More than Meets the Eye // Boboli Gardens

Today, the horticulture class traveled to Florence, Italy to visit Boboli Gardens. This garden is hundreds of years old. It is believed to have been first built in the early 1400s during the Renaissance period, and has seen many additions in the years following. From first glance, it is easy to see that this piece of property has been transformed into a beautiful, green, and lush garden. However, it wasn't until we unpacked the individual sections of the garden did we see the hours of thought and detail the designers of Boboli put into their masterpiece.



For example, when we first walked onto the grounds, there is a straight and clear pathway that runs parallel all the way up the hill to the statue of Neptune. Likewise, many of the walkways were boxed in with tall trees on either side or trees that had been pruned to have flat, wall-like sides. In areas without trees, shrubs were clipped beautifully in box-like shapes creating patterns and mazes along and throughout the beds. All the vertical lines seen throughout the garden add movement. This design encourages visitors to continue to travel along the path or up the stairs to a featured sculpture or further explore unseen areas of Boboli.

Lastly, when our class ventured farther into the garden, we saw the bed seen below.



The bed is full of beautiful and vibrant flowers. The designer repeated this color scheme further down to, again, keep the viewers’ eyes moving along that specific area. Also, the flower bed had many different flowers that bloom at different times throughout the year keeping the floral section always full of color and life. All in all, Boboli Gardens was a perfect example and illustration of the time, preparation, and eye for art that goes into creating such a beautiful space.


Jessie Daniels