TYPES OF GARDENS 



greater garden-makers of other centuries who established the traditions 

 of an art which we are now applying in ways that they scarcely con- 

 templated. They taught us the principles which we must follow, 

 they provided us with examples which are inspiring and instructive, 

 and they pointed the way along which we are finding so much that 

 is worth gathering. Even the fact that some of our predecessors 

 misconceived the art of garden-making and did things which now 

 we honestly deplore, is not without value ; at least it takes away from 

 us any excuse for making similar mistakes. The moral of it is that 

 subservience to a fashion is destructive of true artistic understanding, 

 and that the vitality of any art can only be maintained by keeping it 

 free and untrammelled by conventions. So we must never forget 

 how wide a scope is offered by the art of gardening for the exercise 

 of the designer's individuality, and we must do all that lies in our 

 power to encourage him to practise the art in the broadest spirit and 

 with the fullest perception of its endless possibilities. 



xvn 



