WHAT WE LEARN FROM THEM AND CAN ADAPT FOR 

 ENGLISH GARDENS 



THE more countries and gardens we visit, the greater 

 impression do we obtain of that vast study, " the lie 

 of the land," so all-absorbing to a landscape 

 gardener. It is to be regretted that garden design, a 

 refined and cultivated art, has no more pleasing 

 nomenclature than that of " landscape gardener " for the 

 man who makes it his profession. Surely " garden 

 craft " is descriptive, and " garden craftsman " inspires 

 confidence. 



To many, the words "landscape gardener" bring 

 unconsciously recollections of the destructive tendencies 

 of Capability Brown. We see the stately yew-walks, 

 pleached alleys, lime-tree avenues — in short, the charming 

 fancies of the Elizabethan Age, the somewhat formal yet 

 happy imaginings of Lord Bacon, swept ruthlessly away 

 by this relentless man, the landscape gardener. 



He, like the marine painter, attempts something beyond 

 the power of most men. Only by close study of Nature, 

 watchful of her change of phase and mood, can he hope 

 to copy with any degree of success what is beautiful in 



233 



