| Summary: | While Le Nôtre’s architectural expertise regarding gardens is no longer in question, his construction practices have previously received scant attention. Thanks to historical and archaeological research conducted at the Tuileries in 2012, we now know a little more about the scope of his intervention, as well as how he organized, structured and led the restoration work of the Tuileries. As a careful project manager, with the Tuileries Le Nôtre showed a remarkable capacity to adapt. He took into account the garden’s various uses (it was open to the public), the need to protect it from the Seine’s flooding, as well as his predecessors’ work and layouts. The gardener most likely intervened grove by grove, using palisades to isolate certain areas and creating paths for carts. Plants and materials were collected as needed and placed in nurseries or stored inside groves. Clay and gypsum from nearby building sites were used to seal the basins, backfill the alleys, and create an underground breakwater to curb floodwater if necessary. If there was only one word to define Le Nôtre’s work at the Tuileries, it would be “consistency”. For almost fifteen years the architect gardener systematically put processes in place as part of an integrated project.
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