226 ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 



on one twelve, etc. The surface was covered with pit 

 or river sand. 



" Hedges," Le Blond says, " by the agreeableness of 

 their Verdure, are of the greatest Service in Gardens, 

 to cover the Walls that inclose the Ground, to shut up 

 Hedges. and stop the sight in many places, that the Extent of 

 the Garden be not discovered at one View, and to correct 

 and redress the Bevelings and Elbows of Walls. They 

 serve also to inclose and border the Squares of Wood, 

 to divide them from the other Parts of the Garden, and 

 to prevent their being entered but by the Walks made 

 for that purpose. 



" The most usual form of Hedges is a great Length 

 and even Height, making, as it were, a Wall or green 

 Tapestry ; all the Beauty of which consists in being well 

 filled up from the very bottom, of no great Thickness, 

 and handsomely clipped on both sides as perpendicularly 

 as possible. They are usually cut into Fans, Curtains, 

 and low Hedges, according to the Nature of the Place. 



" Those we call Fans and Curtains are no other than 

 great" and very tall Hedges which serve to stop the 

 View, to shut out Places that are disagreeable, or to 

 hide the Divisions of a Garden, whence they have their 

 name ; Their Height should be two thirds of the Breadth 

 of the Walk. The Hedges that are higher than this 

 Proportion make the Walks look pitiful and disagreeable 

 to the Eye, which is too much confined by them. 



