4. THE BOOK OF GARDEN DESIGN 
endless repetition. But we have brought it on ourselves, 
and must either rest content with that we know to be 
false, or make an effort to free ourselves from this 
meretricious form of art without further delay. All 
may not possess the faculty for suggesting a complicated 
plan for themselves, but there are few who may not 
study the outlines of the subject, so that they may be 
better able to control those whom they employ. After 
all, the garden should reflect the ideas and taste of the 
owner, not of the professional. The art of garden 
making consists very largely in the exercise of common- 
sense and a due perception of the fitness of things. 
These, coupled with a love for flowers and a knowledge 
of their requirements, will lead the beginner to success 
far more quickly than any ability he may possess for 
map and plan drawing. 
The formal garden, as it existed in the days before its 
modern substitute cast a slur on the word ‘ formality,” 
reflected no small credit on the skill and taste of its 
originators. There was a sense of breadth and stateli- 
ness about it which is sadly lacking in its modern rival. 
Especially praiseworthy were the open stretches of turf, 
and bold grouping of trees, which were characteristic of 
the time. The planting of avenues, to whose beauty 
many of our older houses owe so much, the alleys and 
greens bounded with hedges of clipped yew, and the 
wide borders filled with herbaceous flowers, were all 
pleasing in spite of their stiffness. Aided by handsome 
terraces, used only where needed, as at Haddon and 
other places, these old time gardens were free from any 
suggestion of trickery or deception. Their designers 
were men whose ideas, if a trifle austere, were perfectly 
honest; they liked their handiwork to display its 
beauties in a straightforward manner, with the con- 
sequence that their gardens were well-proportioned, 
and clearly betokened that money had been ungrudgingly 
