GARDEN DESIGN. 



559 



GARDEN DESIGN. I. 

 By Edward White. 



[Read Nov. 4, 1913; Mr. Joseph Cheal in the chair.] 



The subject of garden design is concerned with so much detail, and 

 involves opinions on so many matters affected by taste, that to-day 

 we cannot do more than refer to a small proportion of the questions at 

 issue. 



During recent years there has been a marked development in the 

 planning of English gardens, particularly of those of moderate extent. 

 The large number of new residences with pleasure-grounds surrounding 

 them have offered wide opportunities for experiment, and there has 

 been a corresponding interest in the question of appropriate design. 

 Indeed, it would be difficult to name any other artistic or intellectual 

 recreation which has taken a greater hold upon the community in 

 general. We have consequently become so familiar with the idea of 

 beautiful gardens in this country that we are apt to take them as a 

 matter of course. To appreciate the special advantages we enjoy one 

 has only to travel in some of those countries in which the art of 

 gardening is little developed. The sensation of journeying through 

 hundreds of miles of inhabited country without seeing a single private 

 garden in which there is any sign of ornamentation as an Englishman 

 understands it, fills one with a feeling of pity for the people to whom 

 the pleasure of gardening is apparently a closed book. In the 

 United Kingdom the garden is a matter of the utmost importance in 

 the scheme of an ideal country establishment. Such an establishment 

 is a self-contained entity, usually the outcome of many years of 

 affectionate attention from successive owners. The erections which 

 cluster around the mansion, which is the heart of the scheme, are 

 conveniently disposed, and the amenities include the gardens im- 

 mediately about the house, a sheltered kitchen garden, glass-houses, 

 an orchard, and other gardens which usually merge into the park lands. 

 The mansion is dignified and conveys a sense of hospitality and comfort. 

 We picture it as being framed by massive old trees which offer a 

 guarantee of age, and create at the same time a feeling of unity by 

 melting into more wooded scenery beyond. A placid sheet of water 

 frequently adds peace to the picture, and the harmony is intensified 

 by the extended pleasure-grounds and verdant lawns which serve as 

 a link between the architectural lines of the terraces and the quiet 

 restfulness of the landscape. 



These are the characteristic features of a typical English country 



