FORMAL AND LANDSCAPE PLANTING 41 
by the laws of geometry, is infinitely more pleasing in 
the majority of English gardens. ‘The effective group- 
ing of trees, either in the form of isolated clumps or 
boundary plantations, is a matter requiring great skill 
and artistic perception, and it is only right that the 
designer should have a hand in their disposal, even if 
they occur outside the strict boundaries of the garden. 
A mistaken idea, prevalent among certain owners of 
property, is that garden design affects only that piece 
of ground which it is proposed to lay out with beds, | 
lawns and walks. This is not so, for the beauty of 
certain gardens lies not so much in their own attractive- 
ness, as on the distant views obtainable from them. Of 
course there are limits to this theory, as for example the 
hill gardens of Italy, with their extended vistas of roll- 
ing mountains and fertile valleys—the hand of man is 
not responsible for scenery of this type. But in English 
gardens, especially those which are set in a small park, 
or paddock, we expect that the same mind that designed 
the garden shall also have the direction of such of the 
surrounding property as is observable from it. Un- 
sightly objects, factory chimneys, ugly buildings, or 
workmen’s cottages can usually be screened from view 
by suitably disposed groups of hardy trees. The attain- 
ment of some measure of beauty in the home landscape 
will also provide an excuse for the opening out of the 
garden, the reduction of boundary walls and hedges, 
letting in air and sunlight, without of course rendering 
the place wind swept. 
In forming boundary plantations, there is seldom any 
need for making them continuous, a form of planting 
which becomes exceedingly monotonous, at the same time 
defining the limits of the property in an unmistakable 
fashion. Privacy and shelter are of necessity considered, 
but if without defeating these objects we can secure a 
vista of distant country, rich meadowlands and purple 
