Garden in a regular style. Garden styles

Each stylistic direction V landscape design has the basics, only to him inherent characteristics, which cannot be confused with any others. Having seen, for example, in a garden or park the correct geometric shapes, you can be sure that you have a garden in a regular style.

However, the geometricity of shapes is not the only criterion of regularity. What a real regular garden should be like, what are its typical features - let's look at it.

First, a little history

Regular park is also called geometric, formal and French. Well, geometric is understandable why, formal comes from the word form. And they call it French because it reached its highest popularity in France in the 17th-18th centuries (Baroque era). The most striking example is the beautiful park of Versailles, which was created by landscape architect Andre Le Nôtre for Louis XIV.

France has always been a trendsetter. If something becomes fashionable in France, it means that it will soon become fashionable throughout the world. This happened with regular gardens - other European countries quickly adopted a new style landscape art.

This is where the name French Park came from. However, from a historical point of view it is incorrect. Because the regular trend was originally formed in Italy during the Renaissance.

What does the word regular mean?

In general, regularity is a synonym for orderliness, structure, and correctness. Most likely, the emergence of a regular style was facilitated by the eternal human desire to control nature, to subjugate it. And such parks are a unique way to realize your desire, to organize nature. After all, they have the opportunity to contrast the man-made with the natural, the geometric with the formless.

Typical signs of a formal direction

In a formal garden:

There are strict, straight lines
there is a main compositional axis
geometry is used in the creation of all compositions, including the garden layout
decorative and functional elements are arranged symmetrically
there is no variety of elements, many of them are repeated many times
the center of the garden is a building, a house
trees and shrubs are given a geometric or artistic shape
there are clear boundaries between the garden and its surrounding area
Mostly flat surfaces are used for layout, and with a more pronounced topography, the garden is designed in the form of terraces connected by stairs.

Essential elements

Throughout the history of development in the formal direction, a set of characteristic elements has been formed that are recommended when creating parks of this type. And every element of a regular park speaks of its man-made and artificial nature. Let's talk about them in more detail.

Parterre

This is a decorative planting ridge, often square shape(but can also be in the shape of a circle or oval), along the perimeter of which trimmed low-growing plants are planted. The ridge is filled with a patterned ornament of ornamental plants, gravel of various shades or flowers (parterre flower garden). The stalls are separated by sandy paths.

Lace parterre

The lace parterre differs from the usual one with a highly curly, twisted pattern. The pattern can be formed by trimmed yew or boxwood, or colored gravel or sand.

This is an ornamental flower garden, where plants specially selected for color and flowering time form a complex pattern. In its center there can be a fountain, a small sculpture or a flowerpot.

It is usually used as a background for parterre flower beds and tapeworms. However, a lawn can be an independent decorative element. Then the grass seeds are planted in a clearly marked pattern. In this case, it may be framed in the form of a ribbon of colored gravel or a vegetable border.

This is an area where a small group of trees or shrubs that have been trimmed decoratively is planted. Such areas were artificial groves on a flat lawn or clearing. And if the trees were located along the perimeter, then such bosquets were called green cabinets.

Alley

This element is familiar to everyone and does not need any special introduction. This is a straight path, along the edges of which trees are planted.

A bush or tree that has been given a specific, often geometric, shape by pruning.

Hedges

This is an indispensable attribute of a regular garden. Hedges act not only as decorative elements, they also divide the territory into zones. They are often used to create labyrinths and borders.

Goose foot

This is the name for 3-5 paths or alleys that converge at one point, usually in the center of the composition.

Water

Garden ponds in a regular style can be round, oval, square, rectangular, with a clear coastline. In the coastal zone, plants are planted in rows. Cascades are created in large areas.

Sculpture

Sculptural compositions are used to animate the garden, as well as to enhance perspectives.

When creating a garden, it is not necessary to use all of the above elements. You can take some of them, those that are more suitable for a specific topography, the size of the territory, and create a decent composition. The main thing is to follow the rules of formal direction.

