A delightfully informal Italian pergola 



CHAPTER XV 



GARDENS AND THEIR ACCESSORIES 



ALTHOUGH the subject of gardens is generally considered as a 

 " thing apart from the house, and is, in the ground that it covers, 

 much too bulky for thorough treatment in this work, yet a brief 

 description of the relations of gardens to house and of their 

 several types may be of interest, and is far from out of place. 



The first statement, that the garden is generally con- 

 sidered as a thing apart from the house, is unfortunately true. 

 The house having been built, the garden is then considered, and the owner makes 

 a cast about to find a suitable place to put it just as if it were a prize cow to be 

 pastured. Now, if it be desirable that your house be set in surroundings as foreign 

 as if they belonged to your neighbour, follow the lines of the above course and 

 you will gain your end. If, on the contrary, you desire that your house and other 

 buildings shall form with your landed accessories one whole and complete com- 

 position clear to the limit of its bounds, then it is highly important that the 

 scheme of such a composition be thoroughly thought out and decided upon before 

 the building site is disturbed in any way. It is important, too, that the general 

 layout be done either by the house architect and landscape architect acting together, 

 or by one party who thoroughly understands both professions. Unless this is done, 



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