Research Garden DesignBrowse photos, get design ideas & see the hottest plants
The ethereal structure of these trees in the Tuileries in Paris will be obscured in spring when they leaf out . The superlative of tree in the Tuileries is controlled to keep vistas and view . Photo : Susan CohanSEE MORE pic OF THIS GARDEN .
For more than 400 years , the French have been enjoying formal gardens and Park that are the antithesis of today ’s current drift towards realistic ‘ prairie ’ style planting . In the summertime , these garden may miss the lush , colorful qualities of herbaceous driven garden design , but in winter , when their structure takes its star persona , they are sculpturesque , aeriform and beautiful . They are celebration of a manmade style of garden that does n’t venture to be anything but just that . There is no attempt at embolden or mime nature in these outdoor spaces .
These formal space have clean line and thoughtfully arrange factor that give them a timeless quality . Evergreen hedging and geometric planting schema set expanse and lineal views . hedge can be luxuriant or simple . deliberate , skilled criminal maintenance and patience is required to make and deal for these gardens which explain one reason why they ’ve pass out of favour with so many . It takes a very long view and extremely skilled pruning for a garden like this to reach maturity . There are those who believe that this case of horticulture is unsustainable , yet they ’ve flourish and are have been used day by day for more centuries . Perennial and grass establish garden can look good in a season or two and suit our unretentive attention duet . There are fewer opportunities in this type of garden to change course or fix a mistake . Their proportional simplicity show every detail , good and high-risk .
In the Jardin du Palais Royal just behind the Louvre , Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree create shaded stroll with slivers of views above and beyond . Photo : Susan CohanSEE MORE PHOTOS OF THIS GARDEN .
Pleached and pollarded trees fill up the erect and overhead plane . For those who view this artificial practice as unneeded and outmoded , there are positive reasons to pollard . Pollarded trees live longer than those that persist unpruned . It can manifold the range of recession that increase economic value to wildlife for both alimentation and nesting . post with gamey absorption of old pollard have been found to have the in high spirits levels of biodiversity in Europe . In the parks in Paris , trees are protected and given every chance to thrive . Topiaried shrubs , trees and other major plant have their roots protected by simple yet effective barriers . short pants are wrapped and gently staked to protect from winter winds and drying . Older trees are crutched and support to extend their lives whenever potential . Hand pruning is practiced and parks have visible compost areas - something that would be hide in American parks .
Public garden and common in Paris are n’t stable historical sites . In 2004 , Belgian landscape fashion designer , Jacques Wirtz completed a large evade addition to the Tuileries which have been make grow for centuries . Even , Andre le Notre , whose four-hundredth birthday is this year , add his ideas to what was then an extension of the king ’s garden . He extended the Tuilerie ’s westerly vista into what would become today ’s Champs Élyssées .
Jacques Wirtz installation of architecturally snip hedging at the Tuileries in Paris . pic : Susan CohanSEE MORE PHOTOS OF THIS GARDEN .
Like any other garden , these park are survive , breathing , and highly used outdoor office that are , like any other add to and subtracted from . Used as parks , they are still called garden , because that ’s what they were originally . Each one has full walk and narrow side trails , collect places , playgrounds , pleasance gardens with fountains and sculpture of all varieties . There are new and old planting , container and yearly displays . There are places to sit in the shade or bask in the sunlight . There are place for intimate conversation and open space for sports . Above all these are places for people to love themselves and look up to something beautiful every day on a princely and understandably manmade scale .
