NOTES ON GARDEN DESIGN 167 



nature's laws in making an imitation for the garden. Natural 

 lines of bays and promontories, suggested by the valley to be 

 partly filled, should be followed as far as possible ; and if 

 stone lining to the dam or banks is necessary, it should be 

 hidden by some of the many suitable waterside shrubs, grasses 

 and flowers. Here and there, the ground may naturally 

 suggest a marsh. Instead of doing away with this it should 

 be planted with some of the numerous interesting and beautiful 

 plants which are at home in such places. Other parts of the 

 banks may be rocky ; and these may, in one or more places, 

 be extended to form a distinct rock garden, for which no 

 better or more suitable position can be found than on the 

 margin of a sheet of water. 



Those parts of the lake farthest from the house may be 

 treated in a more wild and free manner, thus gradually leading 

 to the wild garden itself ; since in addition to all its other 

 desirable qualities and intrinsic merits, a water garden of the 

 natural type has this, too : it is one of the very best methods 

 for linking up the formal and wild parts of a garden. Near 

 the house, formal terraces and trim lawns may merge into 

 soft grassy slopes with a narrow and irregular fringe of choice 

 water-edge plants ; on rising ground and promontories, bold 

 groups of suitable trees and shrubs may be planted ; and as the 

 lake recedes, wilder growth may be encouraged, trees may 

 come closer to the water, and an idea of uncultivated natural 

 freedom will gradually present itself to the mind. This 

 semi-wild or natural type of water garden is one of the most 

 striking and successful features at Sandringham. The lake 

 in the West Garden there is treated with consummate art, and 

 may well be taken as a model of all that a water garden 

 should be. There is a superb collection of the choicest 

 aquatic plants, tree grouping is bold and effective, views 

 of the lake from house and terrace are lovely in the ex- 

 treme, and all planting has been most carefully done to 

 preserve the best views and vistas. And above everything 

 else, a charming natural effect has been created, and is 

 imparted to the lake from whatever point it is seen. 



