Sortlculfure and J^andscape Gardening hi £^ngland. 131 



Horticulture and Landscape Gardening in England. 



An Addrvss, by JP. T. Qiiinn, before the Itiiral Club of N. Y. 



THE first view of the British Islands, as seen from the deck of a steamship, in the 

 English channel, is strikingly beautiful and picturesque. The distant and green- 

 clad hills of the county Wicklow, Ireland, and the bold, abrupt, and in places 

 precipitous landscape of Wales, divisioned off into fields by the neatly trimmed 

 hedges, is a pleasant and enjoyable picture, coming suddenly upon one, after a ten 

 days' voyage, during which time little or nothing is seen, but sea and sky, with an 

 occasional spout of the ever-welcome whale, to break into the monotony and lazy 

 habits one falls into in crossing the Atlantic. But on approaching Liverpool through 

 the Mersey, there follows a sad feeling of disappointment, with this muddy, sluggish, 

 stream, flowing lazily along; as if without purpose, and confined on either side with 

 tame and uninviting banks. One wonders that in a country with a world-wide fame 

 for its cultivated tastes in embellishing its landscape, where gardening was taught 

 and fostered, as one of the fine arts, as early as the sixteenth century, that so little 

 has been done to adorn and beautify the banks of the river leading to the great ship- 

 ping port of the world. But this disappointment soon vanishes when leaving the 

 outskirts of this, the center of the shipping interest, for travel in whichever direc- 

 tion you may, the general appearance of the country is that of a well kept and highly 

 cultivated garden, when compared with our own country, where fertile land is too 

 plenty and too cheap to call for the same kind of close cropping. The total absence 

 of the unsightly post and rail fences, and in their stead the thorn hedges, gives tone 

 to the landscape, and adds much to the general appearance of the face of the country, 

 that grows on one the more they see of it. 



Another feature, common in England, Ireland and Scotland, and one well worthy 

 of imitation in our own country, is the tasteful manner in which many of the railroad 

 companies keep the enclosed spaces on either side of the tracks. The spare ground is 

 laid down to grass, which is mowed twice a year, leaving a fine turf for hundreds of 

 miles on a stretch. This, in connection with depots built of stone, from handsome 

 designs, and the walls of such buildings not unfrequently hidden from sight, by the 

 luxuriant growth of ivy, and other climbing vines, with a tastefully laid out flower 

 garden near by — and often I have seen the name of the station, from the car window 

 in growing flowers of brilliant colors. 



The natural advantages of the mild and moist English climate, make it compara- 

 tively easy work for the English gardener to produce and keep up a succession of fine 

 effects. Among the most noticeable in all well kept gardens, parks, and pleasure 

 grounds, is the exquisite fine character of the turf, looking in midsummer, fresh 

 green, closely shaved, soft, velvety and elastic to the foot. One who has not seen 

 a well tended English lawn, cannot conceive how much it adds to the finish of a 

 country home. In all country places having any pretensions, the ** ribbon " style of 

 arranging flowers is quite common ; and where the plants have been set with a view 

 to the harmony of colors, this style proves a great success. Then follows the plau 

 of massing colors. Beds cut out in graceful and artistic shapes, planted with a sin. 

 gle variety of flowers, or a bed of ornamental leaved plaots, The geranium, goldeu 



