Fairy-tale gardens, La min-sú de Terrasson, Dordogne, France

Fairy-tale gardens

T
he Dordogne department is known for its '1001 castles' (though there actually seem to be over 1200). Some of these castles and 'manor houses'come with their own (historic) gardens, some more modern parks and gardens can also be visited, all come with their own stories and histories.

We have selected a number of these gardens, that can be visited in Terrasson, or as part of a daytrip.

Les Jardins de l'Imaginaire (Terrasson)

Discover 2,000 rosebushes; 20,000 perennials; 2,500 box hedges; 120 sprays of water; more than 150 plant species; 8,000 trees and bushes including rare species; terraces; a theatre-in-the-green; a hedge tunnel; woodlands; a viewpoint; water gardens; and many other features on these six hectares of land overlooking the Vézère river in a contemporary garden.

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Château and gardens de Hautefort

Hautefort is one of the most prestigious châteaux in Dordogne and indeed South-West France. The château is surrounded by impressive French style formal gardens. The gardens of the Château de Hautefort have been awarded France's Jardin Remarquable status. They comprise a beautiful French Formal garden with lots of clipped hedges producing geometric shapes and patterns which are filled with varying planting displays.

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Château and gardens de Losse

A large terrace at the back of the castle offers great views over the river. Surrounding the Château de Losse are gardens - awarded 'Jardin Remarquable' status in 2004. The gardens are laid out in a French formal style with walls of box hedges clipped into symmetrical shapes.

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Les jardins du manoir d'Eyrignac

The Manor house is a beautiful 17th century building constructed in the local golden stone with a slate roof. It has a charming graveled courtyard flanked by two smaller stone buildings also in yellow natural stone with tall slate roofs. Les Jardins d'Eyrignac is a topiary garden on a huge scale. Begun in the 18th century the gardens were inspired by the Italian gardens popular at the time. Covering many hectares the garden is roughly split into 5 main areas known: the Box Labyrinth; the Plant Sculptures Kingdom; the Manor and French garden; Capucine's gardens and the White Garden and Flower Meadow. The gardens have been classified as a 'Jardin Remarquable'.

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Domain Départemental de Campagne

The Departmental domaine of Campagne consists of a castle, some service buildings and a 6 hectare large landscape garden and a 367 hectares of classified biological reserve forests. What makes the domain unique is the landscape gardens (not the typical french style Renaissance gardens) with large trees, winding streams and ponds and an escalator that reaches out to a cave/cluseaux. And no entrance fees!

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Les jardins de Marqueyssac

The gardens of Marqueyssac are listed as a National Historical Monument. The 'hanging gardens' are located on the top of plateau, forming an 'island' in the sky. At a 130 meters above the Dordogne river it offers great vistas of the surrounding landscape, with views in all directions covering Beynac, Castelnaud and La Roque-Gageac . The original manor was build in the years before the revolution and supports a lauze (dry stacked natural stone) roof.

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Les jardins d'eau

Special interest garden started by two Normans (from Normandy) who had tried to get their lotus to flower. Not succeeding in Normandy they moved to the Dordogne Valley and took two years to establish a garden with aquatic plants. Home to 40 different water-lilies, 9 lotus varieties and loads of other interesting plants including an aquatic Hibiscus (Hibiscus moscheutos subsp. palustris) also known as swamp rose-mallow (or Hibiscus des Marais rouge).

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Other interesting gardens include:

La Min-sú de Terrasson

retreat, reflect, refresh

Fairy-tale gardens