Dreaming of a garden with elegant lines, beautiful symmetry and a timeless sense of order? A formal garden might be the perfect choice for you. These stunning spaces transform an ordinary patch of land into a masterpiece of design, offering a peaceful and structured retreat.
What is a Formal Garden?
A formal garden is defined by its structure and symmetry. Unlike the relaxed, naturalistic style of a cottage garden, a formal garden uses geometric shapes, straight lines and balanced layouts to create a sense of order and harmony. Think of neatly clipped hedges, perfectly aligned flowerbeds and pathways that lead your eye to a central feature, like a fountain or statue.
The design is often organised along a central axis, with elements on one side mirroring the other. This creates a powerful visual balance that feels both grand and calming. The goal is to impose a deliberate and artistic design onto the natural landscape, showcasing human creativity and control over nature.
A Brief History of Formal Gardens
The story of the formal garden in the UK is a journey through centuries of art, culture and changing tastes. Its roots lie in the grand gardens of Persia and the classical designs of ancient Rome, but it was in 17th-century France that the style truly flourished.
The magnificent gardens of the Palace of Versailles, designed by André Le Nôtre for King Louis XIV, became the ultimate symbol of formal garden design. These gardens were a display of power and precision, with vast avenues, intricate parterres (ornamental flowerbeds), and grand water features, all arranged in a perfectly symmetrical layout.
This French influence quickly spread across Europe and arrived in Britain, where it was adapted to suit the UK’s landscapes and stately homes. Early English formal gardens embraced this geometric style, with designers like George London and Henry Wise creating elaborate layouts for the aristocracy. Their designs featured canals, topiary and maze-like patterns that were meant to impress and entertain.
However, the 18th century brought a dramatic shift in taste. A new movement, led by designers like William Kent and Lancelot “Capability” Brown, rejected the rigid formality of the previous era. They favoured a more naturalistic style that imitated the gentle curves and rolling hills of the idealised English countryside. Formal gardens were torn up and replaced with sweeping lawns, serpentine lakes, and artfully placed clumps of trees.
But the formal style was not gone for good. The Victorian era saw a revival of geometric beds and intricate patterns, fuelled by the availability of new and exotic plants from across the British Empire. Gardeners like Sir Charles Barry, the architect of the Houses of Parliament, reintroduced formal terraces and parterres to complement their grand buildings.
Today, formal garden design continues to inspire gardeners across the UK. It offers a timeless framework that can be adapted to gardens of all sizes, from large country estates to small urban courtyards.
Key Elements of a Formal Garden
To achieve a classic formal look, you need to incorporate several key design elements. These are the building blocks that create the structure, symmetry and elegance that define the style.
- Geometric Shapes and Clean Lines: This is the foundation of formal design. Use squares, rectangles, circles and straight lines to define your garden beds, paths, and lawn areas. The layout should be clear and deliberate.
- Symmetry and Balance: A formal garden is often built around a central axis. This could be a path, a water feature, or a line of sight from a main window of your house. The elements on either side of this axis should be mirror images of each other, creating a pleasing sense of balance.
- A Clear Focal Point: Every formal garden needs a focal point to draw the eye and anchor the design. This could be a statue, a sundial, an urn, a birdbath or a beautiful fountain. The paths and sightlines should all lead towards this central feature.
- Defined Edging and Borders: Crisp, clean edges are essential. Use box hedging (Buxus sempervirens), lavender or brick edging to clearly separate paths from planting beds. This reinforces the geometric structure of the garden.
- Limited Colour Palette: Formal gardens often rely on a simple and harmonious colour scheme. Green is the dominant colour, provided by lawns and clipped hedges. Flowers are used as accents, typically in restrained palettes of white, blue, purple or pink.
- Repetition: Repeating plants, shapes, and architectural elements throughout the garden creates rhythm and unity. For example, you might use identical clipped topiary shapes at regular intervals or repeat the same plant combination in symmetrical beds.
How to Design Your Formal Garden
Ready to start planning? Here are the practical steps to consider when designing your own formal garden.
Step 1: Assess Your Space
Before you pick up a spade, take time to understand your garden.
- Position: Where does the sun fall throughout the day? A sunny spot is ideal for flowering plants and classic choices like roses and lavender. A shadier garden might be better suited to a design focused on green foliage and architectural plants.
- Environment: What is your soil type? Is the garden exposed to strong winds? Choosing plants that will thrive in your specific conditions is crucial for success.
- Style: Think about the style of your home. A formal garden should feel like an extension of your house. A classic Georgian or Victorian home provides a perfect backdrop for a traditional formal design, but the principles can also be adapted for more modern properties.
