Gardens are full of sensory titillations as the Carré des Jardiniers landscaping contest finalists will demonstrate! Beyond the creation of a garden, marks will be awarded for the stimulation of the five senses. This unique opportunity to design a sensory garden will be scored by professional jury members. To close our series of interviews, we talked to composer and pianist Dimitri Naïditch.
Explore the other senses through a sensory garden: smell, touch and taste!
“Just like composers, landscape designers use their knowledge to assemble several plants in harmony”
For Dimitri Naïditch, hearing is a creative tool and a footbridge reconnecting us with our surroundings: “All the sounds in nature are part of the harmony of the Universe. They calm us and help us to become serene. It might be running water, a crackling fire or birdsong –everything brings us back to the essential. And although sound is important, the ideal is to reflect all the senses in a landscape design to refine our perception of the world!”
Going even further, Mr. Naïditch evokes what the composition of a musical work and the landscape design of a garden: “I wanted to be on the Carré des Jardiniers jury because I have a strong bond with nature and believe there is a certain similarity between the processes involved in the creation of music and those involved in creating a landscape design. Landscape designers and composers convey messages, feelings and their personal visions of life through their creations and obey construction rules. To give birth to a garden, you have to assemble several plants – like notes in music – to create a harmony or a garden, and then assemble several together like in a musical work.” In a nutshell, to create a symphony of plants!
As Mr. Naïditch explains, the Carré des Jardiniers landscaping contest is a great opportunity for the finalists and visitors to Paysalia to explore this nonverbal, artistic communication, and refocus themselves: “I think this contest is important because in our times governed by technology and industrialization, it takes us back to basics. For mankind it is vital to return to the deep sources!”
Mr. Naïditch says that awarding this edition’s Grand Prix will be easy. “What I hope to feel in this contest is a strong vibration and wellbeing. However, no artist can guarantee producing a perfect work to order, even if it meets all the specifications, because you cannot control inspiration in people. There has to be a little magic even if all the gardens comply with all the rules!”
Natural sounds are strongly related to stress reduction
In his interview Mr. Naïditch said that nature is a key element like soft music. Whether it be the gentle rustle of leaves, the song of a cicada or the murmur of a fountain, the noises of nature provide release and so should be an integral part of a sensory garden. But how exactly do they act on the human organism?
A study by Brighton and Sussex Medical School published in 2017 compared the effects on our brain of listening to artificial sounds and natural sounds. It demonstrated that natural sounds activate the parasympathetic nervous system, associated with a state of relaxation, making it possible to focus on our surroundings more effectively. Conversely, artificial sounds stimulate the sympathetic system associated with stress, also pushing us to focus on what is happening inside us. More interesting still, the study shows that the more stressed one is, the more receptive one is to natural sounds.
This scientific study shows that the need for towns to change and introduce more landscaping, such as public gardens, is a problem of public health!
Read also on Paysalia: Discover 24 astonishing landscaping facts!
The sensory garden, star of the next Carré des Jardiniers landscaping contest!
The theme for 2019, “La Place du Village,” will encourage the finalists to create convivial gardens to make our public spaces vibrate. And what could be better to celebrate togetherness than to stimulate the five senses? Connected to our surroundings, we can connect more easily to each other. This is why the work of the finalists in this edition will be judged by professionals, each representing one of the five senses!
Former Garden Masters are all convinced that sensory gardens are essential components of successful landscape designs:
From December 3 to 5, 2019, wake up all your senses! Explore the gardens of the Carré des Jardiniers 2019 finalists. All you have to do is ask for your Paysalia entry badge. We are expecting you!
