VII 
ORMAL, “ architectural ’ 7 styles 
of gardening prevailed all 
through the western world un- 
til about the middle of the last 
century. It was only in China and Japan, 
countries then ignored by the European ar- 
tist, that naturalistic methods of gardening 
had been developed. But when Pope and 
Addison had preached the gospel of infor- 
mality in the surroundings of a home, and 
when the gardeners of their time had put 
their ideas into concrete shape, formal gar- 
dening fell into total disesteem in Northern 
Europe. The so-called “ natural style,” for 
which the distinctive term landscape-gar- 
dening was invented, soon ruled in England 
so absolutely that hundreds of fine old gar- 
dens were destroyed to make room for its 
innovations, and many magnificent parks 
were remodelled, even their avenues of 
stately ancient trees being pitilessly felled. 
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