Step 2: Define the Layout
Grab a pencil and paper and start sketching. Begin by establishing a central axis. This line should ideally connect to a key feature of your house, such as the centre of the back door or a large window. Plan your paths and beds symmetrically around this axis. Think about creating distinct “rooms” within the garden using hedges or low walls.
Step 3: Choose Your Design Features
Now for the fun part! Select the features that will bring your design to life.
- Paths and Paving: Paths should be straight and clearly defined. Materials like gravel, brick or flagstones work well. The width of your paths should be in proportion to the size of the garden.
- Hedges and Topiary: Hedges are the walls of your garden rooms. Boxwood is the traditional choice for low hedging, while yew or hornbeam are excellent for taller screens. Topiary (clipping shrubs into geometric shapes like balls, cones, or spirals) adds a wonderful sense of fun and structure.
- Water Features: A simple pond, fountain or rill (a narrow channel of water) can be a stunning focal point, adding sound and movement to the garden.
- Structures: Arches, pergolas and gazebos can add height and create a sense of enclosure. Train climbing plants like roses or clematis over them for a romantic touch.
Step 4: Plan Your Planting
Your choice of plants will soften the hard lines of the design and add colour and texture.
- Structure Plants: These are the evergreen shrubs that form the backbone of your garden, such as box, yew and holly.
- Accent Plants: Use flowering plants to add seasonal interest. Plant in blocks of a single colour for the greatest impact.
- Height: Add vertical interest with standard trees (trees with a clear stem and a ball of foliage on top) or climbing plants.
Step 5: Consider Maintenance
A formal garden requires regular upkeep to look its best. Hedges and topiary will need trimming at least once or twice a year. Beds will need to be kept weed-free and lawns must be neatly mown. Be realistic about how much time you can dedicate to maintenance when planning the complexity of your design.
Top Plants for a Formal Garden
Choosing the right plants is key to creating an authentic formal garden that thrives in the British climate. Here are ten excellent choices:
- Box (Buxus sempervirens): The classic choice for low hedges and intricate topiary. It’s slow-growing and its small leaves allow for precise clipping.
- Yew (Taxus baccata): A versatile evergreen, perfect for taller hedges and larger topiary. It is dense, dark green and tolerates hard pruning.
- Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia ‘Hidcote’): Its silvery-grey foliage and deep purple flowers make it a wonderful choice for fragrant, low-hedging along paths.
- Rose (Rosa): No formal garden is complete without roses. Choose classic hybrid teas or floribundas for elegant blooms. Climbing roses like ‘New Dawn’ are perfect for arches.
- Hornbeam (Carpinus betulus): A great alternative to yew for hedging, hornbeam is a hardy native tree that holds onto its brown leaves through winter, providing year-round screening.
- Alliums: These ornamental onions produce stunning spherical flower heads on tall, straight stems, adding a modern structural element in late spring. ‘Purple Sensation’ is a popular variety.
- Catmint (Nepeta x faassenii): A fantastic, low-maintenance alternative to lavender, producing clouds of soft blue flowers all summer long. It’s less woody and easier to manage.
- Lady’s Mantle (Alchemilla mollis): With its scalloped, velvety leaves that catch water droplets and frothy lime-green flowers, this plant is perfect for softening the edges of paths and beds.
- Iris (Iris germanica): The sword-like leaves and magnificent, intricate flowers of bearded irises provide strong vertical accents and a touch of drama.
- Holly (Ilex aquifolium): A classic evergreen for structure. Variegated varieties can brighten up shady corners, and the red berries provide winter interest.
Final Considerations
Before you begin, it is worth weighing the advantages and disadvantages of a formal garden.
Advantages
- Timeless Beauty: The classic, elegant look of a formal garden never goes out of style.
- Structure and Order: A formal design brings a sense of calm and harmony to your outdoor space, which can be very therapeutic.
- Year-Round Interest: The strong “bones” of the garden, created by hedges and topiary, ensure it looks good even in the depths of winter.
Disadvantages
- High Maintenance: Keeping those lines crisp and hedges sharp requires regular and precise work.
- Initial Cost: Establishing a formal garden can be expensive, particularly if it involves hard landscaping like paving and walling.
- Less Wildlife-Friendly: The structured nature and limited plant diversity can make formal gardens less attractive to pollinators and other wildlife compared to more naturalistic styles.
Begin Your Garden Journey
Creating a formal garden is a rewarding process that allows you to craft a truly special outdoor space. By blending historical principles with your own personal style, you can design a garden that is both a beautiful retreat and a work of art.
Start small, perhaps with a symmetrical pair of planters or a simple geometric bed. As your confidence grows, you can expand your vision. Plan a visit to one of the many historic formal gardens in our care for inspiration and see how the masters did it. With careful planning and a little patience, you can bring the timeless elegance of formal design to your own home.
Further Reading: Creating a Cottage Garden, Creating a Perfect Coastal Garden,