INIRODI 'CTION. 



\x. 



red bx- b"\. rising hy different ranges to the top. On the 

 -utside "i tlu- wall lies a rm-.idnw Hut owes as in.iny Iv.uities 

 \ ill I have been describing within does to Art ; .it 



tlu- end of xx Inch are srxeral other meaJoxxs .inJ fields 

 interspersed with thickets." Mere surelx is ; i remarkable 

 illuMr.itin ot tin- liistnrk.il continuity which has existed in 

 the methods i.f garden design, anJ which i< not without 

 :i to tlu- modern gardener. 



Tlu> partial constancy "I characier found existing in 

 garden-making from ancient times to the present and the 



:ices might luxe been many tinu-s multiplied leads us M 

 enquir i- wh.it an- the features and characteristics xxhich haxe 

 been found in well-designed gardens? One notable point In 



Swerved is that tin- garden must not only he appropriate 



to tin- house, hut to tlu- situation in which it lies. What is 



sintaHe t" the steep hillside will not befit the plain; what is 



ri^ht in the vicinity ol a classic mansion would he out "t 



near one built in a more picturesque style. Hew minds. 



i. can be contented with pleasure grounds which .iri 



irden design, or to^uuludc tli.it Iviausr <nie that.u! 

 present .iii'ither is n.-.ess.mU eXiluded. The world of 

 ' nin^ is wide enough, and h.is r^'in and xer^e enough, for 

 all alike for those who love the Illoss y ten ave shadowed by 



h or liine, the f.int.isiu yew nit bx the topiary hand, or 

 the still i.mal, where the buds ilo.n double, swan and 

 shadow " ; ..i. .i-.un. lor those who delight in gentle me.i-N. 

 undulating slopes, and waters winding bx the WIH^I. All tlu-M- 

 max find then pleasure in a well-designed g. nden.it the garden 

 be but appropriate to Ih.- house and the situation, and tin i 

 a le.iNonable predominance ot the au lute, lural ih.ir.uter in 

 those paits o| it whkh neighbour the striuture. Iheie max 

 \\ell Ix- i. 'lie or m.inx . as .ii .UK lent Haddon and at 



Clexe-lon Couit, xvith garden-houses perhaps .it the angles ,,| 

 a pleasant eiu Insure, and a wealth o| fragrant flower s. 

 the spring, rich in the summer dax-s, and bright still xshen 



autumn ll.is blown, to delight the sense with the glories ..t the 



garden xvorld. There will ci-rt.nnly always be l.iwns |.i 



their unfailing green, and perhaps gia>s walks through 



THE TERkACH STAIRWAY At ALTON 



devoid of marked feature^, and even the landscape gardener 

 has recognised this fact by erecting curious ruins, hermits' 

 retreats, temples of classic deities, and other like buildings, 

 which, though they must he condemned as mostly futile, 

 are yet a plain indication of what has been suggested. The 

 desire tor some marked character in gardens was no doubt 

 largely responsible for that subdivision which is commonly 

 found in them. It accounts, also, tor the many attempts whkh 

 have been made to give variety of level. It may be s.nd. 

 indeed, that the chief distinction of gardens is subdivision and 

 difference of level, with the terraced formation that results Irom 

 the latter. The enclosures and the various levels have been 

 marked by masonry or by hedges, but some kind of marking 

 or distinction there has usually been. Features are requisite 

 to accentuate the design, and there is no good garden in which 

 character is not enforced. It was the craving for accentuating 

 features that led to all the extravagance of the o'd tree-*. utter 

 and plea*. her. 



It would be, of course, a mistake to be dogmatic in regard 





or bowling greens for the pleasure ol manx . 

 In short, we may see that no rigid lines need be drawn, 

 and that good sense w ill always create or maintain a garden 

 of character appropriate. We may discover, too. .irnid the 

 xv an ing words of the advocates of one iemng or 



another, that it is, after all, n : trim i tree than .1 



lawn that the difference is in degree not in kind, that all 

 gardening is in a measure formal, and that it xvas only the 

 extravagance of the old topiary gardeners that brought them 

 into contempt and ridicule. Bacon did not like " images cut out 

 of juniper or other garden stuff." " They are for children," he 

 ; but tie liked well low hedges witMsorrie "pretty px ramids." 

 and even "lair Columns up >n frames of carpenter's xvork." 

 The mount in the midst, which had been a feature of rnedia-x.il 

 gardens, was also to his taste, and he would have p. 

 a fine banqueting house upon the top." His stately ! 

 enclosed the garden, and his alleys marked the formality of it. 



The old Englishman dearly loved an enclosed garden, 

 bounded by tall hedges of beech or \cw , well cut and trin, 



