234 GARDENS: THEIR FORM AND DESIGN 



her. He must, above all, be humble and capable of 

 learning the lessons taught by hedgerow, nut-grove, open 

 common and hillside. Intimate knowledge and love ot 

 wild-life, study of the rounded shapes of downs, with 

 their winding, deeply cut chalk roads, observation of 

 natural groups of trees, all these things help to mould the 

 garden craftsman. 



By judicious treatment, how much can be done to bring 

 out beauties upon a garden site, which before were not 

 perceived. There is no piece of ground impossible to 

 handle. Whether the case is one of restriction by over- 

 shadowing, of food-robbing, of too large trees, of insuffi- 

 cient drainage, or of exposure to the buffeting of cold and 

 boisterous winds — whatever the evil may be, there is 

 a sure way to overcome it. Does the sun scorch down 

 upon a glaring chalk-slope ? Is the fall of ground below 

 the house unevenly balanced, thus giving an insecure 

 appearance to the building itself ? Whatever the trouble 

 is, however apparently insurmountable, the back of it 

 can be broken. Move soil skilfully, bank up and plant, 

 and all will be rectified. 



Should there be a thick, dense wood upon a flat plain, 

 without distant view or varied outlook, incidents must be 

 made, alleys planted, statues or garden-houses erected to 

 carry the eye to the end of the vistas. Interest and 

 variety are thus created ; dullness and monotony vanish. 

 In all this Nature is the first teacher. 



Many are often deterred from overcoming the various 

 difficulties by a dread of incurring expense. They see in 

 imagination a long bill from an architect landscape- 

 gardener, they fear the possible invasion of builders with 

 the necessary evils and untidiness of bricks and mortar — 

 above all, they dread the austere face of Spud the 

 gardener, who resents all innovation. It is his opinion 

 that the garden should remain the same in all details as it 



