40 COMMON SENSE GARDENS 



country and opposed to the spirit of freedom one 

 is supposed to breathe under its radiant sun and 

 soft blue sky. 



The flower garden, however, should be defi- 

 nitely bounded and at least partly enclosed if not 

 actually walled or hedged in. The word garden 

 is derived from the old English garth, which means 

 enclosure. Natural boundaries such as old walls, 

 banks, terraces, ponds or brooks should be re- 

 tained and worked into the plan, as they are 

 desirable features. Supplement these by hedges, 

 walls of stone or brick, fences, groups of trees or 

 shrubs and screens to complete the form of en- 

 closure. Plant the trees and shrubs in a senii- 

 formal manner, but do not use any exaggerated 

 formal effects on small grounds as they destroy 

 the harmony that should exist between house and 

 garden. Landscape gardeners endeavour to pro- 

 duce imposing vistas and counterfeit perspective 

 in a small area, which is too suggestive of the 

 theatre to be acceptable to anyone who cares in 

 the least for Nature. There should not be anything 

 unnatural or over-conventional about the com- 

 mon sense garden. For that reason geometrical 



