THE GARDEN PICTURE 



31 



particularly if associated with a grass plot of 

 regular shape. 



Just what constitutes formality, as usually 

 understood, it may be well here to discuss. It 

 may arise from several causes. Unquestion- 

 ably the most common one is symmetry 

 in the general lines of the design. Another 

 cause may be injudicious planting, particularly 

 when the gardener has not adopted means of 

 building up a well-considered picture in the 

 vertical plane. Such mistakes only need to 

 be recognized to be corrected. Trees planted 

 sentinel-wise, at equal distances from a central 

 feature, will produce a formal effect. They 

 would be better arranged so that no two sub- 

 tend the same angle in the line of sight (see 

 Fig. 31). The repetition of some conspicuous 

 feature at regular intervals also makes for 

 formality, an error not infrequently made in 

 planting with conifers and other evergreens. 



Complexity in detail may suggest formality, 

 by proclaiming too insistently the artificial 

 character of the garden. Still another cause 

 is neglect to preserve a proper scale in the 

 various details. It might be concluded that 

 the use of straight lines and right angles would 



