Book II. FORMATION OF THE FLOWER-GARDEN. 793^ 



the area of the kitchen-garden, its destination being utility, affords in all cases a safe 

 and fixed guide ; but the flower-garden is a matter of fancy and taste, and where these 

 are wavering and unsettled, the work will be found to go on at random. As flower- 

 gardens are objects of pleasure, that principle which must serve as a guide in laying them 

 out, must be taste. Now, in flower-gardens, as in other objects, there are different kinds 

 of tastes ; these embodied are called styles or characters ; and the great art of the designer 

 is, having fixed on a style, to follow it out unmixed with other styles, or with any de- 

 viation which would interfere with the kind of taste or impression which that style is cal- 

 culated to produce. Style, therefore, is the leading principle in laying out flower-gardens, 

 as utility is in laying out the culinary-garden. As subjects of fancy and taste, the styles 

 of flower-gardens are various. The modern style is a collection of irregular groups and 

 masses, placed about the house as a medium, uniting it with the open lawn. The ancient 

 geometric style, in place of irregular groups, employed symmetrical forms ; in France, 

 adding statues and fountains ; in Holland, cut trees and grassy slopes ; and in Italy, 

 stone walls, walled terraces, and flights of steps. In some situations, these characteristics 

 of parterres may with propriety be added to, or used instead of the modern sort, especially 

 in flat situations, such as are enclosed by high walls in towns, or where the principal 

 building or object is in a style of architecture which will not render these appendages 

 incongruous. There are other characters of gardens, such as Chinese, which are not 

 widely different from the modern ; the Indian, which consists chiefly of walks under 

 shade, in squares of grass, &c. ; the Turkish, which abounds in shady retreats, boudoirs 

 of roses and aromatic herbs ; and the Spanish, which is distinguished by trellis- work and 

 fountains : but these gardens are not generally adapted to this climate, though from con- 

 templating and selecting what is beautiful or suitable in each, a style of decoration for 

 the immediate vicinity of mansions might be composed, greatly preferable to any thing 

 now in use. 



6094. Abercrombie, Nicol, and most practical gardeners, seem not to understand the subject of style, 

 and their rules amount to little more than that of subdividing the area by paths in different directions. 

 The former author says, " If a piece of ground be set apart for the cultivation of flowers, in what style 

 should it be laid out? This may vary with the quantity of surface, and the object of the cultivator. In 

 the first place, carry a border round the garden, nowhere narrower than three or four feet, unless it may 

 be proper to contract its breadth under the windows of the house ; or unless there be a green hedge, 

 on any side, rooted in the level of the garden, which might be expected either to draw the earth, or 

 to encroach on the small plants, in which case flowering shrubs in little slips of mould would do better 

 than dwarf-stemmed flowers. In contact with the surrounding border, may be either a grass-plot or a 

 gravel- walk. The latter is most convenient for approach at all seasons. If the ground be at all dilated, 

 handsome walks, crossing or leading to the centre, will be also requisite : let the principal walks be five 

 or six feet in breadth. The interior of the garden is usually laid out in oblong beds, three or four feet 

 wide, with intervening alleys, two feet wide, or from that down to twelve inches, when it is intended to 

 abstract as little space as possible from the cultivation of the flowers ; or, the same end may be obtained 

 by circular or oval beds, with smaller compartments between, of such a form as will leave the alleys of 

 one regular width." (Praet. Gard. 340.) 



6( 95. According to Nicol, the laying out of flower-gardens is a " matter very much of fancy. Too 

 many j^ravelled alleys offend the eye, especially if they be much twisted, or run across ; as it comprehends 

 the whole at once. Their breadths should be proportioned to that of the beds ; nor should they be much 



544 



