French bambouseraie [bamboo] garden

The bambouseraie [bamboo] garden in southern France had always been on my bucket list.

When this year we rented a house just 30 mins drive away, I knew this was a visit that I could tick off the list!

 

 

Bambouseraie [bamboo] garden

The garden is very well established and a very popular visitor attraction.

It’s situated in a heavily wooded river valley near Générargues, France. This is within the National Park of Cevennes and not far from Ales down in southern France.

The Bambouseraie [bamboo] Garden began in 1855. It was planted by Eugene Mazel, a rich man with a passion for horticulture. He inherited a large amount of money from his uncle and he plowed that wealth into creating the Bambouseraie [bamboo] Garden.

The situation of the bamboo garden is helped by a warm micro-climate and plentiful water.

Although Mazel’s passion was bamboo plants you will find plenty of other interesting and often exotic plants in the Bambouseraie [bamboo] Garden. For instance there is a great collection of fine specimen trees.

Ultimately and sadly Mazel went bankrupt but his bamboo legacy survives!

The Bambouseraie [bamboo] Garden is now in the hands of the Negre family and is supported by visitors, restaurant, garden centre and high quality shop.

 

Main Garden

When leaving the entrance one is immediately among towering bamboos.

These are bamboos from South East China and this species [Phyllostachys sulphurea var. viridis] dominates much of garden.

Culms, which are the stems of bamboo, reach skyward and are perhaps 10-15 metre high! Equally impressive is the diameter of those culms! Most are so large that if you put your hands around them your fingers barely touch.

The effect is to be immediately transported into some lush tropical forest!

Towering above the bamboo plants are many specimen trees. None more impressive than an avenue of coastal redwoods [Sequoia sempervirens].

Incidentally I found information boards are plentiful in the garden. A feature I particularly liked was that the recordings are frequently available in several languages.

I also found the guide book [with French and English text] excellent and very well illustrated.

 

 

The Laotian Village

In the middle of the bamboo garden this authentic village  came as a delightful surprise to us!

Houses constructed in the traditional way are surrounded by well labelled food crops. These crops would be typical of villages in the Far East.

Of course, the primary building material is – yes you’ve guessed it – bamboo!

Around the buildings you’ll see taro, banana, sugar cane and many other exotic crops.

The village even has chickens, ducks and pigs and all live in the shade of the buildings or bamboo forest.

 

 

 

The Dragon Valley

In the Chinese year of the dragon [the year 2,000] an eastern garden was created.

This extensive garden is planted around a central lake that twists and turns and depicts the dragon.

A large part of this lake is full of the Sacred Lotus flower [Nelumbo nucifera].

 

The garden is filled with many fine cloud pruned specimen trees and shrubs. If you’re unfamiliar with cloud pruning then I explain this training technique in this blog here.

 

The entrance to the garden is through an authentic red wooden gate.

 

 

 

 

If you want to learn more about another very fine Chinese garden then I’ve written about the one in Portland, Oregon right here.

Bamboo labyrinth

A firm hit with families is the bamboo labyrinth.

This replicates the traditional maze which in Britain is often created by planting yew hedges.

But here at the Bambouseraie [bamboo] Garden the hedges and enclosures are created by using bamboo. The variety used is Semiarundinaria makinoi.

The hedges have to be clipped and maintained so that they remain dense.

This is a fine example of how useful and versatile bamboo is as a garden plant!

 

 

Palm Trees

Planted in the shade of the tallest bamboo plants you will find many palm trees. Some are planted to form avenues and others grow in a less formal setting.

The palm tree planted is the Chinese Chusan palm which is Trachycarpus fortunei. This is a hardy palm that is well suited to planting in most parts of Britain. It is remarkably hardy.

The Bambousarium

At least 50 species and varieties are to be found in this part of the garden!

I don’t think that I’ve ever seen so many planted together!

This is certainly the place to see and compare the many different bamboo plants that exist.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How bamboos grow

Many gardeners are nervous of planting bamboo plants in their garden.

And many species and varieties are certainly unsuitable for the average sized garden since they quickly spread beyond the desired position chosen!

The root system of bamboo is near the surface.

When an area becomes crowded, the plant will send out new underground shoots that emerge and grow into new culms.

Bamboo stems are called culms and are extremely strong. They lend themselves to a tremendous range of uses and are even the primary material for scaffolding in many Asian countries.

In favorable conditions some varieties are capable of growing many centimeters per day!

At this garden they have measured Phyllostachys bambusoides growing over 1 metre in 24 hours!

 

 

 

 

Clump forming varieties and root barriers

Unless the roots are restricted by a physical barrier it is best to only plant clump forming types. That is the varieties of bamboo that produce a tight clump of culms.

In my experience I have found that species and varieties of Fargesia, Bambusa and Yashania are least likely to cause a problem.

Nevertheless sometimes climatic or cultural conditions can cause even the best behaved bamboo to decide to wander!

If you want to be certain then grow your bamboos in thick walled pots or invest in a strong root barrier.

The barrier is dug into the ground and forms a vertical barrier that prevents wandering roots from breaking out!

 

 

 

Further Reading

My blog on Good Bamboo Plants for the Garden has more information on this useful hardy plant. Read about here.

If you like the Eastern style of gardening then you should read my blog on the superb Chinese garden in downtown Portland, Oregon, USA. It’s here for you to read.

 

In summary the Bambouseraie Bamboo Garden in southern France is well worth a visit. There’s lots to see and do even if you are not a particularly keen gardener.

Bamboos are fascinating plants and they have a massive variety of uses.

I’ll write about some of them soon. Keep tuned in!

 

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