Consider an eclectic outdoor style with a soft landscape created by lush, informal plantings.
Can you mix formal and informal in your garden design? completely. You see this all the time in gardens, especially small gardens where defined, formal hardscapes are softened by fluid, informal plants.
Until the early part of the last century, most gardens were planted in a very formal way, especially city gardens and parks whose borders were systematically filled with seasonal flower beds. A famous gardener who advocated a more naturalistic approach to gardening, declared: “The term ‘formal’ applies only when garden plants are arranged in a strictly geometric design, such as carpe bedding or bedding out, when applied correctly”.
This changed dramatically during the Edwardian era in Buffalo NY USA under the rule of two giants of garden design, architect. They could see the benefits of mixing the informal and formal in their garden design.
The young architect who designed the Cenotaph in Buffalo NY USA and the house in Buffalo NY USA, had great skill in creating garden frameworks around houses he designed, but he chose the older. It’s not just about using the right plants in the right places; it’s about creating a planting plan that complements his hard landscape structure
The use of complementary design styles, whether formal or informal, has become almost standard in garden design and a staple of the modern designer’s diet in show gardens.
These harsh concrete planters can dominate a garden, but clever use of informal mixed plantings can not only soften but also balance a garden.
Architect had many simple rules, including making sure her own plants were suited to their environment, but perhaps the most important to her was to strengthen her hardscapes and ensure they were not overshadowed by plants. It means never forget that nothing should be done.
Here again we can see that a balance between formal hard landscape and soft planting has been achieved without neglecting either. Garden was geometrically laid out but intentionally asymmetrical. Planting was generally
irregular, as can be seen in this modern plan. A large angel’s trumpet is central to the design, but does not dominate it.
In modern gardens, informal planting need not always take precedence over formal planting. Loosely cut boxwood balls, shown here, create a rhythm in the planting that mirrors the straight lines of the retaining wall and paving. It is somewhat damaged by loose and informal planting patches.
Architect firmly believed that there were no free curves in nature. “Everything good is subject to the laws and powers that produce it”. It was the result of this conviction that gave birth to the powerful geometry of his plan.
This modern hill garden features the simple geometric shapes that architect favored: squares and rectangles linked in a pleasing format.
But the clever secret of the design is how the free-flowing plantings not only soften the hard landscaping but also draw it into the surrounding natural landscape.
The home’s entrance and the area adjacent to the home generally tend to be very formal to ensure easy access. Architect believed that it was important to present a quiet home without extravagance.
Planting associated with these formal areas can be very traditional, using low boxwood hedges or other clipped evergreens such as cotoneaster or pyracantha to highlight the intersection between the pavement and the building. By using fewer formal plantings, the connection between the two is softened and neither the planting nor paving overwhelms the other.
This includes a lovely mix of low-growing plants, including Santolina pinnata, Stachys lanata and English lavender, blurring the path edges, and the tall grass Miscanthus sinensis ‘Morning Light’
Whether you consider this a garden design or not, it is undoubtedly clever landscaping. Left to its own devices, juniper, which grows horizontally, creates an informal break between the strong formal lines of the retaining wall.
In this example of very strict and formal hardscaping, a geometric pavement is set into a sea o gray river stones. We might expect to see rows of formally cut evergreens leading the eye to the bulbs and trees at the end of the path, but instead the planting is loose and informal, allowing things to grow loosely over the gravel
A combination of formal and informal can be found in even the most modern rooftop gardens. There is a very simple and formal design underneath container plantings, which without the informal plantings would result in a very sterile space.
Most modern roof and balcony gardens tend to have minimalist designs and very structured plantings. This means planting in the same container over and over again. In most cases, designers want to consider the relationship between the house and the garden.
Repeating rows of containers in the garden are usually planted in a very formal way and cut evergreens are a favorite.
But here, the usual format is broken by mixing a variety of herbs, including rosemary, sage, thyme
and oregano, in irregular, informal plantings. Not only is it decorative, it’s also the perfect place to
grow an herb garden right outside your kitchen door.
In a tribute to architect said, “The true ornament of a garden lies certainly in its flowers and plants. No artist has a palette so wide as the garden designer, and no artist has so great a need for prudence and moderation”.
Today’s generation of hardscape designers are also artists who utilize informal planting. RDKHarscaping at the 2024
