French Garden Design

French garden design applies the principles of symmetry and geometry established by André Le Nôtre, chief gardener for Louis IVX at the Palace of Versailles. Versailles had originally been a hunting lodge, but Le Nôtre turned it into the envy of the European Elite with his elaborate parterres, radiating pathways, water pools, and stone coping that were laid out with an order and system that all came together into a complex, interconnected unity when viewed from a balcony or palace room. Soon, this style was copied by the remainder of the French aristocracy, and it to this day still follows the same basic design principles as its royal prototype.

Of course, today’s French gardens are obviously much smaller than the ones built around the chateaus of the 18th century. The typical Houston home resides on far less land than even a small European estate. Nevertheless modified derivatives of the original formula can still be replicated in virtually any Houston setting to the flat nature of our terrain. This is because Houston, like much of France, lies on a very level plane that is ideal for the type of formal bedding the garden is planted within.

The essential elements of parterres surrounded by trimmed hedges, repeating geometry, and embroidered patterns are used as compliments to landscaping features such as fountains, patios, and outdoor sculptures. Within these basic structures a tremendous freedom now exists for the landscape designer to create all sorts of shapes and colors within the formal bedding and enclosed low-level hedges that have remained characteristic of this form for centuries.

While French gardens will always be exquisitely breathtaking when appreciated from a removed, elevated vantage point, today’s modern landscaping techniques make it possible to create the same effects with smaller gardens, or even micro gardens, viewed from ground level. Such smaller French gardens are often located in front of outdoor patios, outdoor rooms, and arbors. This allows homeowners to sit outside and overlook a landscape whose diversity also represents unity and balance.

This bending, rather than breaking, of pattern and form allows for virtually any low-level plant species to be used in a French garden. Boxwoods are typically used to frame the edges of parterres, with perennial blooms, herbs, and special grasses comprising the interior. Color choices can range from the monochromatic to a diversity of red, blues, yellows, and varying shades of green.

The only requirement that really limits plant material options is the need of every French garden to clearly have more horizontal space than vertical space. So long as the formal element of a flat, cultivated, and highly sculpted planting remains clearly seen from any desired vantage point(s) , the options for flowers and plants are diverse and numerous.