248 LANDSCAPE GARDENING 



plant materials. The question of architectural or 

 horticultural emphasis must be decided by the con- 

 ditions of the problem and its needs, without dis- 

 cussion as to whether the garden should be in the 

 formal or informal style. The style must con- 

 form to the problem; the problem should not be 

 arbitrarily squeezed into a style. 



It has long been known that the old gardens of 

 Europe were executed with certain broad princi- 

 ples in view, and that they were not laid out by 

 men on the grounds without plans, but were care- 

 fully designed, with elaborate drawings, and then 

 built at an enormous cost. A typical example of 

 such a garden is the Villa d'Este (Fig. 59). 



In the early Roman gardens plant material, on 

 account of the climatic conditions, was a secondary 

 consideration, but the plant material in a modern 

 garden of the English type should be of primary 

 importance for the same reason. On account of 

 the general moisture and even temperature, it is 

 possible to grow a great variety of plants in Eng- 

 land, while the excessive dryness and heat of Italy 

 prevent the use of any but the most hardy speci- 

 mens. In these examples the style was primarily 

 dictated by the climate. Almost any sort of cli- 

 mate may be found in America, and consequently 



