262 



THE GARDENER'S ASSISTANT. 



completed, the next matter to be considered is 

 the style to be adopted in the laying out of the 

 garden. In this there is considerable latitude, 

 especially in the case of a new garden; the prin- 

 cipal guiding points being the position and sur- 

 roundings, such as the style and size of the 

 mansion — especially the latter. A garden 

 so small as to be out of proportion to a large 

 stately building to which it may stand in close 

 proximity, would be quite out of character, yet 

 not so much so as when, in the other extreme, 

 more commonly met with, it covers a large sur- 

 face out of proportion to the small size of the 

 residence. In this there is, of course, no fixed 



rule by which to be guided; but the garden 

 should be proportionate in size to the building 

 of which it is an embellishment, always bearing 

 in mind that it is better to err on the side of 

 doing too little than to have an unduly large 

 garden. The different styles generally em- 

 ployed in this country may be classed under 

 three heads: the natural, the geometrical, and 

 the symmetrical, the latter more or less free in 

 the manner of its arrangement. 



The natural, as the term implies, is essen- 

 tially irregular, and more or less an imitation of 

 nature. It would be futile to attempt to repro- 

 duce nature's wildest and most rugged effects 



Fig. 333. 



Ill 



garden 



and 



of 



a garden, and imitations ot her should be I 

 limited to an approximation to what nature in 

 her best mood would do with the material and 

 Bite available. The disposition of tree and 

 shrub and herb should be with a view to a 

 natural effect, and also with a view to the re- 

 quirements of the plants, the successful culture 

 of which is the primary object. 



The geometrical style (by which is also under- 

 stood the architectural, the ancient, and the 

 formal styles) is that which was Aery generally 

 employed until a recent date, since it admitted 

 of almost every conceivable form of the parts 

 and of the whole. With a sheet of paper and 

 a pencil, rule, and pair of compasses the arrange- 

 ment may be varied indefinitely. This style, 

 pure and simple, is essentially formal, and well 

 calculated to afford contrasts or harmonies in 

 colours and a balanced whole, the correspond- 

 ing beds in the design being alike in shape and 

 size, and filled with plants that match in every 

 way ; in fact, supposing such a garden to have 

 a line drawn across the centre, the whole of the 

 beds on one side should find their exact counter- 

 part on the other. It is a style that finds but 



little favour with those who make new gardens, 

 and is giving place to a less formal, less costly, 

 and more generally enjoyable form of flower- 

 gardening, in which there is a greater variety 

 of plants employed mostly of a hardy character; 

 and these, although they do not furnish a blaze of 

 colour, produce a longer display, extending from 

 the spring till late in the year. In old places 

 the geometrical garden still survives either in its 

 entirety or as regards the form and disposition 

 of the beds; but there is much greater freedom 

 in the modes of planting, and in nearly every 

 case endeavours are made to get rid of its for- 

 mality, and to impart variety to it. Fig. 335 

 is an example of the geometrical style; it is 

 formed by the intersection of five circles, four 

 semicircles, and four quadrants within a square, 

 and thus the shapes of the twenty-nine beds of 

 which the figure is composed, are determined. 

 The most intricate productions of the draughts- 

 man frequently look better on paper than when 

 furnished with plants; whereas simple figures, 

 when well managed in the planting, always have 

 a good effect. 



In fig. 333 a number of geometrical forms 



