High walls, terraces and pines: the crane decides
On the cape, properties hide behind high walls, along lanes where two cars barely pass. The gate sets the width of whatever comes in.
A mobile crane solves most cases. Set up in the lane, it lifts the olive over the wall and sets it down on its terrace. Provided the wall can bear the load of the outriggers, the jib can pass between the stone pines without harming their limbs, and the capacity is calculated at the real reach, not at maximum rating. When no set-up is possible, the helicopter takes over.
For these calculations we rely on a network built over our Riviera projects: engineering consultants (geotechnics, structure, lifting) and hauliers who deliver specimen trees on the Riviera all year round. Stability of a terrace wall under the crane, weight of a root ball, anchoring of the tree: nothing is left to guesswork.
A mobile crane solves most cases. Set up in the lane, it lifts the olive over the wall and sets it down on its terrace. Provided the wall can bear the load of the outriggers, the jib can pass between the stone pines without harming their limbs, and the capacity is calculated at the real reach, not at maximum rating. When no set-up is possible, the helicopter takes over.
For these calculations we rely on a network built over our Riviera projects: engineering consultants (geotechnics, structure, lifting) and hauliers who deliver specimen trees on the Riviera all year round. Stability of a terrace wall under the crane, weight of a root ball, anchoring of the tree: nothing is left to guesswork.
Our role in Antibes, with full discretion
Many villas on the cape are run year-round by an estate manager, and some are let in summer. Works are therefore scheduled out of season, from autumn to spring, which is also the right time to plant a large tree. For a garden to take over, we start with what must stay: pines, ancient olives, stone walls. Our full process, from sketch to guiding the gardeners, is on our Design page (in French).
On Cap d'Antibes, a garden is often designed for owners who are away part of the year, with their estate manager, their architect or their family office. Our rules:
— no photo, no name, no address published without written consent; our projects are cited at the level of the commune;
— a non-disclosure agreement signed at your request, before the first visit;
— a single contact, Stanislas Jung, in French or in English, and visits planned around the household's calendar;
— contractors consulted on a file, without knowing the client's identity before signature.
On Cap d'Antibes, a garden is often designed for owners who are away part of the year, with their estate manager, their architect or their family office. Our rules:
— no photo, no name, no address published without written consent; our projects are cited at the level of the commune;
— a non-disclosure agreement signed at your request, before the first visit;
— a single contact, Stanislas Jung, in French or in English, and visits planned around the household's calendar;
— contractors consulted on a file, without knowing the client's identity before signature.
Specimen trees, projects and technical notes
On the cape, the olive is the tree of the front line and of the memory of the place. A twisted trunk several centuries old is chosen in the field, never from a photo (articles in French):
Viveros Valero e Hijos, Elche: thousand-year-old olives over 6 m, natural or sculpted.
Vivaio Aumenta, Lazio: hundreds of thick-trunked olives, cork oaks and strawberry trees.
Piante Faro, at the foot of Etna: palms and subtropical plants, in the spirit of the cape's acclimatisation collections.
How we move large trees: lifting by the root ball, covered lorry, and the case of terraces around Antibes.
Oasis garden in the hills of Cannes and pool garden in Le Cannet.
We also work in Cannes, at Cap Ferrat and in Mougins.
Viveros Valero e Hijos, Elche: thousand-year-old olives over 6 m, natural or sculpted.
Vivaio Aumenta, Lazio: hundreds of thick-trunked olives, cork oaks and strawberry trees.
Piante Faro, at the foot of Etna: palms and subtropical plants, in the spirit of the cape's acclimatisation collections.
How we move large trees: lifting by the root ball, covered lorry, and the case of terraces around Antibes.
Oasis garden in the hills of Cannes and pool garden in Le Cannet.
We also work in Cannes, at Cap Ferrat and in Mougins.
An acclimatisation microclimate. It is no accident that the Villa Thuret, one of the oldest acclimatisation gardens in France, settled on the cape in 1857: surrounded by water on three sides, the cape hardly knows frost. Even the Open-Meteo grid cell for Antibes, centred inland, records only about 4 frost days a year (1991-2020); on the point, frost becomes exceptional. But a leeward slope, the exposed Garoupe plateau and a damp hollow behind a pine wood do not make the same garden: we read each plot before choosing the palette.
A marked summer thirst. About 740 mm of rain a year, 309 mm of it from September to November and barely 65 mm in summer (Open-Meteo, 1991-2020). Géorisques classes Antibes at risk of flash floods and run-off: drainage, outfalls and gradients are drawn before the beds.
Salt decides the front line. Pines, olives, mastic trees, strawberry trees, myrtles and Chamaerops stand up to sea spray; the rest settles in their shelter.
A protected cape, a ground to read. The coast lies within the Natura 2000 site "Baie et cap d'Antibes – îles de Lérins" (FR9301573), the Garoupe wood within a type II ZNIEFF (930020144, INPN), and Antibes falls under the French Coastal Law. Géorisques records 20 underground cavities, landslides and coastal retreat there. For a pool, a retaining wall or a large tree on the rocks, the geotechnical study comes before the plan.
