90 



THE PARKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. V. 



If one desires to place some favourite plant in one of these beds, 

 the chances are that it must not be done for fear of violating the 

 " unity " of character which the whole should, we are told, possess. 

 A beautiful garden may be made without a set of formal figures 

 of any kind, and by the adoption of one or more simple forms of 

 beds, such as circles and ovals, placed here and there either 

 singly or in groups in the spots we desire to embellish with flowers. 

 This is the way now common in many recent French gardens. 

 The very general mistake of forming small pools of water near a 

 house exists in French gardens as in our own ; and usually the 

 margin is stiff in outline, and not by any means an addition to 

 the charms of the garden. The wise landscape-gardener will 

 not attempt that which he cannot do well. In a small garden no 

 satisfactory effect can be produced from water, except in the form 

 of a clear rivulet. 



