LEARNING FROM THE EARTH
DATE: April 2025
ROLE: On-site assistance during the construction of “The Garden of the Mazari Palm” by Nicolas Roth, part of the Radicepura Mediterranean Garden Biennale.
NARRATIVE:
My first construction site in garden
The very first garden I contributed to was also my initiation into the world of construction sites of gardens. Nicolas, the designer, was present at every stage, and our role was to faithfully bring his vision to life. Creative freedom was limited, yet that very limitation became a gift: it allowed me to concentrate fully on the technical and practical side of the work—observing closely, learning quickly, and coordinating with precision.
The first challenge we faced was adapting a rectangular plan to a circular space framed by rosemary. After careful discussion, we chose to reverse the original orientation, positioning the chestnut gazebo in the area farthest from the entrance. This subtle shift elevated its presence, making it both a focal point and a destination, enhancing the visitor’s sense of discovery and perspective.
Construction, step by step
Work began with laying out the site and pouring the foundations: the area reserved for the magrone (a lean concrete blinding layer) beneath the dry-stone tuff wall was marked out with carpentry boards set with millimetric precision, using a spirit level and a string line.
While the magrone cured, we prepared the gazebo footings using concrete-filled tubs into which we inserted chestnut posts that had already been measured and cut. To mark the exact point where each post should emerge from the ground, we drove a nail at the future finished-ground level—a small detail, but invaluable once the area was backfilled.
In the days that followed we brought in and sculpted the soil—recreating the slope—using a mini-excavator and then compacting by hand. Assembly of the pergola then began: uprights and beams were fixed with nails and wire, a simple yet robust system designed to endure the installation’s planned two-year life.
We also built the dry streambed that crosses the garden, laying stones salvaged from the nursery and hand-washing them to bring out their colours. I particularly valued the sustainability of that choice.
The landscape taking shape
The arrival of the plants breathed life into the garden. The first was a young Oriental plane tree (Platanus orientalis), planted without a stake, standing firm against the wind just as we had hoped. Then came the almond (Prunus dulcis), lowered into place with ropes and a mini-excavator, followed by the vine (Vitis vinifera), the Himalayan cedar (Cedrus deodara), the pomegranate (Punica granatum), the yellow jasmine (Chrysojasminum humile), and many other species that gradually composed the landscape envisioned by the designer.
This first experience taught me the importance of sequencing operations, of constructive precision, of attention to detail. But above all, it revealed something deeper: how every gesture on site is already part of the landscape in the making.