Almost four hundred years have passed since the entire royal court, led by Louis XIV, gasped in admiration at the sight of Versailles - the world's first example of a French regular park. Today, the use of this style is a fairly common technique in the art of landscape design. It is impossible to imagine a single castle in Europe, not a single royal residence without a unique “calling card” - neatly trimmed bushes and trees, bright parterre flower beds, symmetrically located fountains and gazebos. Initially created for the huge areas of royal palaces, the garden in a regular style gradually moved to more modest spaces - on the territory country houses.

Using elements of regularity, you can easily bring a considerable amount of solemnity and grandeur to the exterior of a private house. Landscape designers of our time have managed to somewhat soften this style, depriving it of pomp and bulk that is unnecessary for our realities. However, all the same, even the most modest and simple composition, created in a regular style, is a luxury item, since its constituent elements, by definition, cannot be cheap and there is no more subtle and elegant way to hint to those around you about your wealth than by placing it near your home small royal garden.

Regular garden in history

The creator of the regular style is considered to be the court gardener of Louis XIV, Andre Le Nôtre, whose design fantasies led to the emergence of precise geometric forms of many garden and park ensembles, the first of which was the park of the Palace of Versailles. It was Le Nôtre who came up with the main rules for creating a regular garden: clear axial symmetry of the composition, the center of which could be a building, a fountain, an unusual large flowerbed or a statue; smooth garden paths; hedges; topiary forms.

Having gained extraordinary popularity among the French nobility, the regular style in landscape design gradually began to capture new spaces, firmly establishing itself in many European parks, including in Russia. Russian regular gardens and parks appeared with light hand Peter I, who, having visited Versailles in 1717, decided to create something similar in his homeland. Peter transformed somewhat french style, increasing the number of flower beds and ponds, but at the same time maintaining the clarity of lines and shapes.

Main characteristics of the regular style

1. Scale

Since regular gardens were originally used to decorate the vast territories of castles and palaces, they are traditionally associated with scale. Designed for long walks, such a garden conceals new views around every turn of the hedge and puts on different “performances.” It is difficult to organize such “theatricality” on a small plot, and various decorative elements inherent in the regular style will burden the small space. In addition, to create such a garden, a mandatory requirement is a perfectly flat, even relief surface, which requires certain earthworks.

2. Geometricity

The regular style is characterized by axial symmetry, where the axis is most often the house, and clear, straight lines, allowing for maximum ordering of the space. Any chaos in such a garden is a priori unacceptable. The main element of a garden in a regular style is the parterre - open area with flower beds, lawns, borders, consisting of several sections of regular geometric shape. In the center flower arrangements Often intricate statues or fountains are installed.

3. Topiary forms and hedges

In order to divide a regular garden into zones, arches, pergolas, and various hedges are widely used. One of the main decorations of the territory in a regular style are topiary figures created by trimming trees and bushes. Using this technique, plants of various geometric shapes are created.

4. Reservoirs

A mandatory element of a regular garden is a pond with a clearly defined coastline. It can be either in the shape of a rectangle, a circle or an oval, framed by suitable vegetation. Swimming pools and various fountains are also widespread.

Fountains and pools are part of the style

5. Special plants for a regular garden

Great importance They also have flower beds for a regular style, which are located in open, sunny places. Lighting of plants must be uniform, otherwise asymmetrical growth and development cannot be avoided, which is unacceptable for this style. Annual plants are mainly used for parterre flower beds. Most perennials are not suitable for regular flower beds due to the short duration of their flowering.

For decorative elements Characteristic is the use of marble, ceramics, bronze, and artistic forging. In a regular garden, everything should be luxurious and elegant, so saving for this style is inappropriate.

Department of Ecology and Landscape Construction

Coursework on the topic:
"Elements of a regular garden"

Is done by a student
full-time 5th year student
specialty: “Gardening, park and landscape construction”
Gerasimenko A.A.

Head Ph.D. , Associate Professor, Kondratyeva A.A.

