28 Landscape Gardening 



models, the art of the sculptor conferred dignity and ele- 

 gance on the garden, by the fine forms of marble vases and 

 statues; in the more intricate and labored specimens of the 

 Dutch school, prevalent in England in the time of William 

 IV, the results evince a fertility of odd conceits, rather than 

 the exercise of taste or imagination. Indeed, as, to level 

 ground naturally uneven, or to make an avenue, by planting 

 rows of trees on each side of a broad walk, requires only the 

 simplest perception of the beauty of mathematical forms, 

 so, to lay out a garden in the geometric style, became little 

 more than a formal routine, and it was only after the superior 

 interest of a more natural manner was enforced by men of 

 genius, that natural beauty of expression was recognized, 

 and Landscape Gardening was raised to the rank of a fine 

 art.* 



The ancient style of gardening may, however, be intro- 

 duced with good effect in certain cases. In public squares 

 and gardens, where display, grandeur of effect, and a highly 

 artificial character are desirable, it appears to us the most 

 suitable; and no less so in very small gardens, in which 

 variety and irregularity are out of the question. Where a 

 taste for imitating an old and quaint style of residence 

 exists, the symmetrical and knotted garden would be a 

 proper accompaniment; and pleached alleys, and sheared 

 trees, would be admired, like old armor or furniture, as 

 curious specimens of antique taste and custom. 



The earliest professors of modern Landscape Gardening 

 have generally agreed upon two variations, of which the 

 art is capable - - variations no less certainly distinct, on the 

 one hand, than they are capable of intermingling and com- 

 bining, on the other. These are the beautiful and the pic- 



To most landscape architects of the present time, Mr. Downing'* 

 remarks on the geometrical style will seem slighting. They arc much 

 more liberal, however, than most of the discussions of that day. Early 

 American thought, in particular, ran to partisan extremes in condemning 

 the geometrical style, so lhal while Mr. Downing seems to have had 

 little conception of its fundamental merits or practical possibilities, he 

 had the good taste to spare his readers the usual venomous diatribes. - 

 F. A. \V. 



