Mezzacello Urban Farm As A Formal Garden

Mezzacello Urban Farm As A Formal Garden

The Mezzacello Urban Farm as a formal garden concept is a lot of our neighbor's favorite part of Mezzacello. And for good reason: They are very pretty. Their evolution has been so rapid that it is striking.

Post 2017 Growth

For example, the collection of photos above were taken in May 2017. Today, one of the defining features of the Formal Gardens is the Hornbeam Allee which towers 3 meters (16 feet) on either side of the allee. But in 2017, they were just twig cuttings from Franklin Park Conservatory.

The oval being wider on that end, also balances the sightline from the northern side and makes the design symmetrical.

Richard Riley

The plans for the formal garden were always in Rick's mind. It just took some basic survey skills, some string, stakes and a whole lot of digging. But the design is nuanced and well-balanced.

For example, one of my favorite aspects of Rick's formal garden design is the design for the oval at the southern end of the garden. It has to compete with and balance with the mass of that huge sycamore tree. The oval being wider on that end, also balances the sightline from the northern side and makes the design symmetrical.

What is IN a formal garden is far less important than what goes into the bones and structure of a formal garden. The majority of the bones of this garden can't even be seen, as most of it is built infrastructure underground. This is "Formal Garden Permaculture".