Le Chateau du Lude

Garden designGardens to visitPhotographyPlant advice
Written By Jane Shankster

On a short holiday in the Loire region of France I convinced myself there must still be a hidden gem of a garden that I hadn’t visited.

Ornate Renaissance facade of Château du Lude in the Loire Valley, with round corner turrets, dormer windows and a sweeping lawn in front.

Le Chateua du Lude

Having done Villandry, Chaumont and Chenonceau I had to travel north to the banks of the other Loire valley river, Le Loir, and Le Chateau Du Lude.

Box-edged rose garden path at Château du Lude leading towards the château's elegant white stone facade.

Rose Garden

Le Lude is the most northerly château of the Loire Valley and has been inhabited by the same family for the last 260 years. The gardens have evolved to combine French design and an English-style landscape, with a rose garden, topiary, a labyrinth and a botanical walk. And an unpublicised organic kitchen garden.

Formal lower garden at Château du Lude with a circular fountain, clipped box hedging and pyramid topiary, the River Loir running alongside.

Lower Garden

The lower garden running along the river, was the original vegetable garden. This was moved further away to create a romantic French-style garden designed by Edouard André a renowned landscaper in the 19th century. Parterres of flowers and ponds succeed each other, with scented flowering shrubs like chimonanthus, lilac, philadelphus and calycanthus along the wall.
The fields opposite were planted as a landscape park.

Still lily pond at Château du Lude reflecting clouds and blue sky, with pink and white water lilies floating among the pads.

Lily pond in Lower Garden

The spring garden is full of early perennials but these were mostly over at the time of my visit in June.

Fountain jet in a stone pool at Château du Lude, with clipped topiary domes and a wildflower-studded lawn behind

Fountain in Lower Garden

The River Loir seen through the branches of a copper beech tree on the lawn at Château du Lude.

Le Loir from under a copper beech

So far, so French. Not too much in the way of flowers or colour after the slightly past-it rose garden. And then I noted there was a kitchen garden.

Ornate wrought iron gate marked 'Privé / Private' at Château du Lude, looking through to the kitchen garden and brick orangery beyond

The Kitchen Garden

It was midday as I arrived as the gardener was locking the gates to the obviously “prive” kitchen garden. Somewhat crestfallen I mustered a smattering of pidgin French to explain I was a garden designer and just wanted some photos. Eager to get to his lunch he opened the gate for me and asked me to lock it when I was finshed. I can’t imagine the National Trust doing that.

Gravel path through the kitchen garden at Château du Lude, edged with pink roses and orange California poppies, leading to an iron gate.

A mixture of flowers and fruit and weeds, well it is organic..

Orchard of trained fruit trees at Château du Lude behind a low hedge of lavender and catmint, with a golden-leaved tree standing out among the greenery.

Fruit trees in the Kitchen Garden

Colourful cutting-garden border at Château du Lude with pink phlox, orange California poppies and purple verbena in front of an old stone outbuilding.

Sisyrinchium striatum, phlox and California poppies

Path lined with orange poppies and pink roses leading to the brick orangery at Château du Lude, its arched windows framed by trained fruit trees.

Orangery, used as a tool store

The Kitchen Garden was the most floriferous part of the gardens, the informality of the planting here is in stark contrast to the more formal areas elsewhere.

Simple wooden birdhouse mounted on a post among trained pear trees in the kitchen garden at Château du Lude.

Birdbox in the kitchen garden

I would say the garden at Le Chateau du Lude wasn’t quite the hidden gem I was hoping for. Having said that I spent a pleasant couple of hours here. It’s not as busy as all the better known gardens in the Loire and I was grateful for that. There are no refreshments available so you’ll need to bring your own. And, of course, it’s not open at lunchtime…

Website https://www.lelude.com/en/

Jane Shankster
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