| Formal landscape design invokes order and balance. | | | | neat, geometric shapes-rectangles, squares, triangles |
| Think of the gardens of Monticello, the landscaping of | | | | or circles. Along with the decisive contouring of the |
| Versailles, and, closer to home, the gardens of Bayou | | | | plant materials, these shapes accentuate the stability |
| Bend, which is part of the Museum of Fine Arts, | | | | and serenity of formal landscape designs. |
| Houston. | | | | Because of the acute geometry of formal garden |
| The hand of the gardener is clearly in evidence in | | | | designs, some house styles are better suited for |
| formal landscape designs as the pathways and | | | | formal gardens than others. Colonial and Federal-style |
| plantings are controlled along crisp lines. It is this | | | | houses built of brick or stone work well with this |
| discipline that gives a sense of peace and order. | | | | style of garden. Formal gardens nicely complement |
| Formal landscape design is our attempt to exert our | | | | urban townhouses, especially those constructed in |
| control over nature, to create our idealized version of | | | | formal architectural styles such as Second Empire, |
| it. | | | | Georgian or Greek Revival. Contemporary designs, |
| Throughout history, formal gardens have evolved. | | | | with their spare and unadorned lines, also support |
| Traditional, or classic, landscape design, for instance, is | | | | formal garden design. |
| a type of formal garden that uses linear walkways | | | | Other Features in a Formal Landscape Designs and |
| and clipped shrubbery. In the 16th and 17th centuries, | | | | Formal Garden Designs |
| knot gardens and parterres were in vogue. Originating | | | | Luxury swimming pools. The water is the whole |
| in England, a knot garden is a square made of low, | | | | point of a formal pool. You want to create a frame |
| clipped hedges. Within the "knot", a variety of | | | | for the water that turns it into a design element |
| blooming plants and herbs grow. Parterres developed | | | | within the landscape. To that end, a rectangular |
| in the formal estates of France and are four squares | | | | shape of water looks inherently formal. Round, oval |
| laid in a symmetrical pattern separated by gravel | | | | and square work well, too. Within a formal garden, |
| paths. The planting that makes the outline of the | | | | the pool should be placed where it geometrically fits |
| parterre is an evergreen shrub trimmed into a | | | | into the overall design. It can be situated in the middle |
| pleasant, sometimes intricate, shape. Parterres are | | | | of the space or unconnected to the other immediate |
| designed to be viewed from on high-from the crest | | | | features or structures. The pool is meant to stand |
| of a slope or the balcony of a chateau. | | | | out and be noticed. Be mindful of your choice of |
| Like language, the term "formal landscape design" | | | | materials with a pool. You want to stay within the |
| continues to change with time. There are few hard | | | | formal realm. Flagstone, tile or brick all work well. |
| and fast rules-but the main constant is to use the | | | | Outdoor water fountains. Fountains fit beautifully |
| principles of formal landscape design to create a | | | | in formal landscape designs. Just remember to keep |
| landscape that is beautiful and supports the things | | | | them in the style of the garden and house design. A |
| you love. | | | | simple garden design with lots of open space and |
| Creating Your Formal Residential Landscape Design | | | | spare lines can take a more complex water fountain. |
| Formal gardens need not be boring. They can be | | | | If, however, your garden is more intricately designed |
| quietly dramatic or outright bold. While there are | | | | or tightly planted, a simpler fountain works best. |
| many kinds of formal gardens, they have two | | | | Landscape lighting. Use the different types of |
| qualities in common: balance and symmetry. These | | | | landscape lighting-down-lighting, up-lighting, |
| attributes are best exemplified by the way the | | | | architectural lighting, incandescent lights-to play up the |
| structural lines, called axes, bring the eye to rest | | | | theatricality of a formal landscape design. |
| where they intersect. Axes are straight lines of sight | | | | Residential Landscape Maintenance is the Key |
| that lead to a prominent feature, usually the house. | | | | An ongoing feature of formal gardens is maintenance. |
| Typically a formal residential landscape has two axes | | | | Regular and conscientious maintenance will keep your |
| perpendicular to one another. Called the main axis and | | | | formal landscape design formal. "After spending a lot |
| the secondary axis, they often double as paths. | | | | of money on your landscape installation, it only |
| The main axis is usually wider than the secondary | | | | makes sense to protect it and make sure it develops |
| path that crosses it. The extra width gives the main | | | | as designed. And that's where a landscape |
| axis visual prominence and directs the eye. Thus the | | | | maintenance program comes in," says Jeff Halper |
| eye travels along the main axis, then stops when it | | | | with Exterior Worlds. "As part of a thorough |
| reaches the intersection with the secondary axis, | | | | landscape maintenance program, hedges as well as |
| which joins it at a 90 degree angle. This joining is a | | | | other shrubs and bushes should be trimmed regularly |
| good place for a focal point, such as an outdoor | | | | to maintain the desired contours. Ground cover and |
| water fountain, that creates interest. | | | | vines should be edged to maintain a neat appearance. |
| As opposed to an English garden design that uses | | | | This regularly-scheduled attention will ensure that all |
| curved borders with undulating edges, in formal | | | | elements conform to the overall plan of the formal |
| garden design the edges and borders are laid out in | | | | landscape design. |