Stavropol, 2010
Content

Introduction
From the history of the regular style
Style characteristics
Regular style elements
Plants for a regular garden
Materials used in design
Regular style nowadays
Bibliography

Introduction

2. From the history of the regular style
The classic or regular garden style is also called French. And this is explained by the fact that this style reached its peak precisely in France, during the reign of Louis XIV, in the era of the apogee of absolutism. At that time, regular, regular gardens embodied the ideas of the absolute triumph of beauty, orderliness and the genius of architectural thought over nature. Man created a clear, thoughtful park, verified to every detail, demonstrating superiority and power, the conquest of the world around him.
The regular style of landscape design is associated primarily with the name of Andre Le Nôtre, an architect, landscape designer and court gardener of Louis XIV, who became the author of stunningly beautifulgardening ensembles. Andre Le Nôtre worked in the parks of Vaux-le-Vicomte, Fontainebleau, and Chantilly; in the park of the Palace of Versailles. Later he was invited to England, where he continued to work on projects for garden ensembles (he became, in particular, the author of St. James's and Greenwich parks in London).
Regular gardens and parks were created at palaces and castles and were an integral part of the landscape gardening ensemble. Regular gardens were designed to emphasize the splendor and monumentality of the palace architecture.
Regular gardens spread to many countries, where they were further developed and supplemented with new elements.

3. Characteristics of style
Regular style (formal, classic) is characterized by straight lines, geometrically trimmed forms of garden vegetation and floral design of regular forms, strict distribution of architectural and garden elements. This style is most widespread in the gardens and parks of Italy. Her gardens had a strong influence on the compositions of gardens in the Nordic countries.

Having experienced periods of prosperity and decline, the regular style with all sorts of changes and additions, as a method of gardening, has been preserved to this day. The value of this style lies in the fact that, thanks to the clarity and clarity of the geometric division of the garden space, the most favorable conditions are created for emphasizing solemnity and pomp. Therefore, it is appropriate in the central parts of gardens and parks, saturated with architectural structures, and in cities - in squares and gardens.

The basis of a regular style is almost always some kind of architectural structure, and ornamental plants are given a subordinate role. As a result, special attention is paid to maintaining the constancy of plant shape through artificial pruning and special selection of plants that change little in shape. Therefore, trees and shrubs with clear, geometric crown shapes and easy to trim are most widely used in the regular style. As soon as measures are stopped that restrain the natural growth and development inherent in plants, the garden changes its appearance not in better side.

The art of pruning trees originated in ancient Roman gardens, where this method of caring for plants was given particular importance. To designate works of this kind, special terms were even introduced: “green sculpture”, “plant architecture”, and the garden of that time often turned into a place for displaying works of so-called topiary art.
Later, when regular gardens and parks gave way to landscape ones, the art of tree trimming ceased to be popular. Currently, in many European gardens, tree trimming is again becoming quite widespread. A smart and expedient haircut can be very important technique gardening, enhancing the beauty of the garden. In particular, hedges can successfully replace some architectural structures, thanks to which the garden significantly benefits in decorative terms.
Regular style requires flat areas. In their absence, semicircular terraces are arranged. Plantings are often limited to a few brightly flowering shrub species. The overall impression is enhanced by the path, which is usually the main focus in formal gardens. Sculptural compositions, a pool or a flower bed are installed in the center of the garden. Classic elements also include trellises on the walls of buildings, along which climbing plants are allowed to grow.

