Connected World – The Majorelle Gardens, Marrakech

One of the most famous sites in Marrakech and a well known garden in its own right; described as mysterious and mystical. We know how gardens can have wonderful effects on our well-being, and highlight the power of our connected world, but just how does this garden weave its spells? With my love of gardens and landscapes this was just too good to miss, and a must to explore.

For me one of the most valuable ways of understanding gardens is to see how they use and balance the four elements of Air, Fire, Water and Earth, that science now tells us are essential conditions for life (fire as 'energy'). Here in Morocco and Marrakech the two that dominate are of course fire and air – vast skies and burning sunshine, earth is often reduced to sand by the sun and the lack of water, and plants and shade is scarce. Humans are best suited to a balance of these elements, for their comfort and well being; and so it is that one of the key features of a garden is to create that harmony and balance and so become a sanctuary for us, in what might otherwise be an inhospitable environment.

It is very quick to see and feel as you step inside that the Majorelle Gardens expertly fulfil this sense of balance and wellbeing. Firstly – and a stroke of genius – are the use everywhere of massive tall arching bamboos, some perhaps 30 feet (c10 metres) high. You are immediately plunged into their green shade, and the otherwise burning sun tempered dramatically. They are found everywhere in the garden providing their wonderful protection and bringing into play the cooling aspects of the earth element – also connected to greenery and shade itself. Adding to this feeling are the ground cover plants that are found in many places, and the other trees, such as the rubber trees, which also add calm and coolness.

The element of water is of course found in the several ponds that are placed around the garden, but the sense of this element is also enhanced by the use everywhere of a beautiful deep blue, reminiscent of deep water, that has become known as Majorelle Blue. Perhaps it was used deliberately because of the complexity of adding many water features at the time Jacques Marjorelle was building his sanctuary, or just instinctively, but it certainly enhances the sense of coolness to the eye and in the spirit that water itself brings.

There are also any other fascinating aspects to this garden, two in particular I will mention. Firstly the high arching bamboos and the palm trees reaching up towards the sky, create a sense of uplift to the mind and spirit, not unlike the high pillars and arches of a cathedral. And while at the ground there is little wind, the element of air is always felt to be present as the fine leaves of the bamboos high in the canopy, catch any slight breath of wind and rustle and tinkle with a light ‘silvery’ sound, lightening the feeling of the shade.

Another way you might wish to explore this and other gardens is to discover the three different influences of Sun, Planet and Moon, that govern all that grow here. One way of exploring is to consider that the sun influence is seen in sharp pointed leaves and shapes, the moon in circular and the planet in more oval forms that combine the two. Look for them here .... and one great place to start here is among the stunning collection of cacti where all these different shapes can be found; another magical aspect of these truly special gardens.