Prairies

If there is a secret corner of the garden, this is it! In counterpoint to the more ordered parts of the garden, this wooded space gives free rein to the creativity of nature. But it is also the expression of a project close to William Christie’s heart: reviving the natural vegetation of Vendée, the heritage of the natural regional landscape.

The Prairies, in William Christie's words:

On the river banks are hundreds of coppiced willows, most of which were planted by me to replace those that originally grew here, of which only a handful, now nearing a hundred years old, survived when I arrived here in 1985.

Gardener's word

These meadows are often flooded during the winter and the damp soil provides perfect growing conditions for the snakes-head fritillary, Fritillaria meleagris. Although the spring-flowering bulb is endemic to northern Europe in parts of France it is rare and protected. William Christie’s stewardship of the landscape ensures that in Thiré the plant is thriving.

John Hoyland, advisor for garden design at Glyndebourne and William Christie's friend