To achieve the garden idea that Arturo Franco had planned for the house, the remains of the roof that had collapsed 40 years earlier were removed, arranged and classified, and the remains of the house's rubble were cleared and cleaned. The idea was to respect as many of the original shrubs, ferns and mosses that had lived there for years as possible. What could not be rescued was cleaned up and new topsoil was added, preventing nettles and stinging plants from growing. A large eucalyptus wood beam was placed to break up the space, a swing, a table with a disc for cutting granite and chatting and a staircase-viewpoint towards the sea made of round steel. Finally, a door from a nearby cemetery was rescued for the access entrance.
The garden's renaturalisation was supported by Ana Isabel Calo, owner of the Casa das Camelias in Boiro, Miguel Llana, Rafael Ovalle, a renowned Asturian landscaper, and Rocio Priegue, the owner of the Cee nursery. A route was drawn up on Monte Pindo to collect the wild species that would be introduced into the garden, together with the silvas and ferns that had survived.
The Garden of Panchés by Arturo Franco. Photograph by Luis Díaz Díaz.
Project description Arturo Franco
01. The Encounter
In October 2021, a piece of impenetrable mountain was found inside the oldest house in Panchés. A place by the sea, at the foot of Monte Pindo, at the end of the endless Carnota beach.
The architect had just finished filming 26 programs for @la2_tve called “Jardines con Historia” by @timezoneproducciones. He arrived with a great desire to come face to face with the “idea of a garden”. This is where that story begins.
02. The First Gardens
Moving forward backwards consists of relying on the art of looking, of revealing, of knowing how to copy, of interpreting or of combining different realities until reaching others. The first gardener must have looked at nature, at the nature that wanted to be a garden and associate itself with stones. El Pindo and its surroundings are full of natural gardens where the mountain makes its way without the permission of gardeners or architects. Roofless buildings that end up being, over time, the home of the silvas...
03. The plants of Monte Pindo
Galicia is marela (yellow) or at least that's what Rocío, the owner of the best nursery in the area, says. If anyone knows the inhabitants of the mountain, it's her. Yellow because of the small flowers of the Xestas or the Toxo that dye these slopes the colour of bad luck. With their deep roots, no one can pull them out of this land and if something wants to stay here so much, it stays. But Galicia is also a land of "weeds" with thorns and hives. Impertinent, uncomfortable plants.
04. A rapa das Zarzas
During the summers, wild horses are collected at work to proceed with the cutting of their manes, deworming them and treating their wounds during the Rapa das Bestas.
During the winter and while the plants were sleeping, the path began to be cleared. Fireplaces, stone ovens like bellies, swellings in the walls, slabs, cupboards, benches and in the background the sea at the end of the world began to appear.
05. The first interventions
First, the house was cleared, cleaned and emptied of debris. The remains of the roof that had collapsed 40 years ago were removed, sorted and classified. Hundreds of tiles, earth and domestic archaeology began to appear. Planks, flanges, watering cans, stirrups, bottles, animal skulls. Some of the original silvas were respected and many of the ferns and mosses that had lived there for years. The rest was cleaned and new topsoil was added. The first spring it was filled with nettles, an ocean of stinging plants. The second spring with a small invasive plant whose name I have not been able to discover. Little by little the grasses, the ferns and even a small wild rose bush were regaining space. Then the large rafter arrived to break up the space. To drop down there like a dead animal and generate tension. A ton of eucalyptus wood that had been submerged in the Noia estuary for more than 20 years. A cursed tree in these lands, but so loved, like the rest of the weeds in the garden. Later came the carajo (a staircase-viewpoint towards the sea made of round steel) and the swing (a yellow sling with a stone as a seat), the table for cutting granite and chatting and the access door from a nearby cemetery. There is no garden without a door and this would have to be the door to hell. The rest of the elements appeared or peeked out in search of the sun, attracting attention like plants every spring, like the guests at a wedding, crowded together during the first minutes of an open bar.
06. The neighbors
When the gardener is absent, the plants are released, they know it and take advantage of his absence like children when they are left alone at home. Anything can happen. But on the right and left are the neighbors watching in case something goes awry. Jorge who worked in the soil, Ana who brought “herba de namorar” and the money plant that in this garden of thorns both did not last long.
07. The plants and the experts
There is only one thing worse than an absent gardener for a garden, an inexperienced gardener. To solve this problem, Ana Isabel Calo, owner of the Casa das Camelias in Boiro, Miguel Llana, the passionate banker, Rafael Ovalle (Falo), a renowned Asturian landscaper, and Rocio Priegue, the owner of the Cee nursery, appeared. Together they designed a process of renaturalization of the future garden. A route was drawn up on Monte Pindo to collect from the edges of the paths the wild species that we would invite to inhabit the garden in the company of the silvas and ferns that had survived our arrival.
08. At the starting point
Time has taken care of everything else until we reach the starting point. Everything is as it was at the beginning, but different.
"You throw a stone into the water: the sand swirls and settles again. The disturbance was necessary, and the stone has found its place. However, the pond is no longer the same as before. Buildings are accepted in their surroundings when they have multiple ways of speaking from feeling and reason."
Peter Zumthor.
