Going formal with gardens

If you like an orderly, well-structured and controlled environment, then you will fall in love with formal gardens.

They have adorned palaces and gardens of the high and mighty for ages, depicting power, dominance and control.

But they can also be modified to suit small urban gardens where efficient space use is critical and low maintenance is not a luxury.

Here are some tips to get you started on a formal garden.

Axes

Features and elements (both manmade and natural) in a formal garden are made to follow an imposed geometry and strict symmetry, producing simple and efficient spaces organised around axes.

If space allows, cross-axes can be created; some larger gardens have multiple axial routes that create views along and across the garden.

Axes are terminated at focal points, usually the main entry of a house but can also end up at a statue, a garden fountain or any other garden objects.

Axes intersections too are treated as focal points and are enhanced with special pavements or other ornaments.

Although perfectly flat terrain is not essential, the main components of a formal garden are best appreciated on “flattish” site where the patterns formed by the axes and cross axes can be viewed either from the main windows of the house or from an adjacent terrace or porch.

Balance

Symmetric balance is essential in a formal garden to emphasise the focus of the garden. It is typically expressed by a series of equally matched beds and spaces on either side of an axis. These spaces or beds may be square, rectangular, curved or a hybrid of all three.

Walkways with crisp edges typically thread through the layout defining the boundaries of spaces and forcing planting beds and lawns into order.

The edges and outlines may be further emphasised by the addition of low, clipped evergreen hedges.

Statuary and ornaments

Matching urns of either solid, carved forms or open bowl types lushly filled with plants placed on pedestals provide interest and intricacy in a formal garden.

Thematically related statuary and artistic pieces of appropriate scale are placed at focal points to dramatise the scene and introduce meaning and symbolism.

Topiary trees or shrubs and neatly shaped climbing roses or clematis, supported by sturdy yet decorative wood or metal structures are other attractive details that you can add in a formal garden.

Maintenance

Maintenance costs, unfortunately, are always high with formal gardens since every plant must receive perfect grooming throughout and the construction elements must be kept reasonably neat and in a good state of repair. More often than not, you will require dedicated gardening services, especially during the growing season, just to keep up with all the trimming, mowing and edging that this type of gardening requires. 

Modifications can, however, be made to the style by introducing more informal planting, reducing the variety of plants used and simplifying the construction details and materials to make it more suitable for today’s urban lifestyle.  This is, in fact, what has given rise to the contemporary style of gardening as we know it.

Photo: boomar357.wordpress.com

The writer is a landscape architect