The Berkshire Botanical Garden is honored to welcome guest lecturer Louis Benech for its 2014 Winter Lecture taking place on February 8th, 2014 titled Freedom And Responsibility In My Approach To Garden Design. The event will begin at 2 pm at Monument Mountain High School, 600 Stockbridge Road, Great Barrington.

In “Freedom and Responsibility,” Mr. Benech will will share his methods and attitudes when approaching gardens for restoration and new creation. Benech will also present his current work, a contemporary reinterpretation of a garden from one of France’s greatest periods of history: the Bosquet du Theâtre d’Eau, one-and-a-half hectares at the foot of the Chateau of Versailles, originally designed by Andre Le Notre for Louis the XIVth and since ruined. This is a rare glimpse into the creative process of one of the world’s master designers that you won’t want to miss!

Louis Benech came to gardening through his love of plants. After studying law, he went to work at the famous Hillier Nurseries in England. Captivated by what he learned there, he returned to France to work as a gardener in a private garden in Normandy. In 1985, he began his career as a garden designer and landscape architect. Five years later he was commissioned, with Pascal Cribier and François Roubaud, to redesign the historic part of the Tuileries gardens.

Since then, he has designed and carried out some 300 projects, from Korea to Panama, from New Zealand to the United States. While most of his work has been for private individuals, he has also received commissions from large multinational companies such as Hermès, Axa and Novartis. But he has also worked on many established historic gardens, such as those at the Elysée Palace, the Château de Chaumont-sur-Loire, the gardens of the Archives Nationales in Paris, and the Achilleion in Corfu. He is currently working on the creation of a new garden in the Water Theatre Grove of the Palace of Versailles.

In each of his projects, Louis Benech strives to create a genuine harmony between the landscaping design and the architectural or natural environment of the site. Ideally, he would like his work to pass undetected… He pays special attention to finding the most economical way to ensure that his gardens will endure, and their upkeep is one of his key concerns.

BBG member price $35, nonmember $45. Register at www.berkshirebotanical.org.