Parterre Garden: Embroidering with Plants

While working on my talk on ‘Herbs of Shakespeare’ presented last week, I got re-intrigued with the elaborate evergreen gardens they planted back in those days.

Formal, ornamental gardens of the French Baroque period and English Renaissance were typically laid out on level surfaces adjacent to the grand buildings or halls, par "on", terre "the ground". They were typically bilaterally symmetrical and often foursquare, divided by broad, level paths of gravel, sand, turf or swept earth. A stone or brick curb was often used to outline the design, and within, the planting beds were edged with tightly clipped evergreen hedges, often of boxwood, for four seasons of beauty.

Within the planting beds the woody ornamentals were tightly planted in clipped hedges inscribing decoratively geometric designs. The sensuous shapes of boxwood scrolls and arabesques placed within the very formal, straight lines of the garden’s basic design lent an elaborate gracefulness. The geometry could also be more angular and consist of straight lines and 90 degree angles. A Flower Parterre had a riot of colorful flowers changing with the seasons planted within the compartments of the hedges. Or the clipped parterres need not have any flowers at all. A Plain Parterre had nothing but the basic outline of the clipped evergreen hedges of the planting.

Broad pathways were part of the design, and allowed the garden to be admired by people strolling through it. However the true beauty of the parterre was best viewed from the upper windows of the mansion. This bird’s eye view displayed the design like a pattern of crewel embroidery.

Although today’s gardeners are not about to plant a formal parterre, low evergreen hedges are still useful to contain flowers or define an edge. Consider trying Green Borders Boxwood, new this year from Garden Debut®, for low, informal hedging and when dark green color is needed to provide structure and interest in the landscape.

This littleleaf boxwood displays a sturdy growth habit and dense, dark green foliage. Slow growing, Green Borders reaches a mature height of 2 – 3 feet tall and a slightly wider spread of 3 – 4 feet, making it excellent for informal garden edging and borders. Plants are profusely branched and the glossy, dark green foliage adds a distinctive rich color to the garden in winter.

Not just another green box, Green Borders Boxwood is exceptional because it is tolerant of moist soils. Other notable characteristics include deer resistance and a slight fragrance when the tiny flowers bloom in late spring. Green Borders Boxwood flourishes in conditions of sun to dappled shade. In full sun, shallow-rooted plants appreciate a little mulch to keep soils cool.

Boxwoods have been used for centuries by gardeners for small hedges, garden borders, edging, foundation plantings and as accent plants, prized for their slow rate of growth. Although pruning or shearing is never necessary with Green Borders Boxwood, littleleaf plants may be sheared into tight the geometric shapes or the formal topiary of yesteryear if desired.