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THE GARDENERS' MONTHLY 



[December, 



an extent. The love for tasteful grounds has 

 not been so catching since his day, but that it 

 is not dead but merely sleeping may be evidenced 

 by a drive any day in the suburbs of any of our 

 large cities. Such a drive we took late in Septem- 

 ber around the comparatively new settlement at 

 Bryn Mawr, which, though in Delaware county, is 

 a suburb of Philadelphia. Here a large number 

 of eminent Philadelphians have erected dwellings, 

 with gardens extending from one to twenty or 

 more acres, some of them of course evidencing 

 mere expenditure without taste, which will afford 

 no lasting pleasure ; but others — and many more 

 than might be expected — illustrating some of the 

 best principles of garden art, and which will give 

 results growing in beauty as the years pass away. 

 In many of these hasty calls we found numbers of 

 intelligent gardeners, with from one to two, or a 

 dozen or more hands employed under them, with 

 a commendable rivalry among them to improve 

 themselves, and have increased pleasure in gar- 

 dening by those who employ them. The earliest 

 of these modern settlers is Charles Wheeler. His 

 grounds, designed by Charles H. Miller, the land- 

 scape gardener of Fairmount Park, are a model of 

 artistic grace. The trees and shrubs have now 

 had time to grow, and the taste of the designer 

 becomes more and more apparent. The grounds, 

 are kept in admirable order by Mr. Dewar, the 

 gardener. A much more recent garden — in fact 

 only six years since it was farm land — is Wootton, 

 the country residence of Mr. George W. Childs, 

 the well-known proprietor of the Public Ledger. 

 As we are able to avail ourselves of some views 

 that appeared recently in Ashmead's History of 

 Delaware County, we will give a more extended 

 account of Wootton, hoping to get similar views 

 of others in the future. 



Wootton, as the estate is called, was so named 

 from one of the seats of the Duke of Buckingham 

 in England. On a visit to England some years 

 ago Mr. and Mrs. Childs were hospitably enter- 

 tained by the Duke at that place. The landscape 

 beauties of the spot made a great impression on 

 the honored guests, and it was a nice tribute to 

 the hospitality of the entertainers that Mr. Childs 

 should buy and name a country place in memory 

 of the good time enjoyed in the old world. 



The entrance to the grounds is seen in the right- 

 hand corner of the picture, and is adorned by a 

 porter's lodge, at present occupied by Mr. John M. 

 Hughes, chief gardener, whose tasteful hand has 

 made it a veritable bank of flowers. The walls 

 are covered by the Ampelopsis Veitchii, while be- 



tween the windows and in every corner banks of 

 flowers, ferns and leaf plants ornament the walls. 

 On entering the wide carriage road we get at once 

 a view of the dwelling house, which is situated on 

 a gentle eminence, reached by a winding carriage 

 road of easy grade that passes over the bridge seen 

 in the left-hand picture. The beautiful stable seen 

 in the left-hand picture is also in view from the 

 entrance. Those accustomed to the best speci- 

 mens of landscape gardening might here think of 

 that rule which would not present two such fine 

 views simultaneously ; but remembering the new- 

 ness of the work, the whole having been started 

 since 1880, the planting will be closely examined, 

 and found planned to remove this criticism as the 

 trees grow up. The comparative newness of the 

 planting also prevents the beautiful effects from 

 dense masses of growth, which in older places are 

 so effective in dividing and varying scenes. Here 

 few things have had time to grow into each other. 

 One might be tempted in some instances to intro- 

 duce a few common things to thicken, temporarily, 

 till the more valuable things grow. The bridge 

 across the stream is taken advantage of to make a 

 special beauty spot. Dense masses of flowering 

 shrubs, flowering plants and ornamental grasses 

 are on the back of the parapets, and through these 

 masses the stream wanders. The effect is ex- 

 tremely beautiful. As in all efforts at landscape 

 gardening we often find that in producing one 

 effect we mar another, and one result here is to 

 apparently narrow the roadway at this point, 

 which of course was not in the original design. 

 Mr. Childs has wisely avoided a too frequent error 

 in country seats, namely, making the dwelling 

 three or more stories high. Where there is plenty 

 of room to spread out^ mere height is a violation 

 of propriety. This house, though not lofty, is 

 very roomy, and so proportioned that we think 

 most artists would call it a model of good taste. 

 We have here also a specimen of a disputed point 

 in American landscape gardening, the parapet 

 wall around the house. We may grant that where 

 there is much purely natural scenery, and in con- 

 nection with many styles of architecture, they are 

 out of place, and a mere sloping terrace of grass 

 much preferable. But in this case the uni- 

 versal verdict would be that the effect is charm- 

 ing. Besides the actual comfort and room for 

 flower culture which the plateau afiTords around 

 the house, the gradation from the architectural to 

 the natural features which the parapet wall affords 

 is just what the true artist would desire. On this 

 terrace, among other rare plants, are two fine 



