52 Landscape Gardening 



can seldom be safely infringed by art. Contrast, it is true, 

 may sometimes be admitted into a garden, and will occa- 

 sionally be very effective, but it is available chiefly in small 

 matters of detail, such as the colors of leaves and flowers, 

 the habits of plants, their heights, etc. Harmony in other 

 things is of far more consequence. It is the only true foun- 

 dation of greatness or excellence. To have several notable 

 characteristics, or to perform many things well, falls to the 

 lot of very few individuals; and a garden that affects to have 

 more than one marked expression or tone, is too frequently 

 a failure. Unity, however, and a well-balanced and well- 

 blended adjustment of parts, impart to it a weight of charac- 

 ter and a dignity of aspect which are sure, in the end, to win 

 for it esteem. That which is really good and tasteful, while 

 it is certain to obtain the approbation of those capable of 

 judging it, will quite as surely at some period, however remote, 

 secure the suffrages of the multitude. An inferior object, on 

 the contrary, may please for a time, but will speedily grow 

 distasteful. It is only for true beauty that a lasting and 

 general relish is excited. 



7. Blending. — Isolation of parts and ornaments is the 

 converse of connection, and would be quite alien to all beauty. 

 Garden decorations mostly require supporting. Nakedness is 

 commonly repulsive to right feeling in art, drapery, furniture, 

 and accompaniments being demanded. The bare outline of 

 a plantation, or a solitary specimen or group, will appear 

 harsh and out of joint. Openings or glades, that are per- 

 fectly simple or unfurnished, also present a certain hardness 

 and severance of parts. They look Hke mere gaps. It is in 

 the artistic distribution of plants and groups, so as to do 

 away with continuity of lines, and blend perceptibly each 

 individual object with all the rest, that the highest power of a 

 garden or other scene will reside. 



