The new garden at the Château de Chenonceau: a tribute to Russell Page

In June 2018, Chenonceau will inaugurate a new, enclosed, contemporary garden, directly inspired by sketches by Russell Page, one of the most renowned contemporary landscapers. The departure point for this realisation is an idea by Laure Menier, curator of the Château de Chenonceau. It is within a splendid walled garden that was once a children’s play area, that Russell Page produced his plans and sketches for the Menier family. In order to approach the ‘ideal garden’ according to Russell Page, Nicholas Tomlan, the botanics director at the château, sought inspiration from lectures, research and visits of other gardens created by Russell Page, in Normandy in particular. Nicholas Tomlan’s adaptation presents technical and botanical specificities that are adapted to suit the site. The garden will be unveiled to the public on the occasion of the ‘Garden encounters’, the theme of which was ‘the Europe of gardens’.

Nicholas Tomlan joined the Château de Chenonceau as botanics director in the spring of 2015. He is in charge of creating new gardens and in ensuring the estate evolves with the arrival of new species.  After graduating from the University of Delaware, in the field of Plant Science and Ornamental Horticulture, Nicholas Tomlan spent fifteen years as head botanist at Longwood Gardens near Philadelphia. It is the most frequently visited garden in the United States (with over a million visitors per year). This internationally renowned garden benefits from the patronage of a French family: Dupont de Nemours.