He 
MANAGEMENT OF TOPIARY GARDEN 77 
and always have been, one of the principal features of 
the formal garden, and no amount of labour and care 
should be considered wasted in keeping them in good 
condition. Grass paths require far more labour and 
attention in keeping them in proper order than those 
that are composed of some hard substratum, especially 
if there is a considerable amount of traffic on them; 
if such is the case, it will be necessary to go over 
them every spring and re-turf places that have got 
worn out, afterwards well rolling them; then during 
the summer and autumn months they will require 
constant attention in the way of mowing and in keep- 
ing the edges well clipped so as to maintain a clean 
and tidy appearance. 
In the Topiary garden it should always be remembered 
that everything should be kept in as trim and formal 
a condition as possible, with the exception of the 
different varieties of plants or shrubs that have been 
planted for the purpose of giving colour to the garden; 
amongst those, Nature should as far as is consistent be 
encouraged; but the walks, beds and borders, and 
everything else in the garden should be made to 
present as formal an appearance as possible. If the 
garden is a formal one, let as much as possible in it 
be made to have a formal appearance. 
In writing on the Topiary garden, I have perhaps 
made it appear to some of those who may read it as 
hideously unnatural, and I am aware there are plenty who 
maintain that it is a style of gardening that has nothing 
to recommend or encourage about it. But those who 
think that the formal garden is without its charm make a 
very great mistake, as in every old world garden there 
is a charm that belongs to it only. In the woods and 
the parks let us by all means study and cultivate Nature 
as far as possible; but in the gardens we should have 
the trees to present as neat and formal an appearance 
