Marcia Fryer defined the pattern of this parterre garden with bluestone slab pathways.
The classic parterre garden has its roots in French horticulture. When landscape designer Claude Mollet created enclosed beds separated by gravel walkways for the royal gardens at Saint-Germain-en-Laye and Fontainebleau in the late 16th century, he installed low-growing plants on a level surface, arranging them in flat, geometric designs. Because the emphasis was entirely at ground level, the style became known as "parterre," which translates to “on the ground.”
The pattern of a parterre is its most striking feature. Beheld from a balcony, a raised terrace or an upper story window, a parterre garden looks like a living mosaic. They were fashionable in England in the late 17th century but fell out of favor because of their formality, to be replaced by the more natural looking “English garden.”
Originally, each section of a parterre garden was cultivated for a different purpose — medicinal, culinary, ornamental. Because they were located in close proximity to the house and featured immaculately kept gravel walkways, parterres also provided a place to entertain guests who could admire the elaborate arrangement while they socialized among the orderly beds.
In 2019, local landscape designer Marcia Fryer found the perfect place for a parterre in Richmond. She had been commissioned to create plantings for a newly renovated home in the West End. “The owners had converted a garage into a family room and storage space, eliminating the need for the driveway,” she explains. A wall of windows in the new family room overlooked the narrow, half-acre spot where the driveway once was. “That’s where we put the parterre,” she says. “They already had a patio, a deck and a pool. They didn’t need a big entertaining space. They needed a beautiful garden.”
Fryer created this parterre garden in a narrow swath of land where the driveway once was.
A painted wooden gate opens into the parterre that Fryer created. She replaced the gravel walkways that characterize a classic parterre garden with bluestone slab, planting Tulip magnolia along the fence line for privacy. Little Missy boxwoods outline the individual beds, which she filled with Little Lime hydrangea, their bright chartreuse blossoms contrasting with low-growing puffs of purple allium. Pink climbing roses, peonies and a variety of bulbs conspire to offer three-season bloom.
“By using the same plant over and over, you get bigger impact with less maintenance because you’re not trying to manage 30 varieties,” Fryer says. There are painted planting boxes for herbs and vegetables and a fountain surrounded by lamb’s ear and blooming annuals. Pairs of Adirondack chairs and a faux bois (woodgrain) bench offer a view from within. The overall effect is both informal and intentional.
Like any garden, it has evolved. Fryer meets with the owner several times a year to tweak plant choices. “It’s a young garden that has barely begun to come into its own,” she says “In three to four years, it will be spectacular.”
