VII 



ORMAL, ^^architectural" styles 

 of gardening prevailed all 

 through the western world un- 

 til about the middle of the last 



century. It was only in China and Japan, 

 countries then ignored by the European ar- 

 tist, that naturalistic methods of gardening 

 had been developed. But when Pope and 

 Addison had preached the gospel of infor- 

 mality in the surroundings of a home, and 

 when the gardeners of their time had put 

 their ideas into concrete shape, formal gar- 

 dening fell into total disesteem in Northern 

 Europe. The so-called natural style," for 

 which the distinctive term landscape-gar- 

 dening was invented, soon ruled in England 

 so absolutely that hundreds of fine old gar- 

 dens were destroyed to make room for its 

 innovations, and many magnificent parks 

 were remodelled, even their avenues of 

 stately ancient trees being pitilessly felled. 



139 



