422 



THE VILLA GARDENER. 



shape on level ground or lawn, or on any other flat surface, will look equally 

 well in water. A shape, whether of smooth lawn or still water, to be agree- 

 able, must be such as to be readily comprehended by the eye and the mind 

 at a single glance ; and for this purpose the general form must be simple. It 

 may be an oval or a circle, or it may be some form in which the length and 

 breadth are more conspicuous elements than the sinuosities of the margin, 

 and in which, consequently, the whole will always produce its full effect before 

 the eye is attracted by the parts. These may be considered as fundamental 

 principles ; and, in applying them to the different styles in which water is 

 formed, or surfaces of lawn surrounded by trees or shrubs, the characteristics 

 of these styles readily come to our assistance. For example ; in forming a 

 piece of water in the geometric style, the outline must be composed of either 

 straight or regularly curved lines. The general form may be a square, an 

 octagon, or a parallelogram, and this general form is that which will produce 

 the first impression on the mind of the spectator; but the margin of the geo- 

 metrical figure may be composed of numerous segments or tangents, so as to 

 form an intricate outline, which will afford amusement to the spectator when 

 he approaches near enough to the figure to examine it in detail. If we form 

 a piece of water in imitation of the ponds and lakes of nature, in what is 

 called the picturesque manner, we must still begin by some simple form, and 

 trust to this for the general impression. This being firmly established, the 

 margin may be varied by prominences and recesses, and trees and shrubs (as 

 shown in Jig. 295.), to any extent that does not interfere with the effect of the 



figure as a whole. If a piece of water is to be formed in the gardenesque 

 manner, the same general principles are followed ; but, as all the details of 

 the margin require to be comparatively distinct, and all to appear decidedly 

 artificial, greater care is requisite to combine regularity, uniformity, or 

 symmetry, with variety. 