A marked summer thirst. About 740 mm of rain a year, 309 mm of it from September to November and barely 65 mm in summer (Open-Meteo, 1991-2020). Géorisques classes Antibes at risk of flash floods and run-off: drainage, outfalls and gradients are drawn before the beds.
Salt decides the front line. Pines, olives, mastic trees, strawberry trees, myrtles and Chamaerops stand up to sea spray; the rest settles in their shelter.
A protected cape, a ground to read. The coast lies within the Natura 2000 site "Baie et cap d'Antibes – îles de Lérins" (FR9301573), the Garoupe wood within a type II ZNIEFF (930020144, INPN), and Antibes falls under the French Coastal Law. Géorisques records 20 underground cavities, landslides and coastal retreat there. For a pool, a retaining wall or a large tree on the rocks, the geotechnical study comes before the plan.
The landscapes and climate we know
A French state-qualified landscape designer (DPLG), Stanislas Jung designs villa gardens on Cap d'Antibes, in Juan-les-Pins and on the hills of Antibes with HORUS Paysages: pine woods to preserve, parks open to the Baie des Anges or the Golfe-Juan, seaside gardens drawn for salt and wind.
The studio is based in Feucherolles, west of Paris, and travels wherever a project calls, in France and abroad. On the Riviera, its projects in Cannes, Le Cannet, Nice and Saint-Laurent-du-Var have given it a close knowledge of coastal microclimates, and of the contractors, growers and engineers who work well there. Stanislas Jung follows each project on site, from first visit to guiding the gardeners.
On Cap d'Antibes, every garden has two faces… the one seen from the sea, and the one never shown.
HORUS Paysages in Antibes and on Cap d'Antibes
Frequently asked questions
Where do you work around Antibes?
On Cap d'Antibes, in Juan-les-Pins, on the hills of Antibes and in the neighbouring communes, from Cannes to Nice and as far as Cap Ferrat. Based in Feucherolles, west of Paris, HORUS Paysages works across France and abroad; on the Riviera, Stanislas Jung travels for every visit and every site meeting, with a network of Riviera contractors proven on our projects.
How do you bring a century-old olive into a walled property?
Most often over the wall, with a mobile crane set up in the lane. Before ordering, we survey the gate, the slope and the lane width, then have an engineer check the crane's reach and how the walls bear its outriggers. The olive is lifted by its root ball, ideally between November and March.
Why does the climate of Cap d'Antibes allow exotic gardens?
Because the cape, surrounded by water on three sides, hardly knows frost: the Villa Thuret has acclimatised plants from all over the world there since 1857. Palms, citrus and subtropical foliage live outdoors. The real constraints are the dry summer and the salt: the palette is built first with what holds without watering and against sea spray.
How does HORUS Paysages guarantee the confidentiality of a project?
No photo, no name and no address is published without the owner's written consent; our projects are cited at the level of the commune. We sign a non-disclosure agreement on request, work with a single contact and consult contractors on a file, without revealing the client's identity before signature.
Landscape architect or landscape designer: what is the difference in France?
"Landscape architect" is the usual term in English. In France, the protected title is paysagiste concepteur, reserved since 2016 to graduates recognised by the State, including DPLG landscape designers such as Stanislas Jung, founder of HORUS Paysages.
A property on Cap d'Antibes? Let's talk on site.
+33 6 80 22 48 10
On Cap d'Antibes, in Juan-les-Pins, on the hills of Antibes and in the neighbouring communes, from Cannes to Nice and as far as Cap Ferrat. Based in Feucherolles, west of Paris, HORUS Paysages works across France and abroad; on the Riviera, Stanislas Jung travels for every visit and every site meeting, with a network of Riviera contractors proven on our projects.
How do you bring a century-old olive into a walled property?
Most often over the wall, with a mobile crane set up in the lane. Before ordering, we survey the gate, the slope and the lane width, then have an engineer check the crane's reach and how the walls bear its outriggers. The olive is lifted by its root ball, ideally between November and March.
Why does the climate of Cap d'Antibes allow exotic gardens?
Because the cape, surrounded by water on three sides, hardly knows frost: the Villa Thuret has acclimatised plants from all over the world there since 1857. Palms, citrus and subtropical foliage live outdoors. The real constraints are the dry summer and the salt: the palette is built first with what holds without watering and against sea spray.
How does HORUS Paysages guarantee the confidentiality of a project?
No photo, no name and no address is published without the owner's written consent; our projects are cited at the level of the commune. We sign a non-disclosure agreement on request, work with a single contact and consult contractors on a file, without revealing the client's identity before signature.
Landscape architect or landscape designer: what is the difference in France?
"Landscape architect" is the usual term in English. In France, the protected title is paysagiste concepteur, reserved since 2016 to graduates recognised by the State, including DPLG landscape designers such as Stanislas Jung, founder of HORUS Paysages.
A property on Cap d'Antibes? Let's talk on site.
+33 6 80 22 48 10
