Ill 



offensive composition. Examples of this kind are to be found in Kensing- 

 ton Gardens; and still more signally in one of the carriage avenues at 

 Wollaton Park, the seat of Lord Middleton. In such cases, I would much 

 rather allow the trees to decline by degrees ; and plant others outside, in con- 

 nection with some of the best, so as eventually to form suitable groups and 

 masses, in place of the avenue. 



When the approach enters the dress ground, the gates should be 

 concealed, as much as possible, by plantings. This cannot be done so 

 completely when it enters (as I have just pointed out) in a direction towards 

 the angle of the house, in consequence of the fence being generally too near 

 the house to admit of it. But when the drive is directed towards the house, 

 viewing the back part and the principal entrance perspectively, (See Plan of 

 Country Residence), the gate may be placed at any suitable distance, and the 

 road pass thence through dress grounds of lawn and variously formed dug 

 compartments, occupied by interesting shrubs and ornamental trees. 



Although the dug compartments of this part, at first, exhibit form and 

 order, they are eventually to become obliterated as the plants advance in 

 growth, shewing only lawn, naturally varied by the outline of the plants. 



The grass margins of the roads, in the narrowest parts, should not 

 (except in very limited grounds) be less than three feet in breadth ; but if 

 wider, so much the better, that as the shrubs advance in growth, the edge-line 

 of the margin may be subdued without the whole of the grass being covered, 

 which is too often the case when we have to deal with the usual strips of a 

 few inches. In no instance should an approach be decked with flowers, as 

 they destroy that softly broken outline which it is desirable to preserve or to 

 produce, and by being so placed give an idea of a limited extent of ground. 



For villas generally, there should be left a space of gravel at the entrance 

 sufficient for a carriage to turn in, say from ten to twenty yards in breadth, and 

 of the form represented in the Plan for a Country Residence. This I consider 

 preferable to a double road surrounding a plot of grass, excepting in situations 

 where we can plant the farthest road entirely and naturally out by shrubs, 

 without interfering with good views and free expanses of lawn ; but the 

 farthest curve must be carried to a considerable distance, and the extreme end 

 be planted, in order to allow a large expanse of lawn between the planting and 

 the mansion steps. 



