LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 



Of the Ma shapes which arc often there confusedly tumbled to- 

 u-ri..N of gather, might sufficiently justify the remark. But the 

 ; caprice does not stop here ; to mix with such shapes a 

 "V" " j; )rm perfectly regular, is still more extravagant ; and 

 yet the effect is sometimes so wonderful, that we can- 

 not wish the extravagance corrected." Obs. on Mod. 

 Card, p 23. 



SECT. II. Of Wood. 



Wood. Almost all the grand effects in both styles of im- 



provement are produced by wood, which, whether in 

 scattered forests, thickets, or groups, or in compact 

 geometric squares, avenues, or rows, constitutes the 

 greatest charm of every country. A tree in itself is in- 

 deed the noblest object of inanimate nature ; combines 

 every species of beauty, from its sublime effect as a 

 whole, to the most minute and refined expression of 

 mind in the individual beauty of its leaves; exhibits 

 that majestic uniformity and infinite variety which con- 

 stitutes the essence of relative beauty, and the natural 

 expressions of individual specie?, are as various as are 

 their forms and magnitude, their utility to man, and 

 the situations, soils, climates, and other general and ac- 

 cidental circumstances of which they are indications. 

 Previously, therefore, to entering on the subject of wood, 

 we shall endeavour to form some arrangement of this 

 great storehouse of beauty. 



Trees. The hardy trees of Europe may be classed according 



to magnitude, form, colour, mode of growth, duration, 

 and expression. 



1. Magnitude. Trees of great height are, the Eng- 

 lish elm, ash, larch, Polish and Carolina poplar, &c.; 

 but the laburnum, mountain ash, and evergreen oak, 

 are very low trees. A medium in height may be found 

 in the maple, pine, and birch. Some trees exceed in 

 breadth, as the oak, Spanish chesnut, and Scotch elm ; 

 others of different heights are very slender, as the Lom- 

 bardy poplar, cypress, and bird cherry. 



2. Form. The oak and Spanish chesnut afford the 

 most irregular and picturesque shapes with round 

 heads ; the English elm, and ash, have long narrow 

 forms and round heads ; the beech and horse chesnut, 

 compact oval forms, with obtuse heads ; the larch, 

 spruce, and fir tribe in general, have conical shapes, and 

 pointed spiry tops, &c. 



3. . Colour. The Scotch fir, yew, and horse chesnut, 

 are dark greens ; the larch and elm, a yellow green ; the 

 abele, Huntingdon willow, a silvery green, &c. 



4. Mode and lime of growth. The nature of some 

 trees is to lose their lower branches as they increase in 

 height, as the fir tribe ; and others have a tendency to re- 

 tain them, as the wych elm. In some the branches de- 

 scend, and often recline on the ground, as the lime tree 

 and platanus. Some are very compact in their foliage, 

 as the horse chesnut ; others very open, as the ash and 

 the acacia. Some have drooping spray, as the weeping 

 willow ; that of others tends upwards, as in the Lom- 

 bardy poplar; horizontally, as in theoak; and obliquely, 

 as in the Scotch fir. Some grow with rapidity, as the 

 Carolina and Athenian poplars ; others very slowly, as 

 the oak and the stone pine. 



5. Duration. The most durable of trees is the oak ; 

 the least so, some of the poplar and fir tribe. A medium 

 is to be found in the elm and lime. 



6. Expression. Some trees convey ideas of utility in 

 the arts, and mark the attention and industry of man, 

 as having planted them for this purpose, as the oak, 

 .ash, elm, &c. Others are known, or supposed to be 



oflittlc use, and convey ideas of neglect or of wildness, Of ti.c MJ. 

 as the hornbeam, sorb, trembling poplar, &c. Some in- terials of 

 dicate general improvement and artificial plantations, 9^"""P 

 as the larch and spruce fir ; others garden scenery or wootif"" 

 plantations near a house, as the cedar, stone pine, and 

 platanus. Some indicate rich deep soil, as the oak ; and 

 rich thin soil, as the elm ; others chalk or gravel, as 

 the beech ; rocky ground, as the ash ; marshy ground, 

 as the alder ; the proximity of water, as the willow. 



There are also natural expressions belonging to 

 trees, partly from general, and partly from accidental 

 association ; as strength and stability to the oak, ease 

 and elegance to the birch, sweetness to the lime, gloom 

 to the cypress and yew, melancholy to the weeping 

 willow, &c. 



Shrubs may be similarly arranged, but we prefer ar- Shrubs. 

 ranging them into magnitude, mode of growth, ever- 

 green, deciduous, native, naturalized, and exotic. 



1. Magnitude. Some shrubs are high, approaching 

 to the character of trees, as the mespilus and common 

 holly ; others very low, as the butcher's broom and 

 dwarf birch. 



2. Mode of growth, including creepers, as the ivy ; 

 climbers, as the virgin's bower; trailers, as the bramble; 

 compact forms, as that of the arbor vitae ; open airy branch- 

 es, as in the tamarisk ; and singular branches, as those of 

 the stagshorn bhumach. Some as shrubs soon acquire 

 picturesque shapes, as the thorn, holly, and elder. 



3. Evergreens, as the holly, laurel yew, laurustinus 

 arbutus, &c. 



4. Deciduous, as the guelder-rose, lilac, syringa, &c. 



5. Native, as the holly, privet, hazel, thorn, briar, 

 &c. 



6. Naturalized, as the rose, syringa, lilac, laburnum, 

 &c. 



7. Exotic, or foreign, as the accuba, rhododendron, 

 azalea, &c. 



The above arrangement refers to the plants as grow- 

 ing detached from other trees, and as nearly full 

 grown. It is less intended to comprehend every cha- 

 racteristic distinction, than to suggest to the artist the 

 principal light in which he ought to view trees and 

 shrubs. Nor could he with confidence attempt plant- 

 ing, with even such a knowledge as could be ob- 

 tained from the above arrangement, completed by in- 

 serting all the names under their proper heads ; for un- 

 less he has seen the majority of the full grown trees 

 himself, both singly and connected in groupsandmasses, 

 and is acquainted with the comparative rapidity of their 

 growth in different climates and soils, he cannot well 

 foresee the result of his labours, or look forward " with 

 the prophetic eye of taste" to certain beauty. Of this 

 there are numerous proofs, arising from the unjust pre- 

 ference given to exotics of unknown shapes and dura- 

 tion, in situations where the general form and situation 

 of the tree, or even of one or two trees, is of the' ut- 

 most consequence to the effect of a whole. How fre- 

 quently on a lawn, or in a plantation near a house, do 

 we see acacias, ciitleaved elders, variegated sycamores, 

 &c. where the oak, birch, lime, or Spanish chesnut, 

 would have produced * much more impressive general 

 effect ! 



For the history, character, and culture of trees and 

 shrubs in general use, see Planting and Rural Orna- 

 ment, by Mr. Marshall ; Hunter's Evelyn's Sylva ; and 

 Hanbury's Complete Body of Planting and Gardening. 



We shall now proceed to consider planting, with a 

 view to relative and natural beauty, or, in other words, 

 the ancient and modern style. 



