During my wonderful garden tour of South West England and parts of the continent, I was blown away by this garden. I hadn't expected to be so engrossed and absorbed by the design and the plant palette. So much to enthuse about. So original, which is a lot to ask from a garden today. I was lucky enough to talk to Iñigo and write down what he told me. The lovely photos, that were not taken by myself are by Iñigo, and with his permission by Clair Takacs, through Garden Lur. She has a special way to capture the magic. All images are the property of Garden Lur, except my own and none are to be used without express permission. Thanks to Iñigo for the inspiration and permission.
Lur Garden - Basque Country, Spain
IÑIGO SEGUROLA
INTRODUCTION BY SUZANNE PICKFORD
INTRODUCTION Lur Garden is a two-hectare paradise that has been developed from a hay meadow and old pomar (apple orchard) over 12 years ago by the talented landscape architect, Iñigo Segurola and his partner in all things, Juan Iriarte Aguirrezabal, as both a test garden and a passion project. The pair are addicted to beauty and think outside the square.
Above: Basque Country Garden Glory. Photograph: Claire Takacs.
A long winding lane twists and turns up the valley through oak and luscious greenery in early summer reminiscent of English country- side. Yet when you arrive, nothing here is as you would expect, and I was excited to visit a garden whose design and planting is known for being unique and extraordinarily refreshing. Plants are arranged in new ways, trees are used in massed plantings to create boundaries and textural blocks, for example Taxodium distichum 'Cascade Falls', a weeping form of the deciduous conifer is used as a shaggy and delightful, curved boundary. Much of the planting has a tropical air, and if not tropical, somehow excitingly exotic. The normal palette of plants we are used to are used here too. Yet, somehow, they nestle and interact in new ways with the exotic. Fatsia, banana, elegant ferns, taro, tall cypress with firework-like exploding flower heads of green, and lots of varieties of bamboo work together especially in the Jardin de Hojas Grandes - the garden of big leaves. Bananas and frost sensitive plants are covered in winter as the climate is not unlike the Dunedin Peninsula or the Port Hills of Christchurch for example, in the South Island.
Below: Circles of circles in winter, a climate not unlike many parts of NZ.
Photograph: Iñigo Segurola.
The meadow garden reflects on the original land use, yet in a unique way, wonderful circular forms of tall meadow plants contrast with the lawn they sit nestled amongst. In the same way the outstanding house and studio retain the original meadow, it grows all over the roof. Colour is vibrant and thrilling in the soft Basque light. For example, the wide swathe of bright yellow foliage and flowers round the large central pool, which is doubled in the reflection, is breathtaking. The use of water is central to the garden design, utilized with still ponds, tanks and an impressive above ground black 'donut' structure as well as natural, marginally planted pools. Moving water forms connections between each. The stream adds a musical element. Damp habitats have been created to grow moss and ferns. Yet the garden within a garden that stands out for me is the Jardin Luna, just one of sixteen themed areas. It is a rock garden on a colossal scale, not necessarily huge in area, but huge in spirit and drama. It sets the stage for a wonderful white and grey palette that is a luminous moon garden extraordinaire. Standing expansively on the rock garden's biggest sandstone slab, Inigo Segurola explained the planting, design and philosophy of Jardin Luna.
IÑIGO SEGUROLA
Above: Iñigo Segurola explains the ideas behind the garden and how the rooks were placed.
"Grey and white have always been my favourite colours in the garden. White flowers are used here, but it is the grey foliage that is truly wonderful with it. It is true that grey foliage is a defense mechanism, designed to protect plants from the sun. Yet here in the Basque country it rains more than anywhere else in Europe and even when it is sunny in San Sebastian, just 10km away, it is overcast here. So grey plants, while they are beautiful, don't necessarily thrive.
I have tested a huge number of grey foliage plants, and many have died. Some have managed, for example one successful plant that I really love is Plectranthus argentus, but as it dies in winter, we need to overwinter cuttings in our greenhouse. After working with so many grey foliage plants I have managed to create this grey effect you can experience now.
The trees form a background of height and drama. I have a Eucalyprus pulverulenta 'Baby Blue' and it survives but is not doing very well. I have Acacia baileyana (Golden Wattle) and Acacia cultriformis (Knife Wattle), both are lovely and do quite well considering our conditions.
Another blue form of the same tree, 'Koster' was chosen for a client's Christmas tree as it grows more slowly. When it arrived it was small, so small that it was rejected. Since it could not be returned I unintentionally and intuitively planted it in the Jardín Luna. It has become the absolute king of this garden with its incredible grayish blue new growth (Another series of specimens will be planted). The hardy citrus, Citrus trifoliata, has a wonderful scent and holds its fruit into winter and Pyrus salicifolia, the silver weeping pear, with its shimmering, narrow leaves add to the scheme. Picea pungens 'Glauca Globosa' gives a wonderful effect with its green/blue foliage.
Below. A bird's eye view of the rock garden named Moon Garden or Jardin Luna, with the unusual arrangement of the huge stones. Photograph: Claire Takacs, by permission of Iñigo Segurola.
I have also tested many daisies here, I trialed Erigeron karvinskianus, the Mexican fleabane. I probably planted 20 plants of this species, and they have spread themselves about. Early on I was thorough with weeding them out and giving breathing space to other plants, but the erigeron start flowering in April and go on until October, so they are welcome and they have spread all about. That's the thing with the choice of vegetation, after many, many trials with different plants I am now happy with what is going on. These white flowering plants include echinacea, Libertia grandiflora (a New Zealand species), lilies and carnations. It is largely self-sustaining and good looking. Bear oreja (ears), as Stachys lanata is known, with its almost whitish hairy leaves, is the queen of the garden when the rosettes rise to bloom. It self-sows and these spontaneous plants have shown better characteristics than the named and marketed varieties which are more rustic in our climate. Gaura does very well, and some roses make it, even though it's not the best weather for them, I have the rose Opalia which doesn't get any disease. I have Hydrangea paniculata which will flower soon and give a lovely white effect that contrasts with the other plants. H. quercifolia, H. arborescens 'Annabel', and H. macrophylla are also used and are links to other gardens including the adjacent Garden of White Hydrangeas.
