A 6 hectare park equipped with all services

"à la Française" garden

experimental weather station

I N T E R V I E W

           The enthusiastic quest of a Breton, originally from the rural world of Central Brittany, was at the source of this site dedicated primarily to the multiple varieties of conifers. In the heart of the Black Mountains, a favoured place for the cultivation of the different species of this family of trees, André COZIC has constructed, in harmony with the surrounding countryside, a huge botanical garden covering six hectares.

André COZIC, who was born in New York, discovered Brittany in 1960, as a small child, when his family returned to France. Very quickly he felt a deep attachment for the uncultivated land and the natural meadows, the kingdom of a rich variety of plants in this ancient mountainous region.

The cultural support of his principal teacher during his horticultural studies at Rennes, made him aware of his passion for botany, a passion which would be at the heart of his entire career.

After several work experiences, which enabled him to get an overall picture of the profession, he decided, at the age of twenty, to set up his own business. He began designing and maintaining gardens and open areas to which he very quickly added working with stone, bringing together these two essential elements of the Breton countryside.

In 1986, he extended his business to include landscaping and the production of outdoor plants. Two hectares of nursery were given over to the cultivation of ornamental trees, fruit trees and perennials. Very quickly, André COZIC began to specialise in the growing of heathers but, more particularly, started a collection of conifers which, today, amounts to more than 700 species.

All the families of conifer are represented amongst the numerous cultivars and varieties : araucaria, cupressus, pinus, podocarpus, taxus, etc.

The development of this collection led him, in 1995, again on his own initiative, to create a botanical park, which he designed as a veritable natural catalogue aimed at his visitors, both professional and beginner.

The primary objectives which had governed its construction were:

- to allow the plants to grow taking account of their volume at maturity so as to facilitate their development and ensure a harmony with the countryside.

- to organise the beds in such a way as to reduce their maintenance and that of their immediate surroundings, as, according to one of his favourite maxims, “a well designed garden only requires a little maintenance.” André COZIC wants his clients to know that having a garden is not synonymous with “slavery” but rather with “pleasure".

- to design architectural landscapes in keeping with the varied environment, which respond to everyone’s personal taste and which alternate the species and colours according to the seasons, so that, the garden is welcoming at all times of the year. Currently, amongst others, there is a formal garden “à la Française” and other creations are on the way, e.g. a Curé’s garden, etc ...

- to present, by means of detailed information signposting, the entire collection planted in the park, including the trees and the heath plants.

The botanical garden has, therefore, enabled this nurseryman – landscape gardener to demonstrate to his visitors all the principles, design and maintenance rules for open spaces, of which he is a passionate promoter and defender.

Another particular aspect of the site is an experimental weather station, linked to the Brest-Guipavas metrological centre, which provides climate indicators for central Brittany. Le Fell, at Spézet, is geographically located amongst the elevated points of the region.

As a member, for two years, of the association "La Bretagne des jardins", (Brittany’s Gardens), André COZIC would, in future, like his work to help with the promotion of green tourism, as has been achieved by his illustrious neighbour, the Domaine de Trévarez, in a region where botanics and traditional architecture form a link for the pleasure of tourists.

Spézet, the November 10 - 2000 F.Q.B.