Cracking Oasis- International Garden Festival of Chaumont-sur-Loire 2023

One of the most significant garden festivals in Europe is the International Garden Festival of Chaumont-sur-Loir, an annual international garden event held in France. https://domaine-chaumont.fr/.
We represented Finland with Svetlana Lavrentyeva in 2023, when our garden proposal ‘Cracking Oasis’ was selected for the festival finals.
The competition theme of the 2023 Garden Festival of Chaumont-sur-Loire is ‘Sustainable Garden’ and it is strongly reflected in our garden.
Our garden ‘CRACKING OASIS’ presents nature’s adaptation to climate change. The central theme of our garden is a drying riverbed, where the drying, cracked clay surface is visible as a result of the river drying up. The drying clay is used to emphasize changes in the nature around us.
Another focal point of our garden is the burdock, familiar from childhood. A plant from which the garden’s artworks and benches have also been inspired. Quite a few wild plants have developed a thorny outer shell to protect themselves.
Almost all of the garden’s solutions are ecological. The garden protects biodiversity and highlights nature’s own survivors.
Our festival garden was built by a Finnish-French joint effort in March 2023 and the festival gardens were open to the public until November.