«(» LANDSCAPE GARDENING 



character of the formalesqiie garden is dominated so 

 completely by the nature of the architecture and the site, 

 that condensed general remarks are of little purpose. 



Landscape Gardening has undergone many fluctua- 

 tions of taste within the century. Such changes are to 



An improvised 



be expected as long as the human race makes progress. 

 The constantly increasing wealth of plants modifies 

 the spirit of the work. It is no longer worth while to 

 follow any school or cult. Every style has its use 

 and place. In small city or suburban places, a formal 

 or formalesque treatment of the pround plan may be 



desirable. In hir-cr :it,.1 fv,-,T i-'' ■■. 'ho ■spirit of the 



fields may be L'i\ '■■ i, ,■ , ■. it, .^i,,,, Thr IHiHiaiiiental 



thing to consi'l. I r,. n i.r i>, :, -.neral 



theory or plan i . ,;ii_' :mi.| [.hint- 



ing,— these lattii' III Hi J- :,<. ..Ill; 'iM ill . Ill ;iii rnii. Yet 

 many persons who wuulil he calieil liiudseape gardeners 

 conceive that to plant a place is the whole of the pro- 

 blem. The working out of the details of the plan is to 

 Landscape Gardening what building is to architecture, 

 or what pen-work and grammar are to literature. It is 

 the industrial or constructional part of the work. It is 

 what has been called Landscape Horticulture ( Bailey 

 "Garden and Forest," 1: ."iS). It has tn do with " ' 



details of kinds of plant-;, tin- urn f tlMiii. tin- i 



of lawns, and similar pi-iiii!' '1- I'Im >.i . li.ihv 

 on Landscape Gardening 

 scape horticulture and 1. i i > 



American 1 ks. ciilv t, |i ,,,1 W , l 



from BeK'ium almut l.SL'4 and estahlished a nursery 

 on ground which is now^ in the heart of Brooklyn. He 

 was a man of great taste and skill, and Andrew J. Down- 

 ing considered his "labors and example as having 

 effected, directly, far tnore for Landscape Gardening in 

 America tlian tiii.v,. ,,f any other individual whatever." 

 He laid mil mnn |il s, even as far away as the south- 

 ern stati-^ mm ilii ^iiiith and Montreal on the north. The 

 first Aiiieiiraii III. Ilk 1.11 Landscape (iardenine sprung 

 full-fledged aTi.l , 111111, 1. I,- fn.m tlie ii.ii .if A. .1. Down- 

 ing in 1841, willmiit l.m ini: ini.lirLi iln- t.ilii.us evo- 

 lution of preliiiiiii.irv :iuil iiii]irrii .1 . .In mn- w Im-h char- 

 acterize so many hi.rti.iiltiiral aii.l kin.lr.'.l writin-s. It 



LANDSCAPE GARDENING 



was immediately popular, and it has probably ex- 

 erted a greater influence on American horticulture 

 than any other single volume. It remains to this day 

 without a superior and almost without a competitor. 

 Downing was also the second prominent practicing land- 

 scape carilener, a|r|.,..,._'|. hi-, ii-i'iiii.lv .)eath left the 



Hii 



iiiiths 



li.iii. -n. i I : : ~tich as would have pleased 



til. .1.-1-1 II liing's pomological work was 



.'..ntinii. I I king brother Charles ; but the 



!u•ti^ti.■ w.ik ili.i|i|.< il ill his death, and Henry Winthrop 

 iSargent. wlio e.liieil the sixth edition of the "Landscape 

 (iardening," in IftQy, declared that "there has been no 

 one since Mr. Downing's death who has exactly filled 

 the niche he occupied in the public estimation." The 

 third genius of American Landscape Gardening, and 

 the one who has carried the art to its highest points of 

 ex.'ellence, is Frederick Law Olmsted, who as a young 

 man was inspired by Downing, and who became a land- 

 scape gardener when he was placed in charge of the 

 improvements of Central Park, New York city, about 

 1856. For more than twenty-five years, Mr. Olmsted has 

 given his talents wholly to this delightful art. and, more 

 tlian any other American, has nioulde.l and crvstallized 

 inlili.i li.-te resp.-ctin- tli.- i, i-nn .ii. 1 Ii n , nf Landscape 

 ' ■ ' - i.L'. A l.si.liiiL' -I'll ' ' ' ■■ ,i-ii.mof this 



,.M,., .M.lki.r .if ilM''..i'i:.'ini,'i r-ii . \.i.i. iM,^ also 'asso- 

 . i;.i..; Willi A.J.DowiiiiiK. 11.: liK.l H, lo;i.".. He was an 

 ix.-.lleiit artist. The initiation of Central Park as a 

 1.1. iiMue ground inaugurated the modem park systems 

 ..f the country, and created what the Earl of Meath has 

 r.-.-ently designated the "veritable rage for park mak- 

 Anierican public." See the 



Parks. \-, 



Within ri-i'eiit years, the number of practitioners of 

 Lanilscape (iar.lening lias greatly increased. The art is 

 becoming established in popular estimation. Tastes 

 may change, but the changes will affect only the minor 

 applications of Landscape Gardening. The desire for 

 .artistic treatment of grounds is ineradicable. Three 

 national societies are conservators of the Landscape 



Gardening and rural art of the country : American Park 

 and Out-Door Art Association ; Anierican Society of 

 Landscape Architects ; Association of American Ceme- 

 tery Superintendents. 

 The one point in which America excels other countries 