4. Regular style elements
1)Plot size
First of all, the size of the plot plays a role. According to historical tradition, a regular park is a fairly large area; the entire garden is perceived as an alternation of picturesque paintings that amaze with their grandeur. The regular garden is designed for long walks, where at the end of each alley leading into the future a new view opens up. In addition, all elements on a summer cottage must be solid, squat, powerful, and of impressive size, which is often difficult to do on a smaller plot.
2)Relief
It is also worth noting that a regular garden is a flat area with no changes in relief. Therefore, it is often necessary to carry out a large amount of excavation work, installretaining walls , screens and other special designs.
3)Layout
As for the layout itself, it should be strictly geometric, where the house is the axis of symmetry. The main feature of a regular garden is its isolation from the surrounding nature, therefore the chaotic and random arrangement of garden elements is unacceptable.
4) Parterre
The main element in a regular park is the parterre - an open part of the garden with lawns, ponds, flower beds, borders, divided into sections of regular shape.
5) Ground lawn
There are increased requirements for planting a parterre lawn; the seed mixture usually includes 1-2 types of grass. The grass of the ground lawn should be thick and uniform; Parterre lawns require careful care. The lawn line should be smooth, clear, and not interrupted. The parterre lawn is the backdrop for tapeworms and parterre flower beds.
6) Parterre flower garden
A parterre (ornamental) flower garden is a flower garden with a complex pattern. Parterre flower beds are complex in design; flowers for them are selected according to color and flowering time. Parterre flower beds require a lot of care. The center of the parterre flower garden can be a small sculpture, flowerpot or fountain.
7) Pond
No regular garden would be complete without a pond. The mirror-like surface of the water will fit perfectly with the overall composition. The pond on the site is made in the shape of a circle, oval, square, rectangle. The coastline must be clear; plants in the coastal zone are planted in strict order, in rows. On large areas, cascades are often created - multi-stage structures made of stone or concrete that serve to cascade streams of water. Fountains are also installed on the site, which can serve as the center of flower arrangements, for example.
8) Hedges
An indispensable element of a regular garden are hedges and borders. In addition to decorative functions, they also have practical purposes (they serve for zoning the garden). Creating green rooms and corridors is another technique of the French park. They look very niceberso – living walls, directed upward. Creating green rooms and all kinds of labyrinths will require the installation of supporting structures; these can be arches, pergolas, trellises.
9)Topiars
It is difficult to imagine a regular garden without topiary figures. Many trees and shrubs (both deciduous and coniferous) lend themselves to topiary pruning; topiaries are given the most different shapes(ball, cube, pyramid, cone, spiral).

5. Plants for a regular garden

When designing a regular garden, evergreen plants are widely used, which can retain their decorative properties in winter. Most often, these plants are easy to trim, which corresponds to the characteristics of classic gardens. This allows you to give the crowns various geometric shapes, create green corridors, bosquets, and borders. To create topiary forms, plants such as:

Conifers:

- barberry (common, thunberga)

- elm

- spruce (prickly, common)

- cotoneaster (brilliant)

- juniper (common)

- thuja (western)

- boxwood (evergreen), etc.

Deciduous:

- maple (field, Tatar)

- linden (large-leaved, Manchurian)

- mock orange

- loch (silver)

- lilac (Hungarian)

- spirea, etc.

This is just a small list of trees and shrubs that allow you to emphasize strict symmetrical lines and create rounded shapes. The characteristics of these plants are slow growth, the ability to maintain a line, and a dense plant surface. Many of the plants are capable of blooming when clipped (quince, barberry, felt cherry, etc.). The combination of different types of plants allows you to create spectacular contrasting combinations because different kinds and plant varieties have a variety of foliage colors: barberry and cotoneaster - burgundy; pear and sea buckthorn - silvery foliage, golden forms of mock orange, different shades of green in most species. Also, many of the plants have spectacular colors in the autumn: barberry, viburnum gordovina, ginnala maple, Tatarian maple, spirea, etc.

In the floral design of classical gardens, annuals are most often used, which makes it possible to change the palette and microstructure of the parterre several times during the growing season as the plants fade and are replaced. In early spring, the assortment of flower beds and flower beds is mainly represented by bulbous plants: geocinths, tulips, daffodils, etc. Then they are replaced by other deciduous and ornamental plants: coleus, ornamental cabbage, hostas, cineraria maritima, etc.; floral and decorative: petunias, tagetis, geranium, lobelia, ageratum, asters and many others.

Climbing plants also play a significant role. Arches, pergolas, and gazebos are often covered with species such as actinidia, morning glory, and climbing rose. You can often find an antique sculpture delicately entwined with ivy, maidenhair grapes (parthenocissus), and hops.

