SUPPLEMENT TO 



628 



GA RDENERS* MA GA ZI N E. 



December 17, 1898 



Judge's Wig 



practice he gives what purports to be a selection from a catalogue of 

 sheared trees that he had received from * l an eminent town gardener " 



in«tA°»^ a t r « an illustration of the manner in which the branches inter- who had " arrived to s»ch perfection that he cuts family pieces of men, 

 2a " while k is an admirable retreat from the heat of the noonday sun ; women, and children in trees. The items given include "Adam and 



laCe, WIlllC 11 13 *m auumuw.v . . , 



and the Peacock, which in its way is specially noteworthy as an example 

 of pruning The peacock has from the first been a favourite with the 

 verdant sculptors, and they were the last to be banished from gardens in 

 which clipped trees had at one time a prominent position. At Elvaston 

 Castle Derby, the seat of the Earl of Harrington, the topiary art is 

 admirably represented by trees well-nigh innumerable, and cut into 

 almost endless forms. Here, as at Levens Hall, these quaintly formed 

 trees are immensely attractive to visitors to these famous gardens, and 

 serve to show how important an element is variety in the enjoyment of 

 the garden. At Elvaston birds, animals, arbours, and forms of 

 architecture are represented in great variety, especially interesting 

 being the finely developed peacock and the flock of birds clustering 

 round a coop. Although one could hardly wish to see these fanciful 

 trees multiplied indefinitely, an hour or so spent among them 

 affords much pleasure and 



interest. 



London and Wise were 

 the two chief exponents of 

 the Dutch style of garden- 

 ing, and they had a nursery 

 at Brompton Park, which 

 contained, according to 

 Evelyn, a "vast ample 

 collection," that was valued 



Stimulated 



^40,000, 

 the 



at 



by the encouragement 

 given by William III., the 

 topiary art became at the 

 beginning of the eighteenth 

 century so popular that the 

 gardens were crowded with 

 clipped trees, and, as the 

 result of the extravagance 



in 



their 



naturally 



the 



was 

 the 



use, 

 set in. 

 first 



pen 



a reaction 

 Addison 



to take up 

 in condemnation 



of the artificiality of garden 

 decoration and in advocacy 

 of a more natural style, 

 and his essay " On the 

 Pleasures of the Imagina- 

 tion," published in the 

 Spectator (414) in 171 2, e\ 

 ercised a material influence 

 in bringing about a much- 

 desired change, 

 to this 



Eve in yew, Adam a little shattered by the fall of the Tree of Know- 

 ledge in the great storm"; "Eve and the Serpent, very flourishing"; 

 " St. George in box, his arm scarce long enough, but will be in a condi- 

 tion to stick the dragon by next April " ; "Dragon of the same, with a 

 tail of ground ivy for the present " ; " Divers eminent modern poets in 

 bays, somewhat blighted, to be disposed of— a pennyworth"; and a 

 " Quickset Hog, shot up into a porcupine by its being forgotten a week 

 in rainy weather." This aspect of gardening is also dealt with by Pope 

 in the fourth epistle of his " Moral Essays," but it is not now possible to 

 do more than quote the following lines :— 



11 His garden next your admiration call, 

 On every side you look, behold a wall ! 

 No pleasing intricacies intervene, 

 No artful wildness to perplex the scene. 



Grove nods at grove, each 



alley has a brother, 

 And half the platform reflects 



the other. 

 The sufPring eye inverted 



Nature sees, 

 Trees cut to statues, statues 



thick as trees, 

 With here a fountain never to 



be played, 

 And there a summer house 



that knows no shade. 

 Here Amphitrite sails through 



myrtle bowers, 

 There gladiators fight or die in 



flowers. 

 Unwatered see the drooping 



seahorse mourne, 

 And swallows roost in Nilus' 



dusty urn." 



I mmediately Addison 

 and Pope had made their 

 pronouncements in favour 

 of the natural style, Kent 

 came to the front, and, as 



of 



essay 



1 



Referring 

 Mason 



the practical exponent 

 the views enunciated 



by 

 he 



writes : 



41 Addison, 

 Thou polish'd sage, or shall I 



call thee bard, 

 I see thee come : around thy 



temples play 



The lamhent flames of humour 

 brightening mild 



Thy judgment into smiles ; 



gracious thou com'st 

 With Satire at thy side, who 



checks her frown, 



But not her secret sting. " 



In the course of his essay 

 Addison contended that 

 British gardeners of his 

 day, instead of humouring 

 Nature, endeavoured to de- 

 viate from it as much as 

 possible. The trees arose 

 in cones, globes, and pyra- 

 mids, and the marks of the 



shears were seen upon 



every tree and shrub. And 



he states that although he did not know whether he was singular in his 

 opinion, he would much rather see a tree with free spreading branches 

 than when cut into a mathematical figure, and he declares that "an 

 rchard in flower looks infinitely more delightful than all the labyrinths 

 of the most finished parterre.' Addison was not singular in his opinion, 

 for, to again quote from Mason's poem of the " English Garden " — 



" Whh bolder rage 

 Pope next advances ; his indignant arm 

 Waves the poetic brand o'er Timon's shades, 

 And lights them to destruction ; the fierce blaze 

 Sweeps through each kindred vista, groves to groves 

 Nod their fraternal farewell and expire." 



To state the case in more exact terms Pope contributed to the Guardian 

 in 17 1 3 an article in which he vigorously condemned the excessive 

 formality which characterised the gardens of the period and the use of 

 clipped trees. "A citizen," he wrote, "is no sooner proprietor of _ 

 couple of yevvs but he entertains thoughts of converting them into giants 

 like those of Guildhall." For the purpose of pouring ridicule upon the 



philosopher and poet, 

 rapidly acquired popularity, 

 and set his mark upon 

 the great gardens of 'the 

 country, and wrought 

 a much-desired change. 

 Bridgeman also accom- 

 plished much work in the 

 same direction, but there 

 can be no question that, 

 in their desire to produce 

 " natural effects," these 

 two famous andscape 



and their fol 



the other 



to 



gardeners 

 lowers went 

 extreme, and in opening up 

 gardens they exposed them 

 to the cold blasts from all 

 points of the compass, and 

 deprived them of much of 

 their privacy and en joy- 



discussion of the 



ment. 



A 



many 

 been 



changes 

 made 



design since 

 Kent would 



in 

 the 

 be 



place, and I will 



and a 



that have 

 garden 



days of 



out of 



skip a 

 and 



half, 



QUEEN ELIZABETH'S CROWN AN 



that there is 



rLE. 



formed 



view 



so characteristic 

 to obtain 



a 



century 

 state briefly 



a tendency to restore some 

 the screens which 



with a 



of 



feature of the Dutch style, 



greater degree of privacy 

 for both visitors and plants. With 



and more shelter 



and verdant belts has evidently come a desire for examples ot topiar\ 

 art, and already there are several modern gardens where they are to be 

 found firmly established. In the flower garden at Ascott, the residence 

 of Leopold de Rothschild, Esq , of which an illustration is given herewitn, 

 there are numerous examples. The gardens of Lord Kosebery s resi- 

 dence at Epsom contain a peacock and several geese and fowls, and tne 

 newly-formed topiary garden at Friar Park, the residence of 1 . <-risp, 

 Esq., promises to form one of the most interesting features ot tne 

 beautiful pleasure grounds, and reproduce a scene familiar in garaens 

 two centuries ago. 



