2 . INTRODUCTION 



according to the degree of formality found in its design 

 and furnishing. The inevitable reaction followed next, 

 and had its beginning in a Crusade which found able 

 supporters in those two brilliant essayists and satirists, 

 Addison and Pope. The old order changed, and 

 considering its age, it changed with a rapidity for which 

 there seems to be no parallel in horticulture. No doubt 

 many trees were permitted to grow naturally after years 

 of close cropping and carving, but doubtless also many 

 thousands were uprooted and destroyed by the landscape 

 gardeners who were practising notably Bridgeman and 

 Kent when the decline of Topiary set in. And not 

 only were clipped trees destroyed, but many a splendid 

 close trimmed hedge of box and yew was swept 

 away, leaving the garden unsheltered and unsecluded. 

 Extremes met, as was but natural, when once the tide 

 of fashion turned, and it has been left for the present 

 times to properly adjust the balance between extreme 

 formality on the one hand and too close a copy of nature 

 on the other. 



We can appreciate the shelter and beauty of a well 

 trimmed hedge in the garden, and, in its proper place, we 

 find no fault with a straight terrace walk. Still further, 

 we are collecting old sundials or fashioning new ones on 

 old models, and in some of the best gardens of the day 

 the garden seats have a comfortable old-time appearance. 



The principle of associating like with like is gaining 

 ground, and in numerous fine establishments the interest 

 of the place is wonderfully increased and extended by 

 gardens devoted to certain subjects. We have Rose 

 Gardens, Rhododendron Gardens, Bamboo Gardens, 

 Michaelmas Daisy Gardens, etc., and lastly, we have 

 Topiary Gardens. These latter do not now as hereto- 

 fore overpower everything else ; they are simply part 

 of a whole scheme for providing a continuation of 

 pleasure, beauty and interest ; they serve as a reminder 



