A garden parterre
Beds of clipped box by the house, on gravel walks round a fountain, with topiary and statues. The beds can be embroidery (broderie) on coloured gravel, plain compartments, water or tree-filled bosquets.
The rules it illustrates
The garden island of Cythera. Lay the ideal garden out on a circular plan in concentric rings, woods outside, then meadows and orchards, then gardens of knots and clipped evergreens divided by walks, with water and the fountain of the goddess at the centre.
Parterres to be seen from above. Lay the parterres where they are seen from above, from the windows of the house or from a raised terrace, since their patterns are lost to someone standing among them; keep everything near them low.
The parterre longer than it is wide. Make the parterre oblong rather than square, since figures somewhat oblong look better on the ground than square ones; later practice made it as broad as the front of the house and about twice as long.
Where it appears in the book
In the styles French formal garden.
In the chapters Gardens and Landscape.