A visit from Giles Guillot – Part ii
Part II of a blog post written by head gardener of Prieuré Notre-Dame d’Orsan, after his stay at Babylonstoren in March. Click here to read part I, or here to read the whole post in French:
Babel and its towers is covered in roses: with Kifsgate, New Dawn and Mme Alfred Carrière flowering on the roofs of wooden pyramids at the path junctions in the Babylonstoren gardens. The potagers offer beetroot, salad leaves, carrots, aubergines and other vegetables for the restaurant, and potatoes and sweet potatoes are also being grown. A little reminder: everything grows very quickly. To harvest radishes, for example, expect just 7 days between the sowing and the plate!
View of the potager, with green beans, carrots, cauliflower…
Other highlights include a wild shaded walkway along the stream allows one to walk amongst the hundreds of Clivias, unfortunately not currently in flower.
The size of the garden and its diversity, what there is to learn about the techniques used, easily requires a full day visit and one can return many times.
Wooden walk-way amongst the clivias.
So, with Liesl and her team of 15 gardeners, what joy and lessons I lived through in the few days I spent at their side. Because, while the garden and gardening is important and the main object, the human contact and cultural exchange is also vital. So thank you to Liesl, Lara, Adriaan, Sive, Peter, Donavan, Wendel (and all the others) for their welcome, their kindness, the sharing of their daily lives and their joy of living (joie de vivre!).
Liesl, Lara, Adriaan, Peter, Wendel, Donavan, Sive...and the others
Giles Guillot
A visit from Giles Guillot – Part i
When planning the 8 acres of formal garden at Babylonstoren, we drew upon the expertise of Patrice Taravella of Prieuré Notre-Dame d’Orsan, the gardens in France on which principles our garden is run. Last year in August, our head gardener Liesl Van der Walt went over to work in the French gardens for three weeks (see her blog posts about it here), and this year in March, Giles Guillot, head gardener at Prieuré Notre-Dame d’Orsanso came to work in our garden. He blogged about it in French, and we’re reproducing his experience here for you in English.
Liesl, the head gardener at Babylonstoren visited me in the past summer, and it was now my turn to discover her garden and the practicalities of gardening in the extreme south of the African continent.
In the direction of Paarl, Stellenbosch, “the valley of the French”, for Babylonstoren, which means “The tower of Babel”. The area is dominated by vineyards and orchards, and Babylonstoren is found in the hollow of a valley, framed by sumptuous huge mountains, such as Simonsberg.
This farm, in existence since the 18th century, has numerous farm buildings which are now used as hotel and restaurant complex, and their large garden is now two years old.
Entrance gate of Babylonstoren
I was greeted by a festival of citrus trees, fruit trees of all types and in all forms! To be fair, some it was unknown territory for me, such as tomato trees and shrubs of eggs (!), but I found my bearings with the stone-fruit trees and the fruiting trees. Long rows of simple U-shapes in pears, and vertical and horizontal cords of quince trees that border the potagers (vegetable gardens). The apple trees were also present in horizontal cordons, and free-form was also present.
But the most surprising, was the sight of decidious trees which appeared to be in paradise in this region. Palm shapes in oblique one level, three levels, horizontally in four levels – forms rarely seen in most gardens. Other more “free” forms (spindle, table…) are under construction.
Fan-shape oblique, one level of a plum tree
Four-level palm-shape of a peach
Persimmon tree, with mosaic tiles around its base.
Mickey Mouse ears?
A priori, the principal enemy for these fruit trees is the vigour, and growth is so strong and even “violent”, say the gardeners. So much so that where, in my manual of gardening it says that 4/5 years is necessary for the construction, in one season in this climate the trees can produce the same framework. Many questions, therefore, are raised about how to follow the construction “step by step”, like the protocol implied in the manuals. You can imagine – the discussion was objective and lively!
Take the time to slow down the construction of these forms remained a priority, even a tiger may be calmed and tamed! But watch out for the energy and time needed, without any respite.
Check in again soon for more impressions and comment on our garden, from Giles Guillot.
VISI #59
The March issue of VISI magazine sports a beautiful photograph of our new conservatory, with a lushly illustrated story inside, giving insight into the concept behind our glass house, and our plans for making it an important part of Babylonstoren. Read the full story here.
Tatler’s Best Hotels
We’re thrilled to bits to have been included in Tatler magazine’s selection of Best Hotels for 2012, selected for our ‘Food, Glorious Food”! Click here for the full article.
Fodor’s Hotel awards
Global travel and food publishers, Fodors, has just announced their selection for the Fodor’s 100 Hotel Awards 2011, as selected by Fodor’s editors and writers worldwide. There are eight categories in the awards, and we’re delighted that Babylonstoren has been included as a winner in the New & Noteworthy category. Read the full story online here.
In Architectural Digest, Spain
We may need a few extra lessons in Spanish to read it, but that doesn’t stop us loving this article about Babylonstoren in Architectural Digest, Spain. Click here to read the full article and enjoy the glorious photos.
