Formality never looked as good as in the front garden at the Inn at Langley. I walk blocks out of my way to the coffee shop every morning so I can enjoy the Inn's garden, linger by the pond, perhaps spot the chef out clipping herbs in the parterre beds.
Designed by landscape architect Tom Berger, the garden's strong formal elements tie together the electicism of the plantings, from cardoons to allium, blueberries to wallflowers. The effect is both casual and traditional, rustic and formal. Framed by a low, welcoming wooden fence on one side, and a dense, smoothly clipped yew hedge on the other, the garden is long and narrow with boxwood parterres containing herbs and flowers. A rectangular reflecting pool with shaped like an arrow at one end centers the space. The Northwest-Asian inspired architecture somehow blends beautifully with this European-esque garden... I don't feel like I'm explaining it very well...take a look at the photos, or better yet, come up to Langley and hangout in the garden at the Inn at Langley...
White allium and silvery lamb's ears in the foreground, with cardoons, bronze fennel, and catmint in front of the yew hedge.
Crisply sheared boxwood parterres contrast with the Inn's casual elegance....
The waterfalls and arrow shape of the reflecting pond add linearity and regularity to the scene.
A lesson in mixing formal elements with the more casual, like the wooden fence and jagged-edged cardoon.
Wow...gorgeous! What a feast for the eyes!
Posted by: Chris | June 28, 2011 at 09:56 AM
I have strolled this garden so many times, attempting to soak up those lessons in blending formality and the casual. So far, my garden leans heavily to the casual! I did clip one Japanese holly into a pyramid, and it does punctuate the end of a bridge, but it still needs a few friends. Thanks for showcasing this Northwest treasure ( I have no association with the inn--just an admirer.)
Posted by: Ruth | June 28, 2011 at 11:30 AM