If you’re an admirer of formal gardens and classic garden designs, you already know how beautiful these gardens are. What you may not know, however, is that these gardens are the best possible examples of practical gardening. They’re possible in just about any temperate climate.
You also may not know that they’re not really high maintenance gardens. They’re extremely efficient gardens, and they grow and flower beautifully with only basic seasonal care and occasional maintenance.
Classical gardens plantings and flower choices
You can tell by the plantings in these gardens how they work. The types of plants are a virtual handbook of the types of care they need. Roses, for example, are extremely hardy plants. They’re literally tough as old boots, and the classic roses like Queen Elizabeth roses can grow to huge size with minimal care. These very vigorous plants take good care of themselves. All they usually need is lots of mulch and pruning, and they’ll produce a forest of flowers.
Bulbs and other seasonal plants not only take good care of themselves, they restock your garden for you. Their growth cycle includes creating new bulbs. The cold doesn’t bother them. They use it to hibernate as a natural part of their growth cycle, and emerge in Spring to produce a blaze of colors. Jonquils and tulips are two of the famous classical plants. Lilies of all kinds are very hardy, and they also work in almost any garden design setting.
Garden design
The classic garden designs are symmetrical. Modern gardening has evolved the original styles in to a range of fascinating and beautiful designs. The usual design elements include lawns, surround features like stone walls and borders, hedges, and similar devices.
If you’re thinking that these designs are high maintenance, they’re not. Lawns can be maintained on a simple regular care basis. Hedges are very hardy, and only need occasional clipping after becoming established. Everything else is essentially landscaped, and doesn’t need any maintenance at all.
The classical gardens became so popular in Western culture simply because they’re so viable. The great gardens, like Versailles, are as much a monument to good gardening as they are to the Bourbons. The Bourbon roses, also famous in classical gardening, were developed for this type of gardening.
Planning your own classical garden
For keen gardeners, the very reliable range of planting choices, design styles, and practical gardening options offers a vast range of choices. You can have your own classical garden any time, and this is how:
Before you make any kind of commitment to creating a classical garden, do some research.
- Focus on the design styles, and the plantings.
- See how these gardens are created.
- Next, explore designs and compare.
- Which designs appeal to you?
- Create a shortlist of designs.
You now have a working knowledge base to plan your own garden. It’s also a lot of fun to check out all the fabulous gardens and drool over the magnificent, sometimes astonishing design options. This research also allows you to make informed decisions and choose the right plants and designs for your space.
What next? Talk to your local construction landscaper and turn your dream garden in to a reality. If you’re in New York around Westchester way, talk to us. We can do it all for you.