THE PRINCIPLES OF GARDEN-MAKING 



general application, and they could not see that there were many 

 occasions when adherence to a set formula was not only inexpe- 

 dient but actually at variance with sound artistic principles. To 

 understand when the old work was perfectly fulfiUing its decorative 

 function, and was worthy of preservation because it filled its place 

 admirably, was quite beyond them ; they had chosen a new conven- 

 tion, and everything which did not come within the limits of this 

 convention they condemned as unfit to exist. 



Few people to-day would be disposed to question the absurdity of 

 narrowing down the practice of an adaptable and expressive art in 

 a manner so utterly unreasonable. We can see now that there is 

 a place for both the formal garden and for the efforts of the 

 landscape gardener, and that each, under the proper conditions, is 

 worthy of attention. Conformity to a dominating convention is 

 neither expected nor tolerated ; indeed, the more frankly personal 

 the designer's methods the more likely is he to gain appreciation, 

 and the more plainly he shows that he has profited by the lessons 

 and the warnings of the past the better are his chances of success 

 in his profession. 



Concerning the modern treatment of the formal garden it can be 

 safely said that much good has resulted from the entry of the 

 architect into the ranks of the garden designers. To secure the 

 right kind of formality in the laying out of the surroundings of 

 any house the whole thing must be planned with due regard for 

 architectural effect. In the stricter type of formal garden, enclosed 

 frankly and definitely within boundary walls, there can be nothing 

 left to happy accidents and there must be no mistakes for nature 

 to correct. Every line, every mass, must be rightly placed and 

 properly accounted for, every detail must be in obvious relation to 

 the general scheme of which it forms an essential part. And the 

 balancing and relating of lines, masses, and accessory details must 

 be carried out with just the same care and in just the same spirit 

 that are required in the construction of a judiciously elaborated 

 piece of architecture. 



It must also be remembered that the garden laid out on such 

 precisely architectural lines is intended to be, as it were, a frame 

 to the house, to cut it off from the country beyond and to enhance 

 its charm by a particular setting. Therefore to allow the garden 

 to gradually merge in the more distant landscape is inexpedient, 

 for by such a device much of the meaning and strength of a formal 

 design must necessarily be lost. In the framing of a picture what 

 is aimed at is to provide a surrounding which will be in keeping 

 c xxiii 