The main element of a regular garden is, of course, the lawn. It serves as a background for the perception of tree and shrub compositions. Skillfully designed lawn parterres against a background of inert materials are an independent and highly decorative part of a classical garden (the Great Italian Fountain in Peterhof is surrounded by such a parterre). Most lawn grasses are members of the grass family. Pure varieties are rarely planted, usually the lawn is various combinations of only four species and their varieties: meadow bluegrass, red fescue, giant bentgrass, perennial ryegrass.
etc.................

A garden in a regular style is a complete submission to the laws of geometry. This style originates from the ancient Romans, who contrasted the aesthetics of geometric and rectilinear forms with the picturesque nature of the natural environment. The Romans reached a high level in the art of cutting green spaces and floriculture. The aesthetics of plastic and floral compositions were combined with the fragrance of flowers, the sound of water from fountains and cascades. The gardening art of Ancient Rome used almost the entire arsenal of decorative gardening techniques known today. Historically, a regular garden was a place for processions, walks or sitting rest. It is more likely intended for a visual feast than for an active pastime.

Egypt.

In the history of society, the creation of historical and cultural landscapes, and in particular the emergence of gardening art, was noted in Ancient Egypt about 4 thousand years BC. Landscape art reached a particular scale during the heyday of the ancient capital of Egypt, Thebes. Luxurious villas surrounded by gardens were built in Thebes. Numerous plants were specially brought from other countries, in particular from Punt (the territory of modern Somalia).

The compositional center of the ensemble has always been the main building, located among a large number of reservoirs, often of impressive size (60x120 m). Aquatic plants grew in the ponds, fish and birds swam. According to surviving documents, it is confirmed that all elements of the garden - ponds, alleys, vineyards, flower beds, open pavilions - were stylistically interconnected, which suggests that the gardens were created according to a pre-developed plan.

Mesopotamia.

With the general regularity determined by the irrigation system, the gardens of Mesopotamia were not divided into symmetrical quadrangles; the plantings were more freely located. The gardens at Nineveh, with their rich assortment of trees and shrubs, can be considered the prototypes of modern botanical gardens. The most famous ensemble - the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, located on landscaped stepped terraces made of mud brick - was created during the reign of Nebuchadnezzar (VI century BC). Unfortunately, no traces of this grandiose device remain; nevertheless, this design technique is found throughout the history of landscape gardening art in a variety of countries and, in slightly modified forms, has survived to this day in the form of roof gardens.

Persia and India.

These states were different high level development of gardening art. And here the gardens were symbols of paradise; they were created for recreation at the royal residences and required large financial expenditures. The basis of their strictly geometric (regular) layout was the so-called “chor-bak” - four squares. The alleys, lined with slabs, intersected at right angles, and the space between them was filled with dense tree plantations or occupied by ponds and luxurious flower beds. The resulting large square was divided into four smaller squares and so on. This division of space was carried out not only by paths, but also with the help of plants and large quantity small channels with water. The main and best part of the garden was occupied by trees and flowers of rare species, and the old powerful shady plane trees, on whose branches gazebos were built, are still particularly popular.

Ancient Greece.

In the ancient states of the European Mediterranean, various trends are observed in the compositional use of relief as a landscape component. They are associated with general differences in artistic culture. In particular, the Greek approach to architecture and art is characterized by a desire for harmony with nature, for the greatest possible unity with the surrounding landscapes. The acropolises and theaters of the Hellenistic cities of the Peloponnese and Asia Minor (the Acropolis of Athens, the amphitheaters of Ephesus, Priene, etc.), which formed the centers of urban compositions, often look like the sculptural completion of the rocks on which they are located. For example, the relief features of Priene were used especially expressively, where the mountainside naturally forms a terrace for squares and public buildings.

This layout is associated not only with the peculiarities of cultural traditions. It is known that initially the settlements of both the mainland of Ancient Greece and the islands were mainly located directly on the sea coast. But during periods of military raids, it was they who were subjected to devastation as the easiest prey. Therefore, cities began to be built at some distance from the coast in mountainous areas, which naturally implied the mandatory use of relief in urban planning. This trend can be seen mainly on the islands of the Aegean and Mediterranean Seas in a later period (from the 6th-7th centuries AD) due to frequent Arab raids.

