The Heraklean Way by Nicholas TOMLAN – Archives du Calvados
This garden represents an imagined piece of the Heraklean Way, an ancient road aligned by two solstice points linking the Iberian peninsula to ancient Gaul. Our ancestors used these solstice lines to navigate. Someone walking on this trail could follow the rising sun of the summer solstice and at his back the direction of the winter setting sun, he will naturally follow this path. This garden also challenges our idea of what a garden truly is. In the future, the need to be inspired by nature will be of utmost importance in our designs, to give a sense of place, to use local materials and to use the least amount of water possible. These dry gardens also work very well in the Center région of France, where the summers are becoming hotter and drier. They are ideal to reduce watering, and also to reduce maintenance.
Nicholas Tomlan
Nicholas Tomlan’s design, which won the Best Creation award for the festival, was inspired by ancient civilizations and their ideas on the origin of the world. To return to Mother Earth, Nicholas invites us to take a trip to Delphi in Ancient Greece. There, on a hill is a temple once dedicated to Gaia, built where two important solstice lines cross. To the Ancient Greeks, this was the origin of the Earth. These lines were laid out from Delphi to the Atlantic, crossing ancient Gaul along the way. The garden was laid out on two solstice lines, and evokes a ruin where the process of nature is evolving during the festival. The garden was planted with pioneer plants, and planting combinations that give the appearance of natural occurring landscapes.