WALLS AND HEDGES 75 



admirable gardens of the past century seem to lack 

 all the poetry and charm which we instinctively 

 desire, for the simple reason that the stone and 

 brickwork are of so finished and hard a character 

 that Nature expends herself in vain upon their 

 unresponsive surfaces. The immaculate stone 

 steps and terra-cotta vases, smooth red-brick walls 

 and heavy York-stone copings — these are enemies 

 in possession, there to subdue the light-hearted 

 gaiety of nature, instead of enjoying the gentle 

 conquest which might beautify and enrich them in 

 the end. This extreme artificiality had its natural 

 reaction in the " rustic " walls and " rockeries " with 

 which the past generation endeavoured to propitiate 

 the sylvan deities. Such attempts overdid their 

 intention, they out-Heroded Herod, and by their 

 coarseness prevented all the delicate colouring and 

 slow softening of outline — the nuances and half-shades 

 which Nature loves unaided to express. These 

 " rustic " extravagances point one moral — that the 

 design of a garden should be in the hands of a 

 trained artist, or should never be attempted until 

 its principles have been studied with care, and its 

 elements thoroughly mastered. 



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