THE GARDEN PICTURE 35 



garden within the limits of four square boundary- 

 walls, in the sense of a garden which shall 

 deceive the spectator into believing that he 

 is looking at a piece of pure nature, is unattain- 

 able. Nor is it desirable that we should 

 strive to make such a garden. Yet Nature 

 cannot be left out of the question. The 

 gardener provides the home and the occupant 

 and there his work ends. He must rely upon 

 the hand of Nature to fill in the outlines, which 

 she can do far better than he can tell her. 



It should ever be remembered that the 

 highest art is that which conceals art. The 

 effects which we create in our gardens, there- 

 fore, must be so contrived as not to reveal 

 too patently the means by which they are 

 produced. By the observance of this principle 

 we get the nearest approach to a natural garden, 

 inasmuch as the examples of nature's work 

 then impress us more strikingly than the work 

 of the garden designer — and this is as it 

 should be. 



I must now refer to a further quality which 

 it is important to introduce into the garden, 

 viz., repose. Repose is closely correlated with 

 breadth of treatment, but it also involves a 



