148 GARDENS : THEIR FORM AND DESIGN 



a feeling of regret occurs that what is seen at flower-shows 

 in the shape of garden suggestions is not particularly 

 elevating, and therefore not good enough for the villa 

 resident to copy. 



We put these little plots of ground to a very severe 

 test by looking at them from above, and studying them 

 not individually but as a whole. No doubt, if we were 

 in one of them we should not be so conscious of aggres- 

 sively different styles and treatments in the neighbouring 

 gardens. Yet there should be somewhat more unity of 

 design and planning as a whole ; and this would probably 

 come about, if less ambitious designs were aimed at and 

 an ideal kept in view of what the garden could yield most 

 in restful nooks, children's play-houses, or flowers, fruit, 

 and vegetables for the supply of the house. 



One thing which is lost sight of in English gardens, as 

 compared to foreign ones, is the possibility of combining 

 beauty with profit. 



What more perfect tree is there than an apple so 

 ornamental in spring, when that beautiful white and pink 

 blossom puts all other trees to shame, so restful in summer, 

 and so decorative again with the red-cheeked apples in 

 autumn. If a grass-plot be necessary for the children to 

 play round, there is no reason why one or two bush apple- 

 trees should not be planted in it. They will give shade, 

 and the good housewife welcomes the fruit for tarts. 

 Then, too, when a dividing-line is required beyond the 

 playground, where vegetables begin, put in one or two 

 espalier apples. By choosing single cordons economy of 

 space is secured, for they will, like a many-storied house, 

 take but little room on the ground, and will be the more 

 useful the higher they grow. 



Espalier-trained gooseberries and loganberries do well. 

 In fact, an able writer of our own day has described a 

 garden composed entirely of gooseberries. It was a 



