Visitor Information

La Bambouseraie de Prafrance, Générargues
30140 ANDUZE
Tel: (33) 04 66 61 70 47

The garden lies 11km SE of Alès and 2km north of Anduze in the Gard département of southern France and is well signposted locally.

The gardens are open daily 1st March - 15th November from 9.30am - closing times vary according to the season.
Find out more: www.bambouseraie.fr

The Bambouseraie features on the website of the most beautiful gardens in France. Find out about garden events, entry details etc. and take a virtual tour. Click here to go to the website Les Plus Beaux Jardins de France

Be Cool, at the Bambouseraie de Prafrance

When the Tramontane blows, or the hot sun is just too intense, there is a one garden which still manages to keep its cool. We visit la Bambouseraie de Prafrance.

The gardens of France are as varied (and occasionally extreme) as her climate and geology. No surprises there. But every now and then you come across something so totally unexpected that it's clear that other factors must have been involved. One of the most extraordinary examples lies at the foot of the Cévennes, not far from the former mining town of Alès and the village of Anduze, home of the now legendary pottery.

The imposingly-named Bambouseraie de Prafrance was established in 1855 by Eugène Mazel, a successful Cévenol businessman with an unbridled passion for a distinctly exotic form of horticulture. He was born in 1828 (the same year as Jules Verne) into an age of discovery, and while in the process of amassing a considerable fortune by importing and trading spices from Asia, began to bring in many specimens of bamboo, which at the time were virtually unknown outside their native territories. So fascinated was he by these obscure curiosities that in 1855 he purchased a home for them: the 34 hectare Prafrance estate, whose name is a corruption of 'Pra-fran', or pré-fran (meaning tax-exempt). The fiscal immunity once enjoyed by generations of the estate's possessors had by then long since ceased but Mazel had chosen wisely, for he had other things in mind. The site seemed to offer ideal conditions for establishing a lavish bamboo plantation, or 'bambouseraie', being sheltered and located in an alluvial basin bounded by limestone and granite. Better still, the spot also enjoyed a mild microclimate. The one vital component he lacked was water, but with the river Gardon flowing obligingly through a narrow canyon nearby, he only needed to create a carefully planned network of irrigation channels and all should be well.

Like most grand designs, it was all perfectly feasible, but would soon prove far more costly than he could have imagined. He continued undeterred, however, and eventually succeeded in establishing not only bamboos but many other exotic species in their new surroundings. Elated, he indulged his passion, amassing fabulous collections whose continued well-being demanded the constant attentions of legions of gardeners. The costs, not surprisingly, were astronomical and ultimately unsustainable; by 1890 Mazel faced financial ruin, and suffered the ignominy of seeing his beloved estate handed over to the Crédit Foncier de France. Fortunately, the financial institution provided basic maintenance of the estate until 1902, when it found a new owner. Maurice Nègre possessed both the energy and enthusiasm to restore and even enhance the gardens, which passed to his son in 1948. Twelve years later the younger Maurice was killed in an accident during the course of prolonged restoration work to repair the ravages of the severe floods which had hit Prafrance during 1958.

After such a severe blow things appeared bleak for the estate, but Madame Nègre decided to continue her late husband's work, doing so with great determination and success until her daughter Muriel and son-in-law Yves Crouzet (a horticultural engineer) took charge of the management and development of the estate in 1977.

The Bambouseraie de Prafrance may not be a familiar name in the UK but this remarkable garden today attracts visitors from all corners of France, and beyond. Whatever their expectation, it's a place which forces first time visitors to think again, not least because of the sheer scale of what has been established here. Entry to the gardens is via a long, broad avenue of giant sequoia Sempervirens, a species which, given their head, are destined to develop into just about the largest living things on the planet, and can live for 3000 years. Planted in 1860, the examples here have already soared to beyond 50m, with a trunk circumference of around 6m. For the visitor the experience is both awe-inspiring and humbling, as if having entered a mysterious Tolkeinesque cathedral, whose vast, living arcades are enclosed on either side by a dense forest of Phyllostachis viridis, a bamboo which is itself perfectly capable of reaching 18m. More to the point, you can almost see it doing so; an energetic bamboo can put on a whole metre in just 24 hours. For a moment it's hard to believe that we're in southern France.

Here and there, however, a path leads back into the light to a series of pathways and open landscaped areas, where other species from the East (including ginko biloba, Japanese wisteria and a profusion of camellias) create a constantly-changing display of seasonal colour. For the bamboo-curious a series of strategically placed information points provides multi-lingual audio explanations of the plants' history, culture and qualities, plus their many uses throughout the world. Building on this theme, some years ago an area to the left of the central avenue was cleared and a typical Laotian village replicated using materials sourced on the estate, to illustrate how the bamboo underpins the whole structure of village life, and how it is put to use in traditional building construction.

Although there are many other surprises as the story unfolds (not least its potential as a landscaping element) ultimately simply coming face-to-face with the plants themselves in what now feels like their natural environment is an education in itself. Bamboos, being from the same family as grasses, maize and wheat, do not have trunks but stems or 'culms' which are often of great beauty. Their colours extend way beyond the stereotypical pale yellow to encompass rich gold, greens, reds, browns and even black. All these variations are present in the gardens. Even more startling, though, are the exotic-looking multicoloured varieties, featuring individual, vertical stripes of colour on every single segment. At first glance it's hard to believe that nature alone can be responsible, but you can actually see the magic working, as new stems whose background tone begins as pale green, gradually fade to yellow or gold, throwing the band of colour into ever greater prominence. And, of course, you just could not pick a better colour combination.

Add both plain and variegated foliage styles, plus a range of habits from dwarf to giant and you begin to share something of the fascination felt by Mazel when he first set eyes on the plants. If so, you're not alone. So popular has the whole genre become that the estate's expertise has been channelled into a sizeable nursery operation with an offshoot in Portugal (the 'Bambuparque') supplying over 1000 varieties to aficionados throughout the world. And, for those who have just got to take home a little of the magic to enhance their own gardens, there's a bewildering selection of young bamboos (and related products) for sale to new converts at the end of their visit.

As Yves Crouzet puts it: "A magical link exists between man and bamboo. Whether he is a gardener, a craftsman, a painter, a poet, a philosopher or all these things, the sight, touch, shade and rustling of bamboo calms, inspires and enriches him. Certain civilisations have known it for thousands of years. In our western countries we are just beginning to discover the numerous resources offered by this plant."

© Words and pictures Roger Moss
This feature first appeared in everything France magazine Issue 42

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