Garden Like the French

We’ve come to expect a lot from the French: a chic sense of style, impeccably executed food, fine wine, and an envious lifestyle. But garden design principles?

Kitchen edible gardenAbove: French countryside potager...or a Pennsylvania farmhouse garden?

While most landscape architecture is a fusion of many styles and influencers, it is the French and their contributions that have truly inspired our designs at TerraTrellis. (This realization became even more evident after reading this article on the modern French garden in Gardenista). We’re not purists: in addition to the French, our work also takes note from the simplicity of Japanese and Danish design, to the looseness of the English garden.

Above: A Gracie Modern Arbor supports Cecile Bruner Climbing Rose creating a gateway to a raised potager/herb garden. Garden design by Boxleaf Design, as seen in Houzz.com. 

Classic French garden design is based on symmetry and the principle of imposing order on nature. Like the French garden, our trellises speak to the juxtaposition of architectural form in controlled chaos. 

French parterre garden lavenderAbove: classic French parterre garden. 

Trellises provide the support for plants that grow with abandon and aren’t easily contained like a boxwood or similar shrubs (so commonly seen in French parterre gardens). And our trellises have dual purpose: guiding a growing plant while enhancing the garden with grace and shape.

Above: TerraTrellis Akoris Garden Tuteur supports beans in a Pennsylvania farmhouse garden.

Vegetable, herb and kitchen gardens are patterned after the French potager, perhaps the original raised kitchen garden.

Above: raised corten steel planters create a modern and beautiful kitchen garden paired with the Akoris Garden Tuteur. Garden design by Elow Landscape Design

Our modern Akoris Garden Tuteurs are true to the classic French tuteur (which means to “teach” or “train”) and are used as artful supports in modern edible gardens and potagers from Pennsylvania to California, just as the French tuteurs were intended.

 Above: Purple Hyacinth Bean is woven into a TerraTrellis Ina Wall Trellis creating a natural tapestry.  

While the classic French fruit espalier was on our mind when designing our vertical Ina Wall Trellis, a great inspiration for creating a natural tapestry came from the vertical walls originated by French botanist (and genius designer) Patrick Blanc. Our Gracie Modern Arbor and Lazio Vase Trellis provide geometrical context from which landscape foundations are drawn and were influenced by the trellising at Monet’s Giverny

Above: Lavender fields in the French countryside.  

There are also French influences in our color palette. Stunning washes of purple-blue are seen in lavender fields across the Provence region of France, providing the color inspiration for our custom trellis powdercoat color Berry.

Now, if only our trellises could convey the intoxicating scent of these splendid Provencal lavender fields… and the smell of warm croissants and perhaps a fresh baguette. Ça c'est bon!  


 

 

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