DIY Network

The Formal Gardens of Filoli A Living Tribute to Structure and Symmetry From "Dirt On Gardening" episode DDOG-112

The formal gardens of Filoli are seventeen acres of splendor, style and structure. Inspired by European influences, Filoli is a blend of formal garden rooms, carefully laid out terraces, lawns and pools.

Filoli Center is located 30 miles south of San Francisco.

The grounds at Filoli follow formal gardening principles emphasizing symmetry and form.

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"Filoli really has every aspect of the ornamental garden--ornamental lawns and miles of hedges" says Alex Fernandez, garden manager at Filoli. "What creates most formal gardens is a main axis that runs through the garden itself. Within that main axis you also have other garden features--very symmetrical plantings, hedges, hard structures and brick walls--to really give the garden that sense of enclosure and formality."

Alex Fernandez, garden manager at Filoli

Filoli has eight full-time gardeners and more than 100 volunteers who help keep the gardens looking pristine and beautiful. But you don't have to have seventeen acres to create a formal setting in your own backyard. "The key when you're developing any kind of formal garden, no matter what the scale, is symmetry" says Fernandez. "The best way to develop a symmetrical garden is to use low walls and hedges to enclose that space."

Alex has become something of a hedge expert while working at Filoli, and offers some basic tips for structured hedging. He advises allowing the hedge to grow to fill a particular space, then going back and shearing tightly to create a clean look. If you're still wanting your hedge to continue growing and filling space, shear off only about half of the new growth, leaving a slightly "fluffy" look. If it has already achieved the basic shape you want, you can cut more closely to achieve the clean, straight lines.

Alex cuts each side of the hedge in two stages. The first cut gets rid of the bulk of new growth (figure A). Then he goes back in to create detail. When creating a "square" section of hedge, he leaves the bottom slightly wider than the top, creating a slight taper to the "green wall" (figure B).

Figure A

Figure B

Visitors strolling through Filoli Gardens gain instant gratification as they take home ideas and inspiration for their own gardens. For Alex Fernandez, it goes slightly deeper. His careful tending and care of the grounds is intended to convey to visitors a sense of the garden's history and what it must have been like for the owners who once lived there.

Continue the online tour in DIY's "Very Special Gardens" series.