French Landscape Design

French Landscape Style Guide

Use this design sheet to help you create the perfect France-inspired landscape. You'll get ideas for color, décor, materials, plants and fabric. It is a great starting point for any landscaping project.

French Landscape Style Guide (PDF)

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The French landscape can be created in a formal or an informal way, but generally is arranged into a series of usable garden spaces by clipped boxwood, an allee of trees or topiary shrubs in containers. Yet the French sense of style leaves room for romantic touches, as well as those which call to mind the agricultural roots of French country gardens.

Deborah Silver, professional landscape designer for over 25 years, feels a special kinship with the French design style. Here, she shares her tips for creating a garden that reflects the best of France.

Dos:

• Do use geometry to divide your space into useful areas. "On its most personal level," Silver says, "the French-style garden defines where certain activities will take place and provides graceful and interesting transitions from one "room" to another."
• Do use climbing plants on a house, shed or wall for a romantic, informal look. Grapes, Boston ivy, climbing roses and honeysuckle are all beautiful and appropriate choices.
• Do reflect the agricultural history of France in your design. Glazed pottery in the shape of olive oil jars, espaliered fruit trees, and potted citrus that are brought inside for winter are traditional elements important to the French style.
• Do incorporate privacy-giving elements like rubble walls, rustic blue gates or tall clipped hedges. Even the most humble French garden places a premium on privacy.

Don'ts:

• Don't hide your edible or herb garden. The potager, or kitchen garden, can be laid out in beautiful geometric patterns and edged with boxwood to create a space that is as beautiful as it is useful. In a classical French garden, our connection with the food we eat is celebrated.
• Don't use plastic edging, which can heave out of the ground during frosty winter weather and won't hold a straight line. Instead, choose aluminum, metal or brick edging which, when properly installed, will keep formal French bed lines crisp and square.
• Don't go for the one-of-this, one-of-that aesthetic. The French garden is well-edited and avoids extraneous or overdone details. In particular, a limited plant palette will give you greater success in reaching your design goals.
• Don't feel that you must keep strictly to the theme in order to get a beautiful French look. "If it seems like it's working to you, then go ahead and mix it up," says Silver. "Those individual touches are what make a garden interesting."

Silver's landscapes blend formal and informal elements from French, Belgian, English, Italian and other styles. While her clients lead varied lifestyles, she sees the landscapes that she designs and builds for clients as the first step in what will often become a new love and appreciation for gardening and being outdoors. And of course, planning for success is important. Ease of use, year-round beauty, and a garden that needs only as much care as the owner can provide it are key elements of her design style.

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