In the green
A peek inside Belgian designer Alain Dor’s garden reveals a series of cool outdoor spaces, each with its own distinct character
Belgian designer Alain Dor has created a series of serene outdoor spaces, each with its own distinct character
No sign marks the narrow entrance of the drive to Alain Dor’s private home, hidden between an uncompromising selection of austere grey brick houses and office blocks that line the road to Hasselt in Belgium. In refreshing contrast to this abundance of brick, the white gravel drive leads to a large house of faded pink plaster in a distinctly French style. This is where Alain grew up and where, for the past 25 years, he has been creating his own personal garden.
The house is a 1950s copy of a Parisian house discovered by Alain’s parents on one of the family’s many visits to France. His parents fell in love with it, and decided to build a replica back home in Belgium. The resulting building feels much older than it is – a trick that is repeated to good effect in its extensive garden, a little over four acres.
Alain discovered his love of gardens aged ten and has dedicated the past 41 years to building a successful garden design business. Despite his early enthusiasm, it was not until he took ownership of the family home in 1993 that he started to create his own vision. When he was growing up, the garden was little more than stretches of lawn under trees that opened out on to views of a rural landscape. This landscape has gone, and with it the views. Rapid expansion has seen Hasselt’s suburbs extend and engulf the Dors’ property. In response, Alain has thrown up multi-layered screens of trees and hedges to frame and protect a green haven amid the urban sprawl.
As the focus pivoted inwards, so the garden has evolved into an intimate collection of garden rooms. Looking out from the house, a large expanse of lawn has been retained, punctuated with clipped topiaries and a selection of strongly pruned apples (a Dutch dessert apple called ‘Klumpke’). These characterful trees provide structure as well as a sense of age, which Alain is keen to accentuate. In the rest of the garden, reclaimed and rusted gates abound, while patinas of moss and lichen are encouraged to colonise stones and statues. With a chuckle, Alain explains how his gardener complains when it comes to cutting the two-metre-deep hedges, but is firm that these proportions are necessary to provide the comfortable feeling of an established garden.
Adding to the relaxed atmosphere is the crush of dogs that push themselves through the garden. Various gaps in hedges and topiary pieces need no explanation as six large hounds bound around the corner to greet Alain and his wife, Christaine, on the lawn. They add a joyful energy to the space, but it is unlikely that any of his smart clients, with their neatly designed gardens, would tolerate such destruction. Thankfully, in his own garden he can be more free.
The garden enjoys a relaxed formality that one associates with many English gardens, and Alain singles out Hidcote and Sissinghurst as being of particular inf luence. Indeed the garden’s
high-hedged corridors are instantly reminiscent of those at Sissinghurst Castle. In the romantic spirit of Vita Sackville-West, plants such as verbascum and valerian are allowed to self-sow between the clipped forms of Ilex x meserveae Blue Prince (= ‘Conablu’) and Osmanthus x burkwoodii, softening the geometry.
Although the garden is predominantly green, a restricted palette of f lowering plants serves as harmonious highlights. Blues of wisteria and Salvia nemorosa complement the purples of alliums and verbena, while pale-pink Valeriana officinalis and the pure-white bracts of Cornus kousa var. chinensis ‘China Girl’ lighten the scene. Alain advocates using ‘ few ingredients’, but is convinced that the borders should be full and that no soil should be visible during the summer. Ferns and hostas play a useful role in covering large areas while adding to the shimmering layers of green.
The maze-like path leads from one area to another – each with its own character. A particularly effective creation is a simple rectangular stone pool, filled with water lilies and framed by deep slopes of Taxus beneath pollarded Morus alba. Self-sown Dryopteris ferns erupt alongside the trunks of the limes, adding another texture to this purely green and contemplative space.
Beyond this, a winding path generously edged with undulating Acer campestre leads to a small potager. The wattle-edged planters and various wooden structures hint at another profound inf luence, the magnificent gardens at the Prieuré Notre Dame d’Orsan, in France’s Loire Valley. This is one of Alain’s favourite gardens, and he shares its organic philosophy. In neither his private garden nor those of his clients does he permit the use of pesticides, hoping to establish a natural and healthy community of wildlife to help control pests and disease.
Alain calculates that it takes 1,500 hours a year to maintain the garden to a good standard. Most of this is spent on the hedges, and after one big clean-up in early spring, Alain is quite happy to let the garden take its own path to ensure the relaxed atmosphere that he and his wife so enjoy. USEFUL INFORMATION Address Luikersteenweg 231, 3500 Hasselt, Belgium. Tel + 32 (0)11 27 15 25. Website alaindor.be Open The garden is open the first three Sundays in June, from 1pm to 6pm.