The highest point on the estate is 250m above sea level, the lowest 200m. A stream crosses the estate from northwest to southeast over a distance of about 400m. In some places, the old valley stream has carved out a gully up to 10m deep, immediately giving the estate around Maison Le Garochet a face.
Maison Le Garochet’s gardens cover 4 hectares and include more than 800 trees, 4,000 shrubs and thousands of perennials. There are spacious areas with century-old oaks, spruces and plane trees. The estate is dotted with mature trees and large shrubs such as hazel, elder, walnut, hawthorn, blackthorn, ash, maple, …. and a few wild chestnut trees. The spring flowering and autumn splendour are breathtaking. We have replanted parts of the former pastures with native wild fruits and a wide range of fruit trees, trying to respect the principles of a forest garden and permaculture to avoid monoculture and encourage biodiversity.
The gardens are home to a number of endangered or rare plant and animal species, such as the yellow-bellied sandpiper and thornbush. During the year, around 50 different bird species visit or nest in the gardens, including: nightingales, hoopoes, pied woodpeckers, European bee-eaters, pheasants, red kites, buzzards, green woodpeckers, barn owls, barn swallows, etc.
You arrive at the estate via the Chemin de Bel Air. You first pass our house and its barn. The gîtes are built as an extension of the main house in a line along the road. Just behind them is the car park.
Behind the gîtes is the swimming pool surrounded by a beautifully landscaped garden. A path takes you to the higher part of the property. As you pass the nordic bath, behind you you see young apple trees, local varieties that we have recently planted. A little further on and even higher, the slopes are a bit steeper.
Until a few years ago, these were pastures for cows; now they are divided into several nature reserves. Here and there we replant hedges of wild fruits, mow certain areas so that they remain easily accessible and let nature claim its rights in other places. In summer, a farmer friend’s horses graze here. Since they only graze here for a few months a year, they help maintain the natural balance. In recent years, several rare and protected plant species have returned to our meadow. A grassy path leads you around the meadow, where at the top you have breathtaking views of the Mâcon hills. We have had the furthest part completely forested. You also have a good view over the whole estate, which covers about 4 hectares.
There is water everywhere on the estate. A babbling brook runs along the green slope to the ponds at its foot. The overflow of the ponds falls a little further down into a deep ravine, eroded over centuries into Burgundy stone, and winds past the buildings, just behind the platform of the gîtes’ pool terrace.
On the other side of the ravine, the new kitchen garden has been laid out. With the greenhouse, orchard, chicken run and various berries and crops scattered here and there, this is our fresh larder. Everything is closely monitored by our proud rooster, Louis…..
Besides the vegetable garden, the pond is a hub of activity, with an annual highlight in late spring being the chorus of roaring frogs, fussy crickets and masterful nightingales. This frog pool leads to the most shady part of the estate, the forest of ancient oaks, ash and maples in the sweltering summers, this forest is a favourite spot for the permanent picnic table! We replanted the undergrowth of this forest … there is also room for spontaneous plant species …
Further on you pass the spring and a little further on another pond is well hidden in the greenery … this is the wettest part of the estate at the foot of the slopes planted along the stream are willows, chestnut trees and wild herbs. Otherwise, we let nature take its course here.
Several mammals are now nesting on and around the estate. Last spring, a family of deer and a family of foxes moved in, along with a buzzard, a barn owl and several nightingales…. Every year we see bee-eaters, hoopoes, red kites and storks….
We are trying to protect this unique biotope while developing it further and making it accessible to nature lovers.