The Two Basic Garden Styles
Introduction
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This cottage garden exemplifies
one of the two basic garden
styles: informal.
Gertrude Jekyll, the revered English landscape designer and garden writer, said that a garden must fit its master as well as his clothes. Like clothing, garden fashions come and go. One year everyone wants an Asian-inspired retreat. The next year, the New American Garden is all the rage. But regardless of outward appearances, clothes and gardens tend to fall into one of two basic styles: formal and informal.
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Formal gardens can evoke the
gardens of Versailles, but
the principles of formal
design can work for more
casual plans, too.
Formal gardens -- sometimes called French gardens -- conjure up images of a mini Versailles, replete with intricate boxwood knot gardens and perfectly symmetrical paths. Informal, or English, gardens recall blowsy borders, overflowing with tumbling roses and a patchwork of perennials.
Few of us hew dogmatically to either extreme. Instead, most gardens tend toward a combination of formal and informal elements. Both styles offer inspiration in creating a garden that suits your personal style. Recognizing the elements that create each style can help you create a satisfying landscape regardless of its outward appearance. Like a classically tailored suit, good style never goes out of fashion.
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