42 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Flowering plants play but a small part in their composition. The 

 long, dry summers are not conducive to growth and continued 

 bloom. The three main features in garden composition in Italy 

 are marble, water, and perennial verdure. Because of the artistic 

 blending of these three factors, Italian gardens please. These 

 gardens are for the most part built on the slopes of the hillsides and 

 usually extend for a considerable distance along these elevations. 

 This has brought about the frequent use of the terrace in garden 

 composition. Different elevations allow decidedly different treat- 

 ment with pleasing harmonious effect. For example, the lower 

 elevation, or garden, may be distinctly formal in its effect, with 

 regular walks bordered by low hedges; the second elevation may 

 be elaborate in its ornamentation, with statues and sculpture of 

 various kinds; the third elevation may be distinctly natural, with 

 trees of the native species, grass unmow^n and shrubs untrimmed. 

 These varying elevations make possible a pleasing use of water in 

 the garden composition and without this much of the charm would 

 be lost. Here the water is the enlivening element in the landscape, 

 and without its use the Italian garden would be dull and lifeless in 

 the extreme. Water is ever}Tvhere thrown up in thin jets, trickling 

 down from one elevation to the next through a series of shallow 

 basins, or spread out in thin sheets. The Italians seldom undertake 

 massive water effects, but they seem to realize that their gardens 

 need just the sprightliness given by the fine jets and thin sheets of 

 water. 



In this country we have few t}q3ical Italian gardens, but several 

 distinctly formal gardens are so called. The nearest approach to the 

 typical Italian garden is that on the Hunnewell estate at Wellesley. 

 Here we find evergreen trees predominating, and these trees are 

 trimmed in symmetrical and unusual shapes. The terraces are in 

 evidence, and the placid water of the lake harmonizes with the 

 perennial verdure. 



Japanese gardens are representative of the natural scenery of 

 the country. These people seek to bring into their gardens the 

 beautiful that surrounds them in nature and to reproduce these 

 scenes, often in miniature, from the varied landscape of the country. 

 There are artificial hills, rocks, lakes, and cascades copied from 

 some unusual landscape effect. Garden compositions are striking 



