Serge Lapouge
As my childhood was marked by Asia, I kept an attraction towards very typical foliage and highly fragrant plants. I planted my first garden when I was 11, at the heart of a small wild valley, lined with moss. There I planted bamboos, nasturtiums, ipomeas without any prejudice, and their luxuriant growth fascinated me. When I added a hut and a small bridge, I felt like I had created paradise.
When I created my own landscaping company, I still had this idea in mind – helping everyone recreate his/her own paradise. In this spirit, it was very clear to me that I would work in an eco-friendly way. But it wasn’t to everybody! And in the 1980’s I was regarded as somewhat “eccentric”, but people quickly put their trust in me, even if they didn’t commit to the same idea: “As long as it grows!”
In 1990 I started working with Brigitte on my own garden, “Les Jardins de l'Albarede”. It was a hazy, ill-structured wilderness, everything had to be done. As the main idea was to merge into the landscape in order to leave as little mark as possible, I turned to local materials, stone and wood, which has enabled me to acquire thorough knowledge of the traditional techniques.
As my childhood was marked by Asia, I kept an attraction towards very typical foliage and highly fragrant plants. I planted my first garden when I was 11, at the heart of a small wild valley, lined with moss. There I planted bamboos, nasturtiums, ipomeas without any prejudice, and their luxuriant growth fascinated me. When I added a hut and a small bridge, I felt like I had created paradise. As I created my own landscaping company, I still had this idea in mind – helping everyone recreate his/her own paradise. In this spirit, it was very clear to me that I would work in an eco-friendly way. But it wasn’t to everybody! And in the 1980’s, I was regarded as somewhat “eccentric”, but people quickly put their trust in me, even if they didn’t commit to the same idea: “As long as it grows!” In 1990, I started working with Brigitte on my own garden, “Les Jardins de l'Albarede”. It was a hazy, ill-structured wilderness, everything had to be done. As the main idea was to merge into the landscape in order to leave a mark as little as possible, I turned to local materials, stone and wood, which has enabled me to acquire thorough knowledge of the traditional techniques.
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