[I190]In A French Garden

We get the word "horticulture" from the Latin word, "hortus", which means "garden", and "cultura", which means "cultivation". Gardening is an art, and as with all art forms, there are a number of styles to choose from.
It was in the 17th and 18th centuries that for the first time the traditional French garden style was developed during the Baroque and Rococo periods. The gardens of the era were majestic exhibitions of power and riches constructed by royalty and aristocrats for the purpose of impressing guests. You will find that traditional French garden style is very formal, they are in fact inspired by the ancient classical gardens. Spanning level ground, these geometrically shaped gardens are very well planned out in regards to their design. A common characteristic of such gardens are man-made terraces. There are also elaborately designed stairs that connect one terrace to another. French gardens often feature large water pools which provide reflective properties and are easily built given the flat landscape. Here you will find a list of the main components of traditional, formal, French garden design.
* Yards are contained of square frames and constantly shuddered by neat, squared bushes
* Flowerbeds are also geometrical in shape rectangular, oval or circular.
The French gardens which are formal have an important feature of Parterres in them. On the ground intricate geometric patterns are made using a variety of materials such as colored dirt, stones, gravel or flowers. Boxwood, lavender, and rosemary are usually used to line parterres. Exceptionally elaborate parterres are called parterres de broderies, embroidery parterres. Visitors can view parterres from garden terraces.
* The water features are most often canals and large pools. Most of these water fountains have engines to operate them.
* The French garden style included alles, or axes or rides, which were used for the walks and pathways and bordered by trees and neatly clipped hedges. Usually with a destination in mind, these paths may end at a type of garden ornament.
* French gardens feature many ornamental objects from statues and columns to birdbaths and sundials. These are placed symmetrically, at the end of an allee, for example.
* Plants: The planting design is often based on color. Pastel colors are used predominantly in French gardens with touches of yellow and red, and a little lilac and blue. Ideally, gardeners should choose plants that bloom all year round.
* Primarily French in origin, and available as an optional feature, Orangerie is a large glass-enclosed room in the garden where you'll find lemon, lime, and orange trees blooming during the cold winter months.
* Herb gardens are often included in traditional French gardens. The neat French garden style usually includes separate areas for a fruit garden, a rose garden and sometimes a herb garden too. Herb gardens can actually be integral components of a well-planned garden. Paving is used in a specific pattern a chessboard pattern or a circular pattern, laid out like the spokes of a wheel. Places to rest are in places where you can see the beauty of a garden. Rosemary, sage, lavender, marjoram, sweet bay and thyme are herbs that are very common in France.
A famous example of the traditional French formal garden style described above is the Versailles Gardens located just outside Paris. King Louis IV hired landscape architect Andr Le Ntre to create the Versailles Gardens, in 1661. Gardens are huge, very huge, on the far left of the Chateau de Versailles. The gardens have meticulously manicured lawns, parterres of blooming flowers, and dozens of valuable statues and sculptures. The most impressive feature of the gardens, however are its 1,400 fountains. The garden was watered with water from the Seine River which was supplied by a pumping system. Still, there was never enough water to run all the fountains at once. When King Louis IV approached, caretakers would turn the fountains on, one by one. These days their hours of operation are restricted to Sundays.
Not going to France any time soon? You can still visit a traditional French garden just by stopping by the Conservatory Garden, located in the North side of Central Park in New York City.
Despite the fact that traditional and formal gardening styles of France influenced the designs of gardens around the world, not all French gardens are traditional. France has many less formal gardens, including the Giverney garden overflowing with blooming flowers as shown in Monet's beautiful paintings.