Parterre and the dangers of formality

M: They want something more formal.
S: Formal?
M: Formal with lots of annuals.
S: Parterre?
M: I'm sure that's what they're trying to communicate.

Be forewarned, this is a multifaceted post.

A parterre is a formal garden consisting of planting beds that are edged in stone or tightly clipped hedges and gravel paths arranged to form a pleasing, usually symmetrical pattern. The parterre was developed in France in the 16th century by Claude Mollet, the founder of a dynasty of nurserymen-designers that lasted deep into the 18th century. His work consisted of  developing patterned compartimens, simple interlaces formed of herbs, either open and infilled with sand or closed and filled with flowers.

So now that you know what we set out to make. A 20 x 44 ft mass of annuals and a monoculture of shrubs in a spot that has three trees and uneven light. We pulled out all of the existing plantings, put in some edging, and regraded with compost.

I drew up some rough sketch of what I had in mind and then we pulled out the grid paper and started designing. We decided to use boxwoods and barberry as the foundation. Both will tolerate the shade and barberry will provide some color (though I swore I. wouldn't plant any in this park.. damn, eating my words already). From there I check the availability. Two varieties of barberry were available one got big, one maxed out at 2 feet. I went with that one. From there, I looked into boxwoods of a similar size and in appropriate amounts, that was number two.

Then the graph paper came in. Figure out the average max size for the shrubs and their current size and grid them out appropriately. Now you'll know how many to order and what your square footage of annuals or gravel will be. Next we had to check on the availability of annuals and see what annuals would cover about 200 sq feet of blank space.

Lastly, all the plants had to be installed. 4 of us installed all of the shrubs in an afternoon and the annuals went in the next morning. Installing everything at the end of July is not the best time for planting so I'm sure we'll have some die back as the site isn't irrigated.

But here's the finished product.

 So now that we have a parterre, let's look at why this post is titled as it is. From a maintenance perspective on this site, this project is an absolute nuisance. Not only is the project being planted at the same time, but it has no irrigation and it has uneven light. I can try to water all I can but there will inevitably be some losses. My time frame for watering at this site is limited as well so that makes sprinkler use a little more challenging. Uneven light promotes uneven growth, so I look forward to having to trim the southen end of this planting much more than I'll cut the northern end. This area is fairly high maintenance to begin with. There is a restaurant right behind it and it always seems as though I'm pulling out napkins and straw wrappers out of some hedge.

Plantings like this are very expensive. I suppose for most, the initial planting is really the most costly. This design had over 120 boxwoods, 82 barberry, 1 japanese maple, and a ton of annuals. The perennial material alone is expensive at wholesale. Adding annuals just increases the yearly cost of upkeep. With that being said, perennial material or hardscape can certainly substitute certain areas. Perennial bulbs will be added to this site in the fall.

 
There's also some specialized labor costs associated with these plantings. The woody framing of this planting is really what gives it character. These shrubs need to be pruned properly to keep them dense and at their proper size. Many people think they know how to shear hedges.. they're often wrong. Also boxwoods are susceptible to boxwood blight so be on the look out for signs of that.

Lastly, animals, specifically dogs can cause major damage to these plantings. Many people allow their dogs to pee on any surface in the city. Not only does this blow my mind for sanitary issues but it is horrible for keeping lower foliage on shrubs. If you allow your animal to do this, please stop. You're allowing your dog to pour salt on something that I spend a lot of time caring for. (salt is bad for plants)