GARDEN-CRAFT. 



gardens are, the theme may appear so compact, 

 that all meandering after side-issues may seem sheer 

 wantonness. As you proceed, however, it becomes 

 apparent that you may not treat of a garden and 

 disregard the instincts it prompts, the connection it 

 has with Nature, its place in Art, its office in the 

 world as a sweetener of human life. True, the 

 garden itself is hedged in and neatly defined, but 

 behind the garden is the man who made it ; behind 

 the man is the house he has built, which the garden 

 adorns ; and every man has his humours ; every 

 house has its own conditions of plan and site ; every 

 garden has its own atmosphere, its own contents, its 

 own story. 



So now, having in this short preamble discovered 

 something of the rich variety and many-sidedness of 

 the subject, I proceed to write down three questions 

 just to try what the yoke of classification may do 

 to keep one's feet within bounds : ( i ) What is a 

 garden, and why is it made ? (2) What ornamental 

 treatment is fit and right for a garden ? (3) What 

 should be the relation of the garden to the house ? 



Forgive me if, in dealing with the first point, I 

 so soon succumb to the allurements of my theme, 

 and drop into flowers of speech ! To me, then, a 

 garden is the outward and visible sign of man's 

 innate love of loveliness. It reveals man on his 

 artistic side. Beauty, it would seem, has a magnetic 

 charm for him ; and the ornamental display of 

 flowers betokens his bent for, and instinctive 

 homage of beauty. And to say this of man in one 



