38 Landscape Gardening 



\Ve must not be supposed to find in nature only the 

 Beautiful and the Picturesque. Grandeur and Sublimity 

 are also expressions strongly marked in many of the noblest 

 portions of natural landscape. But, except in very rare 

 instances, they are wholly beyond the powers of the land- 

 scape gardener, at least in the comparatively limited scale 

 of his operations in this country. All that he has to do, is 

 to respect them where they exist in natural landscape which 

 forms part of his work of art, and so treat the latter, as 

 to make it accord with, or at least not violate, the higher 

 and predominant expression of the whole. 



There are, however, certain subordinate expressions which 

 may be considered as qualities of the Beautiful, and which 

 may originally so prevail in natural landscape, or be so 

 elicited or created by art, as to give a distinct character to 

 a small country residence, or portions of a large one. These 

 are simplicity, dignity, grace, elegance, gaiety, chasteness, 

 etc. It is not necessary that we should go into a labored 

 explanation of these expressions. They are more or less 

 familiar to all. A few fine trees, scattered and grouped 

 over any surface of smooth lawn, will give a character of 

 simple beauty; lofty trees of great age, hills covered with 

 rich wood, an elevation commanding a wide country, stamp 

 a site with dignity; trees of full and graceful habit or gently 

 curving forms in the lawn, walks, and all other objects, will 

 convey the idea of grace; as finely formed and somewhat 

 tall trees of rare species, or a great abundance of bright 

 climbers and gay flowering shrubs and plants, will confer 

 characters of elegance and gaiety.* 



He who would create in his pleasure-grounds these more 

 delicate shades of expression, must become a profound 

 student both of nature and art; he must be able, by 

 his own original powers, to seize the subtle essence, the 

 half disclosed idea involved in the finest parts of nature, 

 and to reproduce and develop it in his Landscape 

 Garden. 



* A classic and contemporaneous discussion of these same ideas will 

 be found in Andre's "L'Art des Jardins." F. A. W. 



