FORMAL ORNAMENTAL DESIGNS

EARLY GARDEN TYPES AGAIN IN FASHION.

- Patricia Poore

It's debatable whether parterres are a flowery, French interpretation of English Tudor knot gardens, or if both forms descended from formal gardens of the French Renaissance, which featured compartments laid out in a pattern. In 17th-century Colonial America, the idea of formal patterns in the garden was mostly a Southern practice; New England Puritan gardens were more practical.

Parterres had a revival in the mid-19th century. These Victorian gardens were less formal than their predecessors and featured flowerbeds. Typically, clipped evergreen hedges (often box) edge the beds and create a pattern. Beds are filled with flowers, especially annuals, which can be replanted according to the season. Areas in between are pathways for strolling. Parterres generally are found in larger gardens and located near the house.