Below: Photographs by Iñigo Segurola to the end.
These images: Towering foxgloves add verticality and the grasses movement. Only Miscanthus sinenesis and Lomandra sp. are grasses we can utilise in New Zealand. A succession of species give the impression of wild abandon and romance. Persicaria amplexicaulis 'alba'. Oenthranthus ruber 'alba', Gaura lindheimeri, Phlox paniculata 'Blacklight' and Watsonia borbonica are some of the plants widely used. Photographs: Iñigo Segurola
As a landscape architect I work with clients on public and private projects, and these were my favourite stones but you cannot get them anymore as the quarries that they came from are the two mountains by San Sebastián which are now closed. One day I was visiting a neighbour's place, and I saw that she had a stone wall made using big- ger slabs of this wonderful San Sebastián sandstone. I asked her how she managed to get it. Locally there was someone with a large quantity of these stones as they did the excavation work at the base of one of the mountains. All the stones they had to take away in the course of their work, they kept in storage and were now on sale. This was about 11 years ago, just when we had started the garden redesign, I went round and tried to choose rocks that were all the same thickness. They were delivered and they just stayed put for many years. I was busy with other areas of the garden, I have done all of the garden with my own hands, I have planted 95% of everything you can see, I work a lot!
The day came along, and I looked at the stones and organised a digger in order to start my San Sebastián Rock Garden which would be- come the framework for the Jardin Luna or Moon Garden, I had an idea to make each stone on a site plan using computer alded design in order to get the best arrangement before the digger commenced work. Not only was it a lot of work, but i am not a fan of computer work. Since I had spent nearly 3000 euros on this stone, it was a big investment. I didn't want to hide the thickness, it needed to be visi - ble, so I ascertained it was best to have them supported to appreciate them fully. Originally, I conceived of three longish mounds with rocks layered in a parallel way. We got underway by starting to arrange the stones on top of each other for the first mound. I quickly realised the stones were not big enough to fly. The first layer that appeared was too rigid and too straight. My idea just wasn't going to work as there was insufficient character. Crisis! The digger is here, the helpers... so much money running away. I had to get on with the work, I needed to find a solution fast. Sometimes I believe that the stones talked to me, they told me where they had to be. It's not the first time I have worked with stones, and I have found satisfaction every time by listening and working with the stone. I placed the first large one in the key position on a mound of soil (look for the largest stone). It broke the straight lines. Suddenly the idea came to make these three parts you can see now. I arranged all the stones on the same level. You can sit In amongst the stones, and they invite you to climb up and stand on them with a commanding view.
INSPIRATION
I am sure that in designing this white themed rock garden I have channelled our Basque Country mother goddess, Mari, and completed the design she wanted. She is a ball of fire that returns to her cave near Bilbao, and I guess that she has used me to make this garden. Everything came to me at that point without thinking too much. The final layout of the design, the oval shapes came from the first stones. It soon became clear that they acted according to the dictation of Mari, the mother goddess in the Basque mythological pantheon, who weaves human destinies and personifies atmospheric phenomena. Her archetypal figure, the depositary of ancestral wisdom, presides over the garden. For this reason, it is called Lur (earth or land in Basque), in clear reference to the Great Mother.
Above: Hydraneas are used brilliantly in the Jardin Hortenaias, espeoially many white H. paniculata which lead to the Moon Garden. Rooks are also used elsewhere, including atone rings in the moss garden. There is much to appreciate including; the Large Leaf Garden, the Garden of Extravagence,
the Meadow, the Jurassic Garden, a Pumpkin Tunnel and a Water Garden.
Of all the gardens like this I have visited, there are three that are very important to me; Normandy's Le Jardin Plume, Hidcote and Sissinghurst, all have hedges in straight lines and rectangular in form. My very first garden design was like this here, straight lines. Box blight took out the straight lines and therefore the basis of the original garden. A new design was needed. My garden now is based on the egg shape. One night I went to bed thinking about this egg. I slept for only three hours and then I laid the egg. The design then flowed from me to the paper and this design, from that night, is what I have built. I am sure my goddess Mari used me again to create this space, this garden of gardens. These stones are like a stage. When I guide tours, my final explanation is from here, with that extra bit of drama.
Many people that have come to the garden tell me that there is a very good source of energy in the garden. I can't explain it. But the round pond is very still water, it doesn't seem to get corrupted. I placed this pond here as when I drew the plan it just came out there on the page. Last year a water diviner told me I had placed the pond at the intersection of a fault In the water line underneath. He noted that when I placed this pond here on this intersection, the lines come together, and a vortex of positive energy is here. A dimensional door is open. This space is both a gift and a tribute to the people that have gone before. It has a sacred feeling. In fact three gardens have made me weep with their beauty, Le Jardin Plume, Sissinghurst's white garden and more recently my own, as it has come to maturity."
Above two photographs: The rook garden in early spring, the Mexican fleabane, fills the gaps and unifies the scheme. There was no point trying to eliminate it, Iñigo incorporates it with other plants now.
Photographs in spring: Suzanne Pickford
Originally printed in the NZAGS Bulletin, lots of great articles, from only $20 to join. www.nzags.com