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FREE ONLINE HOME GARDEN DESIGN COURSE FROM GARDENZINE.CO.UK
PART TWO: CHOOSING A STYLE FOR YOUR GARDEN
FORMAL GARDENS
Formal gardens hark back to the gardening style used by many of Britain's stately homes and take their influence from classical French gardens such as Versailles.
The formal garden relies on a neat and ordered layout with well-planned geometric lines and everything in its place. Symmetry is very important in a formal garden style.
Features of a formal garden style will include avenues and pathways with borders on either side in which the planting is mirrored. There will be clipped hedges, possibly topiary and neat, well-manicured lawns. In the formal garden it is the form and shape of the garden that dominates over the planting. You could also include parterres, terraces, statues, sun dials and pergolas. If you choose to have a water feature, its shape should be symmetrical.
Planting in the formal garden will be limited mainly to shrubs and trees that are 'well-behaved' with plenty of clipped evergreens such as box, bay and yew. Flowering shrubs will be those that respond best to pruning into shape. Choose lavender planted in rows and keep it neatly clipped. Herbs and vegetables in a formal garden will be surrounded by box hedging to keep them in check and colour is usually added with the addition of bedding at appropriate times.
OTHER POPULAR DESIGN STYLES
