GARDEN DESIGN. 



573 



Prim gravel walks, through which we winding go, 



In endless serpentines that nothing show, 



Till tired I ask 1 Why this eternal round ? ' 



And the pert gardener says, ' 'Tis pleasure ground !' 



' This pleasure ground ! ' astonished I exclaim ; 



' To me Moorfields as well deserve the name.' 



O waft me hence to some neglected vale 

 Where sheltered I may court the western gale, 

 And 'midst the glooms which native thickets shed 

 Hide from the noontide beams my aching head." 



This is a fair criticism of a type of garden which has brought land- 

 scape gardening into disrepute and unpopularity. The informal 

 gardens I advocate are not constructed on such principles. 



The term " informal " does not mean that a garden informally 

 arranged should be without form, for it is an elementary condition 

 that it should be united harmoniously with the house ; that is, 

 that neither garden nor house should appear to be isolated, and that 

 each should rely upon the other to give a sense of completion. The 

 walls of the building should be firmly incorporated with a strong base, 

 and the garden also should seem to derive its inception from the same 

 source. This base is usually called the terrace, but it should be under- 

 stood to consist not only of the raised part on which the house stands, 

 but the whole foundation or setting of the building. The satisfactory 

 effect of the terrace depends on the treatment of the lines of junction 

 with the garden, whether they are terrace walls or grass slopes. They 

 are the critical points of unity, and abrupt effects must be carefully 

 avoided. 



Most houses gain in dignity by a certain elevation above the garden, 

 but a perched-up effect should be avoided. When this defect exists, 

 it is generally due to the formation of a terrace on too mean and narrow 

 a scale. The terrace should not be so broad as to cut off the view. 

 If there is a difficulty in this respect, a comparatively narrow top 

 terrace should be made with a wider one at a lower level. If the levels 

 necessitate three terraces, the lowest should be the widest. A terrace 

 path should end with some feature of interest which will serve as a 

 point for a change of axis. 



A good method of creating a sense of unity is to extend the axial 

 lines of the house into the garden, so that from all the principal exits 

 one looks directly into a vista picturing the heart of the garden. 

 The house should also be framed attractively from a few points of 

 view. The tour of the garden may be arranged so that one leaves the 

 terrace from one end and rejoins it at the other, without retracing one's 

 steps in the circuit. 



If such a feature as a fine old tree or a group of trees could be asso- 

 ciated with the terrace or with a path connected with the latter, a 

 feeling of stability and permanency would be created. The framing 

 of the house by trees, the use of climbing plants on the building, and 



