THE PRACTICE OF GARDEN DESIGN 



387 



I give the systematized the preference and let the picturesque be 

 secondary. 



I was reading an article on estate afforestation and outlying planta- 

 tions a short time ago by Mr. Nesbit, and he laid special stress upon the 

 systematized principle, and advocated that a plantation plan should be 

 kept on all estates along with a tree-book giving broadly the numbers 

 and ages of trees in each plantation ; or, if a forest or wood, to denote 

 the broad divisions marked by streams or paths which could be altered 

 and noted in the office according to successive fellings or .plantings. 

 What I say to one I say to all who have to do with estates or anything : 

 Have a centralized principle or plan ; it will spare you many a needless 

 journey and many a wet jacket. You will be able to set out to adjust in 

 the comfort of your office what almost always has to be done at an in- 

 opportune time in the stress of other work. 



I take it for granted that we are agreed as to the necessity of a well- 

 thought-out, coherent plan, and that the artistic aid is imperative ; we 

 have got all in order and we need to put a match to the pile and get it 

 aflame ; and, although it is a peep behind the scenes, now are needed 

 qualities which all do not possess. A plan and sketches at the very best 

 are only indeterminate methods of showing your proposals, and what is 

 needed now is that the garden designer must be a veritable Joan of Arc 

 to infect and inspire others with the ideas which he prepossesses himself, 

 and with the enthusiasm needed to fire them. This may seem a minor 

 qualification ; yet you must have the absolute conviction of the soundness 

 of your proposals. Many a man has absolute sincerity in his proposals 

 and can successfully carry them out, yet is all temerity as to backing 

 them. You must also be able to carry the same conviction to others and get 

 them to see things from the same point of view and with something of 

 your own enthusiasm. It is not enough to be able to know how to design 

 consummately and artistically, to get the right trees into the right places, 

 or arrange effective groups or beautiful colour schemes of flowers, or 

 how to secure comfort and brightness, and to understand your soil and 

 locality ; but you must have a grasp of men and be able to get the right 

 men into the right places. There are many men who can do a little well, 

 but cannot grasp the whole ; some who with an eye for detail can plant 

 our trees and shrubs with splendid results ; when you have set them out 

 in mass, others follow and can plant flowers tellingly, but you must know 

 how to fit each specialist into his place. 



A head gardener is usually a most observant man, adept at the 

 handling of men, and often knows as the result of many practical 

 experiments the most effective groupings of flowers and plants, and 

 could give most mere book writers a good many points about arrang- 

 ing colour in borders and so forth, and impart what is often neglected, the 

 best methods of growing them ; he can also give the garden designer 

 practical information needed for the special locality (if only you can get 

 him to sell his birthright) ; but notwithstanding this, garden design is not 

 a matter of horticulture. Nor with our present knowledge can it be left 

 to the sphere and domain of the architect. Speaking from a wide 

 knowledge of the subject I do not know which I should prefer, the 

 gardener's superabundance of cultural surprises (for some gardeners can 



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