20 GARDENS: THEIR FORM AND DESIGN 



auction. Whether a garden-lover be for " formal " or for 

 "natural" style, or whether his views, as we sincerely 

 hope, are broad enough to support an even mixture of 

 both, we feel sure he will find most repose in a hedged- 

 in garden of formal style. We can all make the experi- 

 ment of choosing between the alleys of that wonderful 

 formal garden at Versailles and its " natural" neighbour, 

 the Petit Trianon. Which of these two gardens is the 

 one in which we can best find sheltered nooks and 

 corners ? Most decidedly in cold and windy weather the 

 formal avenues supply protection that is hard to beat. 

 Then, again, if hot sun be the trouble, we gain shade more 

 easily in the long nut-and-beech-hedged walks than where 

 we rely only upon one or two large specimen trees. We 

 have not to change position so often as we do when out 

 more or less in that open country which the " natural " 

 style endeavours to represent. Therefore, for repose, let 

 us think of a few more formal hedged-in gardens. 



Often in old places, where there is ample space for 

 different styles of small gardens, we find that which in a 

 house would go by the name of anteroom or passage. It 

 is usually long and narrow, with a high yew or holly hedge 

 to outline the boundary. Two handsome wrought-iron 

 gates give admission to it, and a vista is shown beyond of 

 a straight path, which leads to the exit through an open- 

 ing in the opposite hedge. Probably it will be best to have 

 no flowers, only grass, a paved walk, and a few good 

 statues. This will lead up quietly to something excep- 

 tional, which we are guided by curiosity to discover in a 

 garden beyond. A great blaze of flower colour in another 

 garden comes as an additional surprise and delight, when 

 we reach it by this quiet and green passage-garden. It 

 is as if this restful interlude gave us time to collect our 

 forces for a just appreciation of the dazzling beauty beyond. 



Where space is of consequence and every inch has to 