Thanks to the conquests of Alexander the Great, the society of ancient Greece was influenced by the culture and traditions of Egypt, India and Persia. Landscape art was no exception. The Greeks introduced a new trend into the design of cultural landscapes - a freer compositional solution. Since Greek art was initially characterized by a desire for harmony with nature, gardens and parks were likened to a living organism in close connection with the natural environment and man. In this context, it is worth noting the basic principles of urban planning by Aristotle (IV century BC), who believed that the design of both a settlement and a park should be considered not only as a set of technical issues, but also from an artistic point of view: “The city must be built so as to keep people safe and at the same time make them happy.”

From appearance personal plot a lot depends. It's no secret that being in nature relieves stress, calms, pacifies and charges the body with pure energy. An area where the landscape design is carefully thought out, made in the same style, and the plants look well-groomed and lush, will always lift your spirits, allowing you to regain your lost peace of mind. Many people think about what style to choose to decorate their garden. If you are a lover of clear symmetrical compositions, regular geometric shapes and order in life and nature, perhaps a regular style in landscape design is your option.

It should be noted that for a regular garden you will need large plot, on which you can create compositions that can demonstrate the beauty of this style.

Characteristics and features of a regular garden

Axial compositions are very popular. They are usually formed around a central axis - an alley, a path. Often located in the center of the axis water body- pond or fountain. On both sides of the central axis, symmetrical compositions are formed - lawns and flower beds of regular shape, alleys and alleys with bushes and trees with trimmed crowns.

Example of axial composition on small area. On both sides of the central path there are geometrically regular symmetrical lawns on which plants are planted in rows; the trees on the site are located in a special symmetry, forming an interesting combination

Bosquet is an integral part of a regular park. A bosquet is a group of shrubs or trees planted in a specific way. Plants trimmed in a special way can form something like a green gazebo or room, a curtain hiding visitors from prying eyes, imitate various geometric shapes or even some architectural forms- arches, columns, turrets.

There are two types of bosquets:

1. the so-called office, where plants are planted around the perimeter;
2. artificial grove is a group ornamental shrubs or trees that are planted on the lawn:

An example of an office in a regular park - trimmed bushes form a green wall, in the niches of which there are arches and statues. In the center of the office there is a symmetrical composition in the form of a flower bed. In your garden, you can also make a similar curtain of shrubs and lawn, forming a cozy corner

A small artificial grove, to create which you can use and ornamental plants in tubs

A regular garden is unthinkable without neat, regular-shaped lawns; they largely give such a garden a ceremonial and noble appearance.

The history of gardening art goes back hundreds of years; already in the 16th century, gardeners created magnificent regular gardens and parks surrounding the imperial palaces. In many ways, this style has remained unsurpassed, and today it surprises with its clarity, elegance, luxury and nobility of lines.

Of course, it is not possible to create a real regular park in a relatively small area, but you can use some characteristic elements - symmetrical planting of plants on geometrically regular lawns located along the central alley, or several paths diverging in straight lines from a pond or flower bed.

Two examples of the formation of a composition around a central path: 1) using an arch and symmetrically located bushes; 2) using a central flowerbed and a gravel path framing it

You can plant flowers in flower beds in such a way that they form ridges. A rabatka is an elongated rectangular flower garden, where various flowers are planted in a certain order, forming beautiful patterns. This flower bed will look great on the sides or between garden paths.

Flowers planted in a special way form beautiful patterns on flower beds and lawns, making them look like a colorful carpet

The regular style of the garden also involves the use of sculptures or sculptural decorations in antique style. For example, if the central alley in your garden is quite wide and long, it will be decorated with two statues located at the beginning of the alley opposite each other. You can use vases on pedestals, or one large vase in the middle of the central flower bed.

Classical sculptures are a decoration of a regular park; they complement the composition and look picturesque against the backdrop of luxurious greenery

And also, in a classic regular park there is always a top point from where you can see the ground floor - lawns, flower beds, trees planted in a certain order. This garden is especially beautiful from above. In a private house, such a point may be a balcony.

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