A formal garden is a garden with a clear structure, geometric shapes and in most cases a symmetrical layout. Its origin goes back to the gardens which are located in the desert areas of

Western Asia West Asia (also called Western Asia or Southwest Asia) is the westernmost region of Asia. As defined by most academics, UN bodies and other institutions, the subregion consists of Anatolia, the Arabian Peninsula, Iran, Mesopotamia, the Armenian ...

and are protected by walls. The style of a formal garden is reflected in the Persian gardens of Iran, and the monastic gardens from the

Late Middle Ages The late Middle Ages or late medieval period was the Periodization, period of History of Europe, European history lasting from 1300 to 1500 AD. The late Middle Ages followed the High Middle Ages and preceded the onset of the early modern period ( ...

. It has found its continuation in the

Italian Renaissance garden The Italian Renaissance garden was a new style of garden which emerged in the late 15th century at villas in Rome and Florence, inspired by classical ideals of order and beauty, and intended for the pleasure of the view of the garden and the land ...

s and has culminated in the

French formal garden The French formal garden, also called the , is a style of "Landscape architecture, landscape" garden based on symmetry and the principle of imposing order on nature. Its epitome is generally considered to be the Gardens of Versailles designed ...

s from the

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

period. Through its design, the garden conveys a sense of established order and transparency to the observer. In

garden design Garden design is the art and process of designing and creating plans for layout and planting of garden, gardens and landscapes. Garden design may be done by the garden owner themselves, or by professionals of varying levels of experience and expe ...

, the formal garden is said to be the opposite to the

landscape garden The English landscape garden, also called English landscape park or simply the English garden (, , , , ), is a style of "Landscape architecture, landscape" garden which emerged in England in the early 18th century, and spread across Europe, r ...

, which follows nature and which came into fashion in the 18th century.

Distinguishing features

A typical feature of formal gardens is the axial and symmetrical arrangement of pathways and beds. Both of these elements are typically enclosed, for example with low box hedges or flower borders. The garden itself is usually surrounded by "green walls", for instance walls covered in climbing plants, fences or clipped

hedge A hedge or hedgerow is a line of closely spaced (3 feet or closer) shrubs and sometimes trees, planted and trained to form a barrier or to mark the boundary of an area, such as between neighbouring properties. Hedges that are used to separate ...

s. The area that has been created by this procedure is again divided by hedges,

espalier Espalier ( or ) is the horticulture, horticultural and ancient Agriculture, agricultural practice of controlling woody plant growth for the production of fruit, by pruning and tying branches to a frame. Plants are frequently shaped in formal patt ...

s, and trellises. The enclosed areas of the different parts are structured by means of low elements. This creates an atmosphere of clarity and straightness and thus also a certain degree of simplicity. The center of the garden is often accentuated by a round, oval or square structural element, which is usually made of

dimension stone Dimension stone is natural stone or Rock (geology), rock that has been selected and finished (e.g., trimmed, cut, drilled or ground) to specific sizes or shapes. Color, Texture (geology), texture and pattern, and surface finish of the stone are ...

. The footpaths are covered with materials like

brick A brick is a type of construction material used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a unit primarily composed of clay. But is now also used informally to denote building un ...

bluestone Bluestone is a cultural or commercial name for a number of natural dimension stone, dimension or building stone varieties, including: * basalt in Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, and in New Zealand * diabase, dolerites in Tasmania, ...

or paving stone. Alternatively, the paths can be covered with scattered

gravel Gravel () is a loose aggregation of rock fragments. Gravel occurs naturally on Earth as a result of sedimentation, sedimentary and erosion, erosive geological processes; it is also produced in large quantities commercially as crushed stone. Gr ...

or colored glass chippings. Their straight lines create visual axes. At the end of these axes, eye-catching elements, such as sculptures, ornamental ponds, fountains, planters or seating accommodation can be found. Other eyecatchers that can be found in formal gardens are ornamental structural elements such as beds that are arranged to form intertwined patterns, or beds with complex geometrical arrangements of the plants. However, formal gardens that contain these elements lose their simplistic design in part and are no longer easy to care for. Most of the plants in a formal garden need pruning once a year.deavita.com
accessed on September 13, 2016. This is mostly necessary for topiary, which is a practice where

evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has Leaf, foliage that remains green and functional throughout the year. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which lose their foliage completely during the winter or dry season. Consisting of many diffe ...

woody plant A woody plant is a plant that produces wood as its structural tissue and thus has a hard stem. In cold climates, woody plants further survive winter or dry season above ground, as opposed to Herbaceous plant, herbaceous plants that die back to t ...

s, for example box trees, yew trees, hollies or pine trees are cut into geometric shapes, such as

sphere A sphere (from Ancient Greek, Greek , ) is a surface (mathematics), surface analogous to the circle, a curve. In solid geometry, a sphere is the Locus (mathematics), set of points that are all at the same distance from a given point in three ...

pyramid A pyramid () is a structure whose visible surfaces are triangular in broad outline and converge toward the top, making the appearance roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be of any polygon shape, such as trian ...

s, or

cone In geometry, a cone is a three-dimensional figure that tapers smoothly from a flat base (typically a circle) to a point not contained in the base, called the '' apex'' or '' vertex''. A cone is formed by a set of line segments, half-lines ...

s, but also into animal shapes or other more fanciful shapes. In larger formal gardens, usually there are hedge mazes, which are constructed by means of topiary. These mazes include archways, hidden resting places and '' cul-de-sacs''. Usually, low

perennial plant In horticulture, the term perennial (''wikt:per-#Prefix, per-'' + ''wikt:-ennial#Suffix, -ennial'', "through the year") is used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annual plant, annuals and biennial plant, biennials. It has thus been d ...

s and flowers harmonize well are planted in

herbaceous border A herbaceous border is a collection of perennial herbaceous plants (plants that live for more than two years and are soft-stemmed and non-woody) arranged closely together, usually to create a dramatic effect through colour, shape or large scale. ...

s. However, the main criterion is not the bloom but rather the shape and effect produced by the color of the leaves. Therefore, ornamental

foliage A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, stem, f ...

plants are often selected for the beds. The type of

lawn A lawn () is an area of soil-covered land planted with Poaceae, grasses and other durable plants such as clover lawn, clover which are maintained at a short height with a lawn mower (or sometimes grazing animals) and used for aesthetic an ...

that can be found in a formal garden, if used, is usually closely cut ornamental lawn. Formal garden Tryon Palace, North Carolina.jpg, Typical formal garden Jardines de Sabatini (Madrid) 01.jpg, Sabatini Gardens at the Palacio Real in Madrid SchlossVillandryGarten10.jpg, Formal gardens in Château de Villandry Formal Garden, Hampton Court Palace, Surrey (geograph 2510706).jpg, Formal garden in

Hampton Court Palace Hampton Court Palace is a Listed building, Grade I listed royal palace in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, southwest and upstream of central London on the River Thames. Opened to the public, the palace is managed by Historic Royal ...

Modern formal garden, Dallas, Texas.jpg, Modern formal garden

Bibliography

* Mark Laird, Hugh Palmer: ''The Formal Garden. Traditions of Art and Nature.'' Thames and Hudson, London 1992, . * Günter Mader, Laila Neubert-Mader: ''The English Formal Garden. Five Centuries of Design.'' Aurum, London 1997, . * Allen S. Weiss: ''Mirrors of Infinity. The French Formal Garden and 17th-Century Metaphysics.'' Princeton Architectural Press, New York 1995, . * Reginald Blomfield: ''The Formal Garden in England (Classic Reprint).'' Forgotten Books, London 2015,

References

Christina Waldeyer: ''Homo hortulanus. Die Sinnzuschreibungen in privaten Hausgartengestaltungen.'' Springer, Wiesbaden 2016, , S. 185. H. Simon et al.: ''Das große GU Gartenbuch.'' 2016, p. 121. H. Simon et al.: ''Das große GU Gartenbuch.'' 2016, p. 132. H. Simon: ''Gärten gestalten.'' 2013, p. 22. deavita.com
accessed on September 13, 2016.
, accessed on September 13, 2016.

External links

{{commons category-inline, Formal gardens Types of garden

Distinguishing features

See also

Bibliography

References

External links