Rendez-vous aux Jardins de Villandry

The jewel of the Loire gardens

The Château de Villandry, the last of the great Renaissance castles built on the banks of the Loire, is world-renowned for its French formal gardens recreated in the early 20th century by Joachim Carvallo. Every year in June, the castle participates in the national event "Rendez-vous aux Jardins", organized by the Ministry of Culture to promote parks and gardens in France.

A national theme explored at Villandry

Each edition of Rendez-vous aux Jardins is organized around a national theme. In 2025, the theme "Gardens facing climate change" invited visitors to reflect on environmental issues and the adaptations of historic gardens. Villandry's gardeners share their expertise on sustainable cultivation techniques, water management, and biodiversity preservation in a heritage garden.

Exceptional guided tours

The Rendez-vous aux Jardins weekend is an opportunity to benefit from exceptional guided tours led by the estate's gardeners. These passionate professionals reveal the secrets of maintaining the boxwood embroidery, the planting techniques for the decorative vegetable garden, and the horticultural choices that make Villandry famous. Carriage rides offer a different perspective on the gardens.

Seven hectares of labeled gardens

The Villandry gardens, labeled "Remarkable Garden", cover seven hectares organized into several distinct areas. The decorative vegetable garden, composed of nine geometric squares planted with vegetables and flowers, is unique in the world. The ornamental garden with its boxwood embroidery symbolizing different forms of love, the water garden inspired by classical gardens, the sun garden, and the hornbeam maze form an exceptional ensemble.

A commitment to biodiversity

Villandry is committed to sustainable gardening with the abandonment of pesticides, the development of integrated biological control, reasoned water management, and the preservation of biodiversity. Rendez-vous aux Jardins is an opportunity to raise public awareness of these practices and share the experience gained by the estate's gardeners over the years.