Wirtz Landscape Designers

Bringing greenery into our lives is an important job, so we’re thankful we can rely on Wirtz landscape designers to create the most divine outdoor landscapes, filled with artfully tamed nature that juxtaposes perfectly with sculptural spaces, water features and urban necessities.

Established in the 50s, Wirtz has always risen above trends and garden fads, instead focusing purely on the need in hand, looking at the space, light and existing architectural structure and applying the brands recognisable trait of ‘big movements and big gestures’, regardless of the size of the garden.

Led originally by the late Jacques Wirtz, the company remains family-run, with Jacques’ sons, Martin and Peter taking the helm for the last 25 years. Jacques passed on his knowledge gleaned when he studied Landscape Architecture and Horticulture at the Tuinbouwschool in Vilvoorde,  layered with his first-hand experience. Looking back over his legacy and Wirtz’s subsequent successes, some standout moments include the tranquil, lush Kanazawa Belgian Park in Kanazawa, Japan in 1970, the striking and elegant Tuileries Garden in Paris (1990) where yew hedges fan out in radiance and the refreshing nature on show in the Jubilee Park (2000), Canary Wharf, flanked by an upward urban sprawl of skyscrapers.

In between the outdoor public spaces, museums and business addresses, Wirtz have worked on countless private gardens, where curved stone pathways disappear into modular landscapes, softened by swaying grasses and salvia with clipped hedges giving structure. A signature look, evolved over the years, taps into the zeitgeist movement of cold-water swimming with the use of a natural swimming pond, cleaned by a feed filtration system and fits perfectly into a greenery-clad garden and offers something truly wild, even in a city centre.

A faultless example of this can be seen in Aficionados’ member Hotel August, designed by Vincent Von Duysen. Three walled gardens create a place of seclusion and serenity, shaded by canopies of trees. The use of clipped hedges and uniformity of tree species bows to the elegance and historic setting, whilst the stunning swimming pond adds allure to the modern traveller in this city dwelling.

Whatever your view on gardening and horticulture, stepping out into a Wirtz designed garden gives a feeling of enrichment, measured calm and feel-good tranquillity. And if that happens to chime with our aperitivo o’ clock, then so much the better.