14. THE BOOK OF GARDEN DESIGN 
and a cool shady pathway will be much appreciated 
during the hot days of summer. The fruit and vege- 
table garden should always be within easy access of the 
kitchen quarters; and though the tool and potting 
sheds ought not to be obtruded, they should be con- 
venient of access and not approached by narrow, tortu- 
ous paths. On the plea that these and other necessary 
conveniences are unsightly they are often banished to 
remote out of the way corners, and as a consequence 
economy both of time and labour are out of the ques- 
tion. We do not hide our cherised works of art in 
cupboards or attics, but hang them in a good light 
where they can be viewed comfortably at all times. 
The same should be the case with our gardens, which 
deserve to be conveniently situated and readily access- 
ible in all their parts. 
Undue complexity is as a rule totally out of place in 
the garden, for the reason that it bewilders the visitor 
as to the aims and intentions of the designer. Such 
gardens give one the impression that they were designed 
piecemeal, each time with no thought for what had 
been attempted before. Simplicity does not necessarily 
mean formality, it is rather the expression of a set of 
ideas in a straightforward, common-sense manner. We 
cannot have simplicity when we fill our gardens with 
patchwork flower beds, destroying the beautiful surface 
of a lawn to make them; neither is tawdry furniture, 
ill-designed statues, fountains, sun-dials and _ seats, 
likely to impress the beholder with feelings other than 
those of ridicule or contempt for a display of vulgar 
opulence. Wherever we look there should be evidence 
of a desire for unity in the several parts, a sense of 
breadth and dignity which is the true test of a skilled 
workman. So many people persist in confusing this 
desire for simplicity with a wish for puritanical severity 
—straight walks, bare unbroken stretches of lawn, and 
