CHAPTER XI 



NOTES ON GARDEN DESIGN 



The subject of garden designing is a very large one, and 

 numerous volumes and treatises have been written on it. 

 None the less I venture to think that an attempt to discover 

 and classify the underlying principles w^hich have led to 

 extraordinarily successful results in the royal gardens herein 

 described, may serve as a useful and not uninteresting con- 

 clusion to this book, although anything like a full treatment 

 of so wide a subject is, of course, beyond its scope. 



The reasons for the existence of gardens are, in the main, 

 threefold. To provide a setting for the dwelling-house by 

 leading the eye insensibly from the more or less severe outlines 

 of its architecture to the broad and flowing lines of the sur- 

 rounding country ; to contribute to the pleasure, comfort, 

 convenience and privacy of its owner ; and to supply food in 

 the shape of fruit and vegetables for the household. The 

 two former only can be considered in these notes, which have 

 been compiled after a study of the means adopted towards 

 ornamental and pleasure-giving ends in some of the most 

 famous and beautiful gardens in Great Britain. 



Perhaps the most important lesson to be learned from royal 

 gardens, is that no really successful result can be expected, 

 either in altering an old garden or laying out a new one, 

 unless a definite plan is made use of. This does not mean 

 that it is necessary to have a paper-plan prepared by a pro- 

 fessional designer, who may or may not know the ground 

 really well. It means rather that whoever undertakes the 

 work, must not only know intimately — as a lover — every 



feature of the site, must have studied with utmost care both 



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