French Garden Build Taking Shape in Franklin TN

This is one of those builds that looks simple on paper but requires a lot of planning to pull off right. A formal French garden layout - the kind with symmetry, structure, and a clear focal point - demands precision from the very first block. Get one bed out of alignment and the whole thing reads off.

Here's what we were working with: a wide open backyard in Franklin with room to do something special. The homeowner wanted a true French-inspired garden layout, so we designed it around a central hexagonal focal point with four flanking raised beds arranged in a balanced pattern around it. Each bed sits on a poured concrete footer and is built up with CMU block to create clean, durable walls that will hold up for years.

The overhead view really tells the story. Four rectangular raised beds, two larger L-shaped beds, and that central hexagonal pad - all oriented symmetrically. The ornate metal gazebo frame in the corner gives you a sense of the finished vision: a structured, elegant garden space that feels more like an outdoor room than just a planting area.

French garden design is all about order. Every element has a purpose and a place. That's why the masonry approach works so well here - concrete block gives you straight lines, consistent height, and the strength to handle years of soil, water, and weather without shifting or crumbling the way timber beds often do. In Franklin, where summers are hard on outdoor spaces, that durability matters.

We're still mid-build on this one, but the bones are all there. When this is done and planted up, it's going to be a standout backyard in Franklin - the kind of space that adds real value to a property and gets used every single season.