io 4 EVERSLEY GARDENS 



rose-water or cheese-souffle. It can only grow, 

 grow slowly of a great love, of time and 

 thought bestowed unsparingly and constantly. 

 Still less can it be attained by a servile copy- 

 ing of other gardens, however admirable. No 

 true gardener wishes to be, or indeed can be, 

 merely imitative, though he may and ought 

 to be ready to glean hints and suggestions 

 wherever he goes. What suits one place is 

 perhaps absurd in another. Imagine how 

 completely out of place Yews clipped into 

 peacocks or teapots would look in a brand 

 new villa garden, delightful though they are 

 in front of the little old cottage in the village 

 street, or in the stately pleasaunce of some 

 ancient manor - house. " Carpet bedding " 

 again, which is all very well, if used with 

 rare discretion, in the Italian garden of some 

 palace or majestic country-house, becomes an 

 absurdity and abomination in the two or 

 three formal beds in front of the rural cottage 

 or country rectory. It is out of place, and 

 consequently out of taste. While the day- 

 labourer's little straight strip of ground is a 



