Tips, Tools & Gardening
The Gardening Gesture: Sophie de Roquemaurel
The gardening gesture opens a series of meetings around gestures and tools.
For this second episode, we meet Sophie de Roquemaurel, creator of the podcast Les Gens du Jardin. For three years, she has also dedicated her time to the herbarium of the French National Museum of Natural History.
In her Parisian apartment near the Luxembourg Gardens, she gardens with the seasons, especially with her children, in two outdoor spaces, a shade garden and a terrace.
Can you describe your shade garden and terrace: what you grow there, how you designed them?
There are two spaces at the house: a small in-ground garden which is a shade garden because it's surrounded by walls and covered by a large black locust tree, and a terrace, which is bathed in sunlight all day long.
We worked on the structure of the shade garden with Aurey des Jardins, the landscape designer: magnolia, fatsia, acer, colocasia, ferns, hellebore, helxine. And since then, it's been an adventure. A moving canvas, which I imagine will refine itself over the years.
The terrace functions as a micro-vegetable garden: herbs, strawberries, kiwis, citrus trees, gooseberries, and Rubus - a genus for which I've developed a small passion - like blackberries and raspberries. Roses and jasmines encircle this small nourishing space.
Do you have a particular time of day when you enjoy gardening? Why?
At home, gardening moments are shared rituals.
I often garden with my husband in the evening, when the frantic pace finally slows down. It's a way to reconnect, to compare our desires, our visions for the garden, to observe and learn together.
I also garden with my children: one-on-one time with each of my daughters, to plant, water, and observe what's growing.
You use Japanese pruning shears – what do you like about this tool?
In a confined space like a city garden, every action counts. These pruning shears, with their walnut handle, are a beautiful object. They accompany pruning with a patient and contemplative gesture, transforming the act of shaping one's garden into a practice in its own right.
What sensations does it evoke when you use it?
Pleasant to the touch, to the eye, to the feel, and even to the ear, it makes you want to take your time and makes moments in the garden even more enjoyable.
Secateurs used: Japanese Kurumi secateurs
What is your favorite task to perform with these pruning shears?
I use these pruning shears a lot, both for pruning my roses and my favorite Rubus, a young Rubus lineatus, as well as for harvesting aromatic plants, or for my indoor plants.
Is there a gardener you would like us to interview in this format?
Julie Said, creator of the bridal crown and jewelry brand Lizeron, who gardens at her home in Île-de-France.
Thank you very much, Sophie, for taking the time to answer our questions.
© Photographs by Eléonore Wallet. All rights reserved, no reproduction allowed.