The Art of Gardening 



not suggest it to those Enghsh gardeners 

 who developed it so beautifully. They 

 were inspired by the artificially formed 

 meadow-lands and forest-glades of the Eng- 

 land of their time. 



Yet all the semi -natural, semi -artificial 

 beauty of England would not have taught 

 them how to make beautiful parks and gar- 

 dens had they not been taught by their own 

 imagination too. What they wanted to 

 create was landscapes which should charm 

 from all points of view, bear close as well 

 as distant inspection, and be free from all 

 inharmonious details ; and, moreover, land- 

 scapes which should fitly surround the homes 

 of men and accommodate their very various 

 needs and pleasures. Such landscapes we 

 never find in Nature, not even in cultivated, 

 semi -artificial Nature. That is, while we 

 can imagine a natural spot which would be 

 an appropriate setting for a hunter's lodge 

 or a hermit's cell, we can fancy none which 

 would fittingly encircle a palace, a mansion, 

 or even a modest home for a man with civil- 

 ized habits and tastes. Every step in civil- 

 ization is a step away from that wild estate 



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