224 ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 



great Charge to keep up, and cost a great deal the 

 Making." 



" 'Tis to these different Situations that the general 

 Disposition of a Garden and the Distribution of its parts 

 ought ever to be accommodated: This is so evident, 

 that an excellent Design, which would be very proper 

 for a Garden flat and upon a 'perfect Level, would be 

 good for nothing in a Ground cut asunder by divers 

 terrasses which break off both the Level and the Con- 

 tinuity." 



Parterres. A series of divisions, called parterres, from the 

 Latin word partire (to divide), was usually placed on 

 some level spot near the house. These compartments, 

 surrounded by borders, were laid in more or less 

 elaborate geometrical designs edged with box. In 

 common use there were four styles of parterres, laid out 

 in embroidery, in compartment, in cut-work, or after the 

 English manner. 



Parterres of The "parterre of Embroidery" was considered the 



ana com- finest, and therefore placed nearest the house. The 

 design was an imitation of embroidery outlined in box. 

 The interior of the knots was filled with dark earth 

 or iron filings, and sand was placed on the narrow 

 paths to bring out the pattern in relief. Similar to 

 these were the compartment parterres. 



cnt-work. In cut-work, the divisions of the parterre were filled 

 with flowers and surrounded by sand paths. These 



