On the Ma 



terials of 

 Gardening 



Wood. 



Geometric 

 planting. 



Fences. 





560 



The manner of disposing the plants is influenced by 

 the same principle ot avowed art; in rows, equidistant 

 masses, in squares, or in quincunx, and in every case so 

 as never to be mistaken for trees or shrubs sprung up 

 accidentally. 



Fences. Here the ancient style has a grand advan- 

 tage over the modern, in which, as far as respects the 

 iniitation of nature, all fences are to be considered as 

 temporary, ami therefore to a certain degree looked on 

 as nuisances to be afterwards removed. Besides, their 

 irregular and circuitous line is displeasing to many 

 who do not understand ground plans, with a view to 

 picturesque beauty, when the trees are grown up. But 

 in geometric gardening, fences are to be considered in 

 many cases as objects, and when not regarded in this 

 light, their directions and limits are so minutely point- 

 ed out by the determined outline of the plantations, 

 that the eye acquiesces in their situation and use. 

 Fences of any common and economical description are 

 employed to protect the trees' of open avenues, open 

 groves, and single open rows. But the more common 

 kind are walls, which in the prominent parts ought 

 to be well built of shaped stone, and substantially 

 finished by raised or flat copings, bearing some rela- 

 tion to the copings of the simpler parapets of the 

 house. The gates necessary in these walls, as well as 

 in some sorts of permanent verdant fences, supply oc- 

 casion for such architectural forms and lines, as are ad- 

 vantageous in reflecting those of the mansion, and 

 strengthening the prevailing idea of dignity, art, and 

 design. Every sort of fence belonging to the modern 

 style, may be occasionally employed in the ancient, 

 and besides walls, half sunk walls, and raised mounds 

 with a walk at top, we may enumerate holly, yew, lau- 

 rel, and other shrubs, either simple or chequered, by 

 alternate deciduous or evergreen species, varied by 

 arcades and standards, shorn into shapes, or in their 

 natural growth. Hedges of flowering shrubs may also 

 be introduced ; of creepers on open palisades; and va- 

 rious others of great beauty may be invented, or are to 

 be found in books on this style of gardening. 



Management. In this respect, also, the advantage is 

 greatly in favour of the ancient style ; for as all opera- 

 tions of pruning and thinning in the other should be done 

 under the eye of the landscape gardener, so all these ope- 

 rations here may be performed by any labourer ; the 

 object being simply to produce a straight upright smooth 

 stem, to ascertain height according to circumstances, 

 and allow each particular tree to attain its full size. 

 Shearing or clipping is always a mere mechanical ope- 

 ration ; plain hedges, and close alleys, require only a 

 line for a guide ; and in the case of arcades, or verdant 

 sculpture, there is, or always should be, a frame of trel- 

 lis work of correct design to guide the gardener. 



From the comparative brevity of this view which we 

 have taken of planting under the ancient style, the 

 reader will perceive, that we are far from supposing it 

 to take the lead of the natural method to which we 

 now proceed, referring for more particular information 

 to Le Blond, and other French authors ; and to Swit- 

 zer's Ichnographia Rtistica. 



Part II. Planting under the Modern Style, or with a 

 view to Picturesque or Natural Beauty. 



Modern This subject we shall consider as it respects the ef- 



planung ; feet of the whole, the parts, the natural surface, species 

 ffectof the O f tree, manner of planting, fences, and manageimnt. 

 1. The effect of the vihole, as we have had repeatedly 



LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 



Manage- 

 ment. 



occasion to observe, is always the first and the grand On the Mi j 

 consideration in every work of art, whether that art teria|! * of \ 

 has for its end the creation of objects of invention or Gar demng.| 

 imitation. All planting, as respects the formation of a wooT"" 

 country residence, must necessarily be materially influ- 

 enced by the character and situation of the house, as *i 

 the capital feature in the composition. To this feature, j^ct'of th 

 the leading masses of wood and lawn, answering the whole. 

 end of light and shade in painting, must invite and di. 

 rect the eye in the general view of the place. Each 

 must embrace it on one or on more sides, and diverge 

 from it in masses suitable to its magnitude and the 

 extent of the grounds, and in forms and characters J 



of woody snrface, suitable to the natural situation and 

 the expression to be created. If the mansion is on a 

 declivity, the principal light should embrace the front 

 which looks down, rather than those which look up, or 

 on either side. The views from the windows suggests 

 this arrangement, and will point out in every other si- 

 tuation, whether a flat, a hill, or an irregular surface, 

 on which side or sides, the leading masses are to have 

 their origin. To determine their magnitude form, and 

 number would be impossible, without a plan or par- 

 ticular case to refer to. To point out their style is suffi- 

 cient, which must always be irregular like nature ; ge- 

 nerally stretch along such rising grounds as the situa- 

 tion affords ; and, like her, always combining a certain 

 degree of uniformity or recognizable shape, even amidst 

 the greatest seeming deviations from this quality of fi. 

 gures. 



As the house indicates the commencement of the 

 masses, the character of country surrounding the scene 

 of improvement must determine the limits and style of 

 their termination. If the lands are laid out in regular 

 enclosures, bounded by hedges and hedge rows, the 

 same style must prevail in the margin of the park ; at 

 least in as many places, and to such a degree, as will 

 produce connection ; and, if possible, as much farther 

 as will harmonize the scene within, with the country 

 without. If it is entirely or in part surrounded by fo- 

 rest scenery, the termination is easily and completely 

 effected, by attending to the style of w'ood and species 

 of tree prevailing without, for a moderate distance with- 

 in the boundary. If bounded by the sea, or a large 

 lake, an abrupt termination" will be as natural as it 

 would be formal on the margin of a cultivated sur- 

 face. 



2. The parts which enter into the composition of a The parts, 

 mass of wood, and compose its varied and intricate 

 boundary by real or apparent connection, are thickets, 

 groupes, and single plants. A single plant may either 

 be a single tree, or a single shrub ; a group, two or 

 three plants, either of trees or shrubs, or both, connect- 

 ed, yet contrasted in their positions ; and as they are 

 generally planted of some size, in order to be speedily 

 out of the reach of cattle, they ought ' to' be contrasted 

 in the inclination of their stems, in order, as far as. art 

 can go, to transfer a similar variety to their branches 

 and future growth. A thicket, or as it is called by Mr. 

 Wheatley, a clump, (though undoubtedly he never 

 had in his mind's eye the round and oval shapes which 

 now pass by that name,) is a small irregular mass, or a 

 cluster of groupes, and may contain either trees alone, 

 or trees and shrubs. 



Every one of these, though considerably detached, 

 must be considered as belonging to the nearest mass 

 either of wood, of building, or of rocks, or some other 

 object of magnitude which rises boldly into the air. A 

 group, or a single tree, equidistant from every other 



