Talk gardens and most people think of the English, but only because the Renaissance Italian garden, centered around its own unique concepts, has remained somewhat of a national secret. Designed to use form and space to bind gardens and agriculture to architecture, the "giardino all'italiana", or Garden Italian-style provided the "structure" which surrounded noble 16th-century villas. It represented a sort of 5th face, intended to reflect the architectural principles of the villa itself. There are about a hundred of these "giardini all'italiana" remaining in Italy today.

The essential rules of a true giardino all'italiana: rigorously symmetrical flowerbeds, a geometric design, terraces, spectacular angles, sculpted hedges, complicated plant patterns. Generally, the garden is complemented by a nearby grove of tall forest trees and an orchard.

Most often, craftsmen and artists collaborated to developed the design and see the project through to its completion. Hydraulic engineers were called in to create fabulous fountains and playful water-displays. Sculptors, even groups of sculptors, gave their creativity full rein, and the gardeners displayed their talents in the arrangement of glorious flowerbeds, pergolas, mazes and stands of trees.

The popularity of the "giardino all'italiana" continued throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, slowly evolving a less geometrical, more rounded look, assuming even more stupendous visual effects. In the 1800's, another sort of garden began to flourish alongside this traditional style -- the more natural, Romanticist garden with a decidedly more Mediterranean air. Here, domestic species were combined with rare specimens from around the world, giving rise to the nomenclature "botanical garden".

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