The Art of Gardening 



work would not be worth while. Its only- 

 value would be historical, not artistic ; it 

 would be prized only as the permanent rec- 

 ord of a perishable fact. To make his re- 

 sult worth while as art, he must put into it 

 a portion of himself. 



If the landscape-gardener were indeed de- 

 nied the chance to do this he could not be 

 more than a skilful artisan. But he is not 

 denied it. In fact, he cannot escape if he 

 would from the necessity for self-expres- 

 sion. It is not truer to say of him than of 

 the painter or the sculptor that he copies 

 Nature. Although they work merely with 

 their eyes upon Nature, and he works in and 

 with her, his aim is the same as theirs — 

 to reunite her scattered excellences. The- 

 oretically he could copy her in a very ex- 

 act sense of the word; but practically he 

 can copy little more than her minor details 

 and her exquisite finish of execution. Com- 

 position of one sort or another is the chief 

 thing in art, and the landscape-gardener's 

 compositions must be his own. Through 

 them he must express his own ideals. If he 

 is Nature's pupil he is also her master. 



13 



