What distinguishes the three garden styles–french, english, italian–from one another. Are there hard lines of demarcation or is it more of a “feel” thing?
English gardens are loose and free-flowing. Think “cottage garden.” Certain flowers are traditionally considered a must for English gardens: roses and hollyhocks being two of them. Straight lines are to be avoided; paths should be curved and usually should almost look like they just formed there naturally.
French gardens are highly structured and precisely laid out. Think the gardens of Versailles. Straight lines, formal, defined bed structure. Plants are pruned, espaliered, trained, etc., to grow in a precise manner. The opposite of the English cottage-garden feel.
I think Italian gardens are the same or very similar to French gardens.
You can probably google lots of pictures of each; it’s easy to tell the difference when you look at them.
I remember, from high school French class, that Jardin Anglais is designed to look as wild and “natural” as possible–plants are aesthetically pleasing, but are planted to appear as if things just happened to grow that way, by accident. English gardens have wandering paths, irregularly shaped clearings–no symmetry, in other words.
A Jardin Francais is very formal and strictly symmetrical. It is often built around a central attraction like a fountain or a statue, with straight paths and very, very clipped hedges. Its aim is to make plants look like furniture, or masonry.
Italian gardens were not included in the lesson, so I don’t know quite what their schtick is, even though I’ve been in more Italian gardens than English or French.