirtz<\/a> took it over in 1969, writes Metropolis<\/em> magazine. Since then,\u00a0the garden has grown into one of\u00a0the most beautiful in\u00a0Europe and the subject of a recent (and expensive)\u00a0coffee table book<\/a>. While not open to the public, this “secret” garden with its “Lewis Carroll” landscape\u00a0probably wouldn’t attract hordes of tourists if was\u00a0open anyway –\u00a0it’s not “inviting” in any conventional sense.<\/p>\n

Metropolis<\/em> writes: “The plants, at first glance, appear to be pagan creatures immobilized under some sort of spell. In the foreground, the wavy rows of unevenly clipped boxwood, as intricate as cloud formations on Tibetan scrolls, cast strange scalloped shadows on the silky-smooth surface of the dry, sandy walkways. Behind, huddled together in silent expectation, their hooded silhouettes sticking out of the shrubbery like sentries on the lookout, groups of topiaries form small compact battalions. Still standing at the edge of the garden, you hesitate before taking a first step into this well-guarded domain.”<\/p>\n

In spots, the garden\u00a0offers\u00a0a post-modern mashup of styles.\u00a0”It integrates 200-year-old moss-covered fruit trees (apple, pear, and mulberry), the last remnants of a dense orchard, as well as ornamental weeping cherry trees, left to blend in with the thick undergrowth. The minute you think you perceive an overall design, you turn a corner and all you see is a patchwork of abstract forms and pixelated foliage.”<\/p>\n

Additionally,\u00a0while the shrubs are\u00a0well-pruned, the\u00a0many varieties of plants are encouraged to cross-polinate.\u00a0During this\u00a0process of cross-pollination, the\u00a0natural cycle of decomposition is also allowed to progress. “They\u2019ve let patches of thorny weeds grow under the coral-red canopy of prunus trees, watched approvingly as funky clumps of water ferns nestled between soggy reed stems, and applauded as a thick carpet of fall foliage turned alleys into slippery lava flows. They didn\u2019t bring out the leaf blower when, with winter approaching, the place was strewed with deciduous confetti of all shapes and colors. They were pleased when the pruned evergreens in the back of the garden looked positively giddy covered with red, purple, and yellow serpentine streamers\u2014the windswept content of some giant autumnal pi\u00f1ata.”<\/p>\n

Jaques Wirtz\u00a0now owns a\u00a0landscape architecture firm<\/a> with his two sons and works on both private and public\u00a0projects across Europe. French President Mitterand asked him to re-do the grounds of the Elysee Palace<\/a>. He also\u00a0recently completed the Jardins du Carrousel in the Tuileries Gardens in Paris as well as\u00a0the gardens of Alnwick Castle. \u00a0According to Wikipedia, Wirtz\u00a0was involved in\u00a0the renovation of the garden of the 1,000-year old temple complex at Khajuraho in India, a World Heritage Site containing over 80 Hindu temples.<\/p>\n

However, Metropolis<\/em> says\u00a0Wirtz’s\u00a0high-regarded style all started in his own garden, where he\u00a0spent 15 of his early\u00a0years\u00a0perfecting his\u00a0landscape architecture techniques. “It served as a back lot where he stored his botanical props\u2014topiaries, hedges, and ornamental trees\u2014and conducted gardening experiments, perfecting his fertilizing, pruning, and clipping techniques.”<\/p>\n

Read the article<\/a> and a lengthy 2004\u00a0review of Wirtz’s work in The New York Times Magazine<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Image credit: V\u00e9ronique Vienne \/ Metropolis<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The famed Wirtz Garden in Schoten, Belgium, was neglected for more than 30 years before landscape architect Jaques Wirtz took it over in 1969, writes Metropolis magazine. Since then,\u00a0the garden has grown into one of\u00a0the most beautiful in\u00a0Europe and the subject of a recent (and expensive)\u00a0coffee table book. While not open to the public, this […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-363107","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/363107","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=363107"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/363107\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=363107"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=363107"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=363107"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}