DIY French garden

Traditionally, it is believed that a vegetable garden is set up for a utilitarian purpose. For a harvest of vegetable crops. However, the French vegetable garden combines pragmatism and beauty.

Recently, French vegetable gardens have begun to gain popularity among Russian summer residents. If you want to make the garden original, use the basic rules of this style direction.

French vegetable garden: distinctive features

French garden in landscape design: photo

The beginning of the French garden in landscape design was laid during the time of Louis XIV, the famous Sun King. He became famous, among other things, for the creation of world-famous garden and park ensembles. The splendor, harmony and orderliness of the royal gardens of that time served as an illustration of the court life of the absolute monarch.
The main thing that distinguishes the French vegetable garden is the obligatory symmetry of clearly defined geometric shapes. A French vegetable garden, as a rule, has a rectangle in plan, divided into 4 identical parts. At the intersection of straight lines, a sculptural image is necessarily located. Less commonly, a sundial.

The space of the French-style vegetable garden, in addition to vegetable plantings, is usually filled with flowers. As well as shrubs and woody plants, which brings it closer to flower beds. Neat tiled paths at right angles frame the beds.

Planning solution for the French garden

French garden in landscape design: photo

If you are starting to develop a plan for future planting, you should choose the shape for the beds in advance. You can focus on simple shapes. Namely: oval, rectangle, triangle. More complex silhouettes are acceptable. For example, alternating beds following the example of a checkerboard.

The French garden provides a choice of two options for the height of the flower beds:

• they are located flush with the surface of the site;
• flower beds are raised by 20-30 cm. Due to the creation of side walls made of durable material. Typically stone or brick.

The second method looks more time consuming. However, later this will make it easier to care for the beds. And also keeping them in perfect order. If you have decided on the shape and height of the beds, you need to think about filling them. It should be borne in mind that bare soil should not show through between plantings. For this, the space between the vegetable plantings is decorated with flowers.

And here you must not be mistaken with the choice of the plants themselves. And also the distance between them. Because the neighbors in the garden should be comfortable together. Planning a flower bed usually requires a detailed study of the preferences of the planted plants. As well as their height and tendency to grow in diameter.

Another important element in this type of design is vertical accentuation. Temporary vertical accents include walls and fences decorated by summer houses. Regular vertical accents are hedges made of climbing perennials. And also shrubs, low apple trees.

DIY French garden: decoration

French garden in landscape design: photo

First, you should outline the boundaries of the future flower beds on the site, according to the shape chosen for it. You need to draw rays from the center of the figure. They form sector-triangles, separated by lawns or paths. It is recommended to enclose each sector in a stone or wooden frame.It will protect the soil in the flower bed from shedding. It will also keep the geometric pattern in perfect order.

Another way to decorate the borders of a flower bed is to plant marigolds around its perimeter. Or ornamental cabbage, salad. In addition to purely aesthetic benefits, marigolds will provide protection from harmful insects.

After the formation of a flower bed, as a rule, it is the turn of its plant filling. The style in question welcomes variety and bright colors. Therefore, it is permissible to experiment. Combine the most striking flowers with vegetable crops that set them apart. To protect the garden from the wind and enhance the decorative effect, you can surround it around the perimeter with fruit trees and shrubs.

DIY French garden: step by step instructions

French garden in landscape design: photo

Once again, we list the main stages of creating a French garden with our own hands:

• Shaping the beds.
• Visual highlighting of flower beds.
• Framing the beds with a border of stones or other materials.
• Filling the flower beds with plants.

DIY French garden: video