HOW TO PLAN A GARDEN 139 



which will afford the reader more guidance 

 than further written description. 



When, by reason of the nature of the ground, 

 its extent, or the special predilections of the 

 gardener, the main lines of the garden are to 

 be treated in curves, the key to the best result 

 is not always so easy to find. To those who 

 may have difficulty in thinking in curves, I 

 may suggest that they first lay down the 

 main lines of the plan in straight lines, after- 

 ward translating them into sinuous ones. This 

 may be of some help, but it will not remove 

 all the difficulties, and it is not easy to give 

 rules to cover the whole ground. 



It may be taken as bad practice, however, 

 to associate curves with straight lines, as, for 

 example, to oppose a straight grass edge to a 

 curved border, leaving a path of varying width 

 between. I am not sure that the practice of 

 running a border, whose near line is a series 

 of curves, along a straight fence is to be com- 

 mended, though it is often done. Its best 

 excuse is that the shrubs and taller plants 

 in part conceal the foot of the fence and render 

 its straightness less conspicuous. 



In the laying down of curves geometry helps 



