ENGLISH GARDENS' 



By R. CLIPSTON STURGIS 



FELLOW OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF ARCHITECT^ 



AS with English architecture the chief interest centers 

 about the simpler work, the homely quality of which di- 

 L- rectly appeals to one, so the smaller and less pretentious 

 English gardens seem in every way most perfect. There one 

 finds no question of the rival claims of formal and informal 

 school, of Italian, French or English styles, but merely a nat- 

 ural common-sense adaptation of means to an end, a direct 

 meeting of needs. In the great Italian and French gardens 

 one feels the presence of a complete and studied scheme, and 

 also of a conscious effort for efi'ect. As exponents of the art 

 and science of landscape gardening, French and Italian ex- 

 amples are distinctly superior to the English ; but for mere, 

 lovable beauty fitting the needs of true country-lovers, nothing 

 can approach the English garden. 



In many periods of English gardening the influence of 

 foreign styles and fashions has been felt, and has to a certain 

 extent modified the planning and planting of grounds ; but 

 except in those places which have attempted grandeur, one 

 finds no purely scholastic work. The earliest work of which 

 we have any perfect knowledge is that which was influenced 

 by the Italian Renaissance. When Inigo Jones and Sir Chris- 

 topher Wren introduced the balance of classic planning and 

 the detail of classic work, the gardens developed on similar 

 lines. This period gave us the formal terrace, the walled gar- 

 dens, the bowling-greens, the clipped hedges, and the intelli- 

 gent use of architectural accessories which mark the majority 

 of good English gardens. The general character of this work 



1 This article was a paper prepared merely for a short address to fellow architects and 

 makes no pretense to anything but the most cursory sur\ey of this most delightful and 

 inexhaustible study. The article was not written with a view to being illustrated, so that 

 the photographs now published do not hear anv \erv close relatiim to the text. Tt is hoped, 

 however, that they may give some idea, clearer than I can con\ey in words, of the charm 

 of the English work. 



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