The French formal garden was, and still is, intended to inspire a sense of awe and wonder in the visitor in much the same manner as the façade of a grand, elite chateau would produce in the viewer. Its carefully sculpted and tightly controlled vegetation becomes a form of organic architecture, and its tight, linear control of all plant life emphasizes man’s complete dominance of nature. The French garden is built around a sheer passion for rigid geometry that emerged out of 17th Century discoveries in optics and perspectives. The disciplined symmetry of this form is one of the precise in the world in terms of planning and layout, with carefully trimmed plants and trees that run along long axes that inspire the viewer with a sense of sublime infinity.
Ideally, French formal gardens work best with French or traditional style houses that are two stories or more in height. This is because the original French gardens were built to be enjoyed from an elevated vantage point such as a terrace, the top of a wall, or a large window that overlooked the countryside.
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