鈥淚 like rustic, but I also like manicured gardens. I like hedges and foliage and I like things to be trim. I like symmetry. Because I like plants to grow naturally, but then you can kind of trim them up. Not fancy, but organized.鈥�
Inspired in part by the great gardens of French chateaus and the country unfussiness of living in a prairie town, Allyson L鈥橦eureux鈥檚 garden is a lesson in contradictions that somehow works.
The result of her particular taste is a succession of cohesive interconnected spaces each serving a functional purpose. The dining area leads to a sitting area that leads to the pond that leads to the produce garden and the circular fire pit area. Surrounding each defined space is a combination of trimmed hedges and trellis covered in dense vines.聽
The French formal gardens design philosophy defined outside space as an extension of the house, with hedges acting as walls and 鈥渁lleyways鈥� standing in for hallways separating rooms. You can see this principle echoed in L鈥橦eureux鈥檚 yard, although it鈥檚 attenuated with her own specific taste and relatively smaller dimensions.
鈥淲ell, I love it here because there are so many little rooms, so it鈥檚 like a little adventure. I like keeping it tidy,鈥� says L鈥橦eureux. 鈥淚t feels good when you鈥檝e done a little weeding and everything is kind of trimmed up.鈥�
Still, even if inspired by French formal gardens, L鈥橦eureux doesn鈥檛 attempt to mimic the style in its most flagrant and well-known incarnation: the Gardens at Versailles. Instead, she picks and chooses elements of the design philosophy that will work in the space without all the overpowering opulence of traditional French formal design.
The reason for this blend of function with subdued formality is best represented in the symmetrical simplicity and creative use of space in the produce garden, which occupies a third of the back portion of the yard.
鈥�(We) grow up because our space is limited, so we do companion planting,鈥� L鈥橦eureux says. 鈥淚 planted the corn and then I planted the squash beside the corn so it could climb up it so it could share the space.鈥�
At the produce garden鈥檚 centre is a small greenhouse, home to tomatoes and dill, which is surrounded on all sides by a path with garden around its perimeter. Symmetry is a core element of French formal gardens and one that L鈥橦eureux employs throughout the 鈥渞ooms.鈥�
If designing a yard requires plans and consideration, then the gardening work itself is like an automatic response for L鈥橦eureux, one that she wouldn鈥檛 think not doing.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not work to me. I don鈥檛 know if I鈥檇 call it a hobby,鈥� she says. 鈥淚t's just part of our lifestyle. I couldn鈥檛 stand living without a yard. That would be really hard for me, I need to get outside.鈥�
While the majority of the garden is planned according to L鈥橦eureux鈥檚 style, the produce garden is more of a passion made even more satisfying by its benefits.
鈥淚t鈥檚 just so fun and because (the fruits and vegetables) taste so good. You plant a seed and it鈥檚 amazing. It鈥檚 just so satisfying and it鈥檚 so beautiful. It鈥檚 a wonder that it does that.鈥�
Overall, L鈥橦eureux鈥檚 love of being outside shows through in every aspect and 鈥渓ittle room鈥� in her picturesque variation of French formality in the heart of the prairies.
