The Natural Style in Landscape Gardening 



signifies the personal peculiarities of the author. 

 Mr. William Dean Howells has his stj^e by which 

 his work can be recognized, and David Grayson 

 has his. 



In landscape gardening, on the other hand, styles 

 are national — perhaps, more strictly speaking, ra- 

 cial. The Japanese style embodies the garden char- 

 acteristics of a whole race. The Italian style does 

 the same. Every style which ever had a name was 

 called by the name of the race or nation which prac- 

 ticed it; and one of the questions now before the 

 house is whether we shall ever have an American 

 style. 



We may therefore define style, as used in this 

 particular art, as being the expression of the na- 

 tional, racial or ethnic quality in landscape garden- 

 ing. 



But what of the natural and the formal styles 

 of gardening? They do not bear national names, 

 though they have been often and inaptly called the 

 English and the Italian styles. The fact is that 

 these are not styles at all in any strict use of lan- 

 guage, but great garden forms. The formal form 



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