Situation and Design 19 



designer of its surroundings, that the effect of his work may not be 

 spoiled by his client, usually lacks a knowledge of plants, without 

 which there can be no lasting success. Such knowledge can be 

 had only by years of special study and experiment, quite beyond 

 the attainment of most professional architects. The landscape 

 gardener on the other hand, very often lacks the needful knowledge 

 of design, apart from the naturalistic treatment of very large park- 

 like areas. He may know a great deal about plants, how to choose 

 and how to grow them, but usually he knows very little about the 

 principles of art and design, or how to treat the land adjoining 

 buildings. The natural landscape he understands, and his usual 

 endeavour is to bring its purely informal lines right up to the purely 

 formal lines of a building, with disastrous results from the artistic 

 view-point. Happily there are not a few well-rounded men, 

 however, trained in design as well as horticulture, who are lifting 

 the art of gardening in this country to a higher plane than it ever 

 before attained here. And more will be forthcoming when their 

 value is more generally appreciated. 



But if, for any sufficient cause, one may not employ disinterested, 

 expert advice, one may at least proceed in the artistic spirit along 

 reasonable lines, acquiring by patient study of one s own peculiar 

 problem the knowledge necessary to solve it, and so enjoy one s 

 self all the fun of garden making. Then, indeed, the garden 

 becomes one s very own and best beloved. It is not, or should not 

 be, a matter of capricious taste, but a matter of reason and thei 

 affections. Principles of composition govern its making, it is 

 true, as surely as they do a painting in oils; nevertheless the 

 application of those principles to each individual garden problem 

 should be as various as the gardens themselves that each may 

 possess its own distinctive features and charm. Personality 



