no GARDENS : THEIR FORM AND DESIGN 



admit breezes through gaps in the surrounding brushwood, 

 and water become ruffled and unsettled, the scenery will 

 not be clearly rendered in it, as in a mirror. 



Observation teaches that reflection — from houses, trees, 

 or other features — is best attained when water is sunk 

 below the ground around it. For the prettiest effect 

 strong light should be behind the spectator. Thus the 

 long, narrow, still canals of Holland are reproduced in a 

 measure in some of the gardens of Le Ndtre, and traces 

 of this teaching are seen, too, in the waterways of Hampton 

 Court, which undoubtedly were influenced by him. 



Therefore, he who contemplates this study of water 

 gardens should not only employ skilled engineers and 

 brilliant sculptors, but he needs also to be an artist of 

 colour and somewhat of a musician. It is by rendering 

 well and with proper restraint these four necessary parts 

 that the full value of water for ornamental purposes is 

 attained. At Versailles it is not only the difference in 

 shape of some of the closed-in, silent pool gardens, the 

 varied mouldings of stone basins, or the different 

 allegorical meanings of beautifully carved Neptunes and 

 mermaids of stone, but also the clever study of colour 

 and light that we admire. Thus too, in the cascades, 

 bouillons, gerbes, and berceaux, the Magician's Wand has 

 gained the very best effects by means of proper handling 

 of two totally different powers, that of agitated water and 

 that of still mirror-like lakes. 



For a very formal water garden, in a show place, nothing 

 better could be copied than Perelle's view "du Marais 

 d'eau a Versailles." Noticeable in the picture is a 

 square pond, edged with reeds, and in the centre of it an 

 island with one large tree growing upon it. Tall fountains 

 of water surround the tree and send sprays up into it. 

 The part of the garden specially suited to a large place is 

 that which is near the marble edge of the water-basin